Beowulf 6

Study Guide Questions for Lines 1914-2199

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

Friendship. Despotism, Hatred, Music, Decorum, Temperance, Appearance vs. Reality

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. What does the text tell us Hygelac’s queen was like?

2. What would Queen Modthryth do to any man who dared to look at her directly?

3. What did Beowulf and his men find their king, Hygelac, doing when they arrived home?

4. What had Hygelac advised Beowulf to do concerning the Danes and their Grendel situation?

5. According to the text, who was Hrothgar’s daughter to marry and for what purpose?

6. What did Beowulf expect would be the end result of that marriage?

7. What item did Beowulf tell us Grendel had carried with him when he had come to attack them in Heorot?

8. What did Beowulf do with all the gifts he had received from Hrothgar?

9. What had been the general opinion about Beowulf prior to his successful campaign against Grendel?

10. What did king Hygelac give to Beowulf for his great deeds?

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

1. Why does the Beowulf poet continually compare and contrast opposing figures? What does this accomplish in the story?

2. What role would you say women play in the story of Beowulf? 

3. Why did Beowulf go to help Hrothgar even though Hygelac urged him not to?

4. Why did Beowulf seem so confident that the marriage between Freawaru and Ingeld would not bring lasting peace between their people?

5. Why did Beowulf give all of the treasure he earned to king Hygelac?

6. What significance might be attached to the gifts that Hygelac bestowed upon Beowulf?

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

1. Offer a definition for the virtue of Temperance. Is Beowulf a good example of the virtue of Temperance? Why or why not?

2. Gift giving is an important part of the viking culture, why do you think this is? Do you think that this is a positive or negative quality of their culture? Should we be quicker to give gifts to our friends and people we want to honor? Why or why not?

3. Name three sets of historical or literary figures which would make for good contrasts like those which the Beowulf poet is so fond of. What quality do you think would be best to contrast with each set? 

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Proverbs 10:12 and 15:18. How can these proverbs be related to the story of Beowulf?