Grendel- Kin of Cain. Forced into exile He came to Heorot and killed a lot of warriors. Beowulf comes to heorot and rips his arm off.

Beowulf- Geat warrior. Comes to heorot to make a name for himself. He has defeated see monsters before and swam for seven days. Rips grendels arm off to kill him.

Hrothgar- King of Danes. Is powerless against Grendel and is quite happy to let Beowulf kill him. Built the greatest mead hall of the land.

Fitela- Part of the Frisian digression. Nephew of Sigmund and possibly killed him.

Sigmund- Dragon slayer who the scop says Beowulf is like, suggesting that he will later slay a dragon.

Wulgar- Messenger between Beowulf and Hrothgar.

Heremond- Danish hero who became a bad king and caused suffering, a foreshadow to Beowulf….

Finn- King of Frisians. Made a deal with the Danes that they be treated like royalty.

Hnaef- Danish leader.

Hengest- becomes the leader of the Danes after Hnaef dies.

Wealhtheow- Queen of Danes, Hrothgar’s wife. Makes peace and is a good queen. Seems to know more than she should.

Unferth- Drunk warrior who thinks Beowulf is all talk. He says Beowulf lost before and then gets destroyed in an epic boast.

Shield- He arrives to Denmark on a ship and becomes a great king. He rules well and is seen being sent off after dying in a funeral pyre.

Halfdane- Beow’s son. Good ruler

Beow- Son of Shield. Is king and has Halfdane

Literary Terms and Examples:

Kenning- Two words used together to mean something else. 1. Whale road for sea 2. Shadow-stalker for Grendel 3. Hearth fellows- friends

Litotes- An understatement meant to be ironic. 1. Unferth says Beowulf is lying and Beowulf replies that the beer is talking. 2. Beowulf got Grendel in a tight grip to rip his arm off, it says it was the worst trip the terror-monger had taken to Heorot.

Flytes- An epic put down. 1. When Unferth says that Beowulf can’t kill Grendel

Appositive- A building up of phrases 1. “Scourge of many tribes, wrecker of mead benches, rampaging among foes.”

Alliteration- Build up of words starting with the same letter. Those seafarers sighted land, sunlit cliffs, sheer crags, and looming headlands.

Censura- A strong pause within a line.

Symbol- 1. Grendel is a symbol of Beowulf’s youth, he defeats Grendel easily but as time goes on the battles get tougher. 2. Heorot symbolizes strength of the Danes and when Grendel comes he takes that power away as he starts to break things in it and kill people.

Allusion- 1. The scops song about Sigmund, which is a real story today. 2. The reference to Grendel being kin of Cain 3. The story about Finn who will fight a dragon and die.

Epic Boast- 1) Beowulf’s boast about how great he is and all the sea monsters that he has killed.

Epic Hero (Definition and how it fits Beowulf)- An epic hero is in an epic poem. They are the strong character throughout the story and show all the qualities of a good warrior. Beowulf is strong and goes to protect others.

Motifs and Themes:

Exile- We see the exile of Sheild who is found by the Danes and he becomes a great king. Then there is Grendel who is exiled because he is a relative of Cain. This exile is the cause of pain for the Danish. Beowulf’s father is exiled for killing someone, Hrothgar pays the wyrgyld and so Beowulf feels he owes Hrothgar.
Kin Killing- It is hinted that Unferth has killed his own kin and he is seen as a buffoon because of that. It’s also hinted that Hrothgars brother may kill him and his family and Weltheow tries to appeal to him before it even happens. It is one of the worst things that could happen at this time.

Ambush- Beowulf ambushes Grendel in Heorot. This enables Beowulf to easily kill him. However when he is ambushed by Grendel’s mother, he barely escapes alive. When Sigmund is ambushed by his people.

Wergild and Wyrd- Wergyld is payed by Hrothgar for Beowulf’s father. This makes Beowulf feel that he owes Hrothgar so he goes to help them out.

The Role of Kings- Kings are supposed to make peace, and we see Hrothgar doing this by offering to pay Beowulf if he kills Grendel. Then there is Heremod who is a terrible king and because of that is killed by his own people.

The Role of Women- Women are supposed to serve and be good hostesses, they should not ever be to strong or they are thought of as a poor queen. Whealtheow is a good example of this she serves Beowulf and is a good hostess.

The Role of Worriers- They must protect the king and their country. Beowulf is protecting his country by helping the Danes. This creates peace with them so his country does not have to worry about the Danes.

Paganism vs. Christianity- This is a pagan story with a Christian monk throwing in random parts of preaching. Paganism runs pretty rampant throughout the rest of the story with monsters, dragons, the sacrifice of animals, and so on.

Words of the day

Heathen
That heathen monster haunted the halls of Heorot.
Cowering
Grendel was cowering in the corner after having his arm ripped off.

Words of the day

Purge (V.)
The hard work in the morning purged all the lazy players from the team.
Reparation (N.)
He made reparation by offering to clean the house.
Lament (V.)
I lamented that our team lost to Hydaburg by six.

Words of the day

Hoary (Adj.)
His hoary face made me wonder if he’d seen a ghost.
Murky (Adj.)
The murky lake looked uninviting even in the heat.

Words of the Day

Spawn (N. or V.)
Her incessant whining made me wonder is she was the spawn of Satan.
Infamous (Adj.)
The crook became infamous after robbing the federal reserve.

Manawydan

Manawydan, Rhiannon, Pryderi, and Cigfa are all ruling over Dyfed, when magicly all the humans and pets just disappear. For four years they manage to live off what is left and eventually they go to Hereford. They become saddle makers but are so good that others want to kill them. Mawyden doesn't want to fight so he suggests they sneak away. They become sheild makers, and then shoe makers but it happened to them every time. they go hunting and Pryderi sees a golden bowl in a cave. she touches it and freezes in that position without the ability to speak. Manawydan goes home and tells her mother where Pryderi is and her mother goes and touches the bowl too. Manawydan and Cigfa travel to a new city and become shoe makers but again get chased off. Manawydan becomes a farmer and when the harvest was ready, he wakes up to no crops. It happens the next night too. and on the third night he watches. He sees thousands of mice stealing the wheat so he catches a pregnant one. He decides to hang it and a clerk tells him not to but he doesn't listen. A priest comes and Manawydan still doesn't listen. So next a bishop who offers anything in return. Manawydan wants his kingdfom back to normal and so he gets it and finds out the bishop turned people into mice to steal his crops.

Words of the day

Scop (N.)
The scop walked into Beowulf’s court and relayed the story of Grendell.
Sinew (N)
The sinews in Beowulf’s arm rippled and strained as he tried to pull of Grendell’s arm

Scop- n. a bard or a poet
Sinew- n. tendon or muscles
Spawn- n. offspring
Infamous-adj. having a bad reputation
Hoary adj. of great age causing whiteness
murky- adj. dark, cloudy,unclear
Purge- v. clear of impurities
reperation- adj. making right what was wrong
Lament- v. to feel or express sorrow
Heathen- n. an unbeliever, unreligious person
Cowering- adv. hiding or trembling in fear.