Beowulf 1

Study Guide Questions for Lines 1-398

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Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Courage, Prudence, Death, grief, Fate vs. Fortune, Justice, Religion, Despair, Friendship, Providence

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. How is Shield Sheafson described?

2. Describe the funeral honors bestowed upon Shield Sheafson after his death.

3. What “wonder of the world” did Hrothgar make during his reign and what purpose was it to serve?

4. What was it that “harrowed” the “powerful demon” and enraged him against the Danes?

5. According to the story, what was the origin of Grendel and the other monsters in the world?

6. What did Grendel do to Hrothgar and his people?

7. To whom (or what) did the Danes look in vain for help?

8. What happens when the news of Hrothgar’s troubles reach Geatland?

9. How is the hero from Geatland described by the poet and the coast guardsman?

10. How is Heorot described as the Geatland warriors approach it?

11. What connection did Hrothgar say already existed between himself and Beowulf?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why was the birth of Beow considered “a comfort sent by God to that nation?”

2. Why was Beow’s behavior prior to becoming king considered prudent by the poet/storyteller?

3. What kind of parallelism is there between the beginning and end of Shield Sheafson’s story?

4. What is the relationship of Hrothgar to Shield Sheafson?

5. What should be inferred from the fact that Grendel was kept from approaching “the throne itself?”

6. What is meant by the proverb “Anyone with gumption and a sharp mind will take the measure of two things: what’s said and what’s done.”

7. Consider the words of the coast guardsman who first meets the Geatland warriors. What might we infer about his character by the various things he says?

8. What does the text mean when it says of the Geatland warriors that “the troops themselves were as good as their weapons?”

9. Why did the guard of Heorot plead with Hrothgar to “not refuse them” who came to help?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. Evaluate the claim “Behaviour that’s admired is the path to power among people everywhere.” Explain both what you understand this to mean and then whether or not you think this is true and why.

2. Beowulf, upon hearing the stories of Hrothgar’s sorrows, decides to set out to Denmark to offer his help. What do you think his reasoning is for doing so? Further, do you think we ought to provide aid to our neighboring countries when they are being oppressed? Are we as individuals (or as a nation) under obligation to render service of this kind? Should there be any conditions put upon receiving such help?

3. How do we see “the arts” being employed in our present reading (visual arts, musical arts, architectural arts, etc.)? What kind of conditions are necessary for arts like these to thrive among a people or nation? How had these conditions been established under Hrothgar?

4. Consider Grendel, the descendant of Cain. Can the image of God in man be lost? If so, how. If not, why not?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. What biblical stories and/or parts of Scripture did you notice being alluded to in the story so far?

2. Read Exodus 1:8 - 2:10 and compare and contrast it with Shield Sheafson’s story. What do you notice?

3. Read 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 and compare it to Lines 64-85 and 306-311. What connection might the poet be trying to make?

4. Analogically, if Shield Sheafson is like Moses, what biblical figure (or figures) might we say Hrothgar is like? What justification can you offer for your conclusion?