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Beowulf Mid-Term
Study Guide
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| *Beowulf | the oldest known English epic -- author unknown, probably dating back to the early 700s |
| Hrothgar | king of the Danes, husband to Wealhtheow, son of Healfdene, ring-giver and kindly king who honored his warriors by building a great mead hall for celebrations; built a mead hall called Heorot in which to celebrate his warriors' victories |
| Wiglaf | one of Beowulf's loyal thanes in his homeland, only one of Beowulf's men who did not run when the fire dragon attacked Beowulf, warrior to whom Beowulf gave his treasures and also the kingship of the Geats |
| Grendel | monster who attacked mead hall; killed many Hrothgar's thanes; was slain by Beowulf; had his arm pulled from his body-shoulder to hand; had a magic spell woven on him so that no manmade weapon could harm him; he represents evil |
| Grendel's mother | sea monster, avenged her son's death by attacking mead hall, lived in a lair under the lake, had a hoard of treasures in her lair, killed one of Hrothgar's loyal thanes going back to her lair |
| Fire dragon | fire breathing monster, fatally bit Beowulf in the neck, attack Beowulf's kingdom because of a cup stolen from his lair |
| Wyrd | fate |
| Kenning | metaphorical two-word replacements for nouns; a colorful, indirect way of naming something -- ex. whale-road, whalepath = sea; spear play = battle |
| Wergild | msn-money, man-price, a payment made to a family for a wrong doing to a relative |
| Scop | gleeman, singer of tales, a minstrel |
| Druids | pagan priests of the Celtic peoples |
| Thane | a loyal retainer of the king, an earl |
| Mead | wine made from fermented honey |
| Churls | a class of freemen |
| Thralls | a class of slaves |
| Danes | the Vikings, Danish, also called Gar-Danes, Ring-Danes, Spear-Danes, and Scyldings |
| Geats | probably Swedish people, also called Sea-Geats, War-Geats, and Weather-Geats |
| Old English Period | 450-1066 AD - also known as the Anglo-Saxon period |
| Angles, Saxons, Jutes | Germanic tribes that attacked the coast of Britain and conquered much of the country Beginning with the Jutes in 449 AD |
| Harp | lyre - a stringed instrument |
| Epic | a long narrative poem about the exploits of a hero, was presented in a serious way, often through use of elevated language, hero of epic represents widespread national, cultural, or religious values |
| Scribe | monks who copied texts in the monastery |
| Cantos | sections of a poem, also known as fits |
| Alliteration | the repetition of initial (beginning) consonant sounds |
| Caesura | a pause in a line of poetry |
| Heroic epic | a poem whose main purpose is telling the life story of a hero |
| Scyld Scefing | an orphan, waif, who becomes a famous King of the Danes |
| Ecgtheow | Beowulf's father |
| Hrethel | Beowulf's king, King of the Geats when Beowulf slew the monster |
| Coastguard | Hrothgar's thane who greeted Beowulf and his men when their ship sailed into the Danish coast; he led Beowulf and his men to Hrothgar after determining why men in such armor had come to his country |
| Hunferth (Unferth) | Hrothgar's loyal, trusted thane who was jealous of Beowulf, gave Beowulf his sword as a sign of trust and loyalty when Beowulf was going to fight the monster's mother |
| Hrunting | Hunferth's (Unferth's) trusty sword that was loaned to Beowulf for battle, sword that failed Beowulf in battle against the sea-wolf, Beowulf returned this sword upon his return from the sea-wolf's lair |
| Naegling | Beowulf's sword that had never failed him in battle until his battle with the fire-dragon |
| flexible armor made of metal or chains | |
| Brecca | a fellow who challenged Beowulf to a swimming contest, Beowulf won the challenge |
| two treasures that Beowulf returns with from the sea monster's lair | Grendel's head and the jeweled hilt of the giants' sword |
| Pyre | a funeral fire for the dead |
| Hilt | handle of a sword |
| Corselet | piece of body armor |
| Oral tradition | a work, a motif, an idea, or a custom that is passed by word-of-mouth from generation to generation |
Created by:
rierei1971
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