Beowulf study guide from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. The novel follows the main plotline of the original poem. Wiglaf is the only one of the troop who helps beowulf in his fight with the dragon. Beowulf is a soldier in the first ogres war comes under the possession of the legendary sword, hrunting, a sword forged by the blue fairy and said to cause its wielder to be seen as a hero. There have been many different versions of the beowulf story with each different beowulf movie. Character list danes scyldings scyld scefing a mythical figure, scyld was the founder of the tribe of the scyldings long before beowulf s story begins. As a young man, beowulf was known as the strongest man alive. A love story was awarded the 2019 lambda literary award in the lesbian romance category english professor and aspiring novelist, grace warner spends her days teaching four sections of beowulf for cretins to bored and disinterested students at one of new englands hidden ivy colleges. Beowulf character list principal characters beowulf the protagonist of the epic, beowulf is a geatish hero who fights the monster grendel, grendels mother, and a firebreathing dragon. Heroes of legend are also woven into beowulfs tapestry. Beowulf is a geatish hero who becomes king after defeating. Beowulf is an epic poem originally told in the old english between the 8th and 11th centuries. Beowulf 2007 cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
It is known that the historic hygelac, for instance, died around 521 a. In beowulf s old age, a thief finds a passageway into an old barrow. What are the duties of a sanitary prefect in a school. The project gutenberg ebook of the story of beowulf, by unknown this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the united states and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. Starring the voices of ray winstone, anthony hopkins, robin wright, brendan gleeson, john malkovich, crispin glover, alison lohman and angelina jolie, the film features human characters. Beowulf s father was the warrior ecgtheow, and his mother is a sister of hygelac. The poems finnsburg episode features a character named hengest who many scholars have identified with hengist and horsa, legendary brothers credited in medieval sources as leading the fifthcentury germanic invasion of britain and founding the jutes kingdom of kent in southeastern england. He takes the plot and characters from the epic poem and brings them to life in the form of a graphic novel. Without characters and their development, the story cannot progress. There one of king hygelacs retainers, beowulf, heard the story of hrothgars dilemma. Beowulf is the oldest surviving work of fiction in the english language so old, in fact, that the language its written in is barely recognizable as english no, really, listen to it. Navigate here prelude of the founder of the danish house chapter 1 chapter 2 chapter 3 chapter 4 chapter 5 chapter 6 chapter 7 chapter 8 chapter 9 chapter 10 chapter 11 chapter 12 chapter chapter 14 chapter 15 chapter 16 chapter 17 chapter 18 chapter 19 chapter 20 chapter 21 chapter 22 chapter 23 chapter 24 chapter. So beowulf takes hrunting and hes going to go fight grendels mom. As the title character of the old english epic beowulf, hes a classic epic hero.
In the story, he comes to hrothgars aid to defeat the monster grendel who has been terrorizing heorot hall. Beowulf a mighty warrior and noble individual, the poems hero, with the strength of 30 in his handgrip, comes to the aid of hrothgars danes. He returns to geatland, where he and his men are reunited with their king and queen, hygelac and hygd, to whom beowulf recounts his adventures in denmark. Beowulf thrall radiation 120 blood elf beast mastery hunter, 449 ilvl. Beowulf had many characteristics which helped him to succeed in battle. Beowulf the main character and the hero of the story, beowulf is from a northern germanic tribe called the geats.
It is an epitomized history of the life of the teutonic races. Beowulfs boasts and encounters reveal him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around. Beowulf kills grendel, and then kills grendels motherwho came after beowulf to avenge her son. Characters in beowulf with examples and analysis literary devices. Beowulf poem, story, summary, grendel, history, beowulf. Beowulf characters from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Beowulf study guide from litcharts the creators of. What we can do is pay attention to top scholars in the field and make some pretty good guesses. Beowulf begins with the story of hrothgar, who constructed the great hall heorot for himself and his warriors. When beowulf had at last reached the full tide of his manhood, and been admitted to the circle of hygelacs personal retainers, a feast was held one night in the kings drinkinghall. The death of beowulf marks the decline of the geats, who are now surrounded by enemies made in previous campaigns. Hrothgar had once done a favor for beowulfs father, ecgtheow, and so, perhaps feeling indebted, and certainly inspired by the challenge of overcoming grendel, beowulf determined to travel to denmark and fight the monster. Wealhtheow, queen of the speardanes and wife of king hrothgar, appears briefly in beowulf as the. Beowulf, prince of the geats, has many fine qualities.
The story of beowulf has often been told in books, plays, and films. In a hundred and twenty pages, you can experience the essence of beowulfs extraordinary story, from his first fight with grendel to his final fight with the dragon. Beowulf has often been translated into modern english. The king of the danes in the story of the fight at finnsburg. The hero of beowulf, beowulf is a geatish warrior loyal to his king, hygelac. Beowulf is the story, in epic poem form, of a great geat warrior who came to the aid of the danish king hrothgar in defeating a monster that was terrorizing his people. He is the dear friend and chief advisor of king hrothgar. Beowulf characters from sparknotes flashcards quizlet. Scot johns the saga of beowulf is a novelized retelling of the story of beowulf.
We cannot be certain when the anglosaxon poem beowulf was composed, how it was created, or exactly when it was written down. Beowulf modern english translation by anonymous poetry. Zemeckis implements many of the same visual themes of his last project, the heart warming polar express, with varied success. It is the devout desire of this translator to hasten the day when the story of beowulf shall be as familiar to englishspeaking peoples as that of the iliad.
Starring the voices of ray winstone, anthony hopkins, robin wright, brendan gleeson, john malkovich, crispin glover, alison lohman and angelina. Grendel, a trolllike monster said to be descended from the biblical cain, is pained by the sounds of joy. Oct 24, 2010 thats why the most significant characters in this cast exist for one key reason. Character list danes scyldings scyld scefing a mythical figure, scyld was the founder of the tribe of the scyldings long before beowulfs story begins. Beowulf was distinguished among his people, the geats, for his bravery. In his youth, he personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture. Danes scyldings scyld scefing a mythical figure, scyld was the founder of the tribe of the scyldings long before beowulfs story begins. His ship funeral early in the poem is a significant ritual. Consequently, the poem ends in mourning for both beowulf and his nation. Despite his noble lineage read full character analysis the king of the danes, the son of healfdene, the brother of heorogar and halga, and the brotherinlaw of onela the swede. The present work is a modest effort to reproduce approximately, in modern measures, the venerable epic, beowulf. Beowulf then hands over most of his treasure to hygelac, who, in turn, rewards him. Who are the characters in the story of beowulf answers.
Beowulf is a 2007 3d computeranimated fantasy action film directed and coproduced by robert zemeckis, written by neil gaiman and roger avary and based on the old english epic poem of the same name. Youll get full access to our interactive quizzes and transcripts and can find out how to use our videos to earn real college credit. Hrothgar had once done a favor for beowulf s father, ecgtheow, and so, perhaps feeling indebted, and certainly inspired by the challenge of overcoming grendel, beowulf determined to travel to denmark and fight the monster. The heroic poem beowulf is the highest achievement of old english literature. The poem tells a story of a strong and brave warrior beowulf who defeats monsters and goes on to become king. Then hrothgar leaves hart, and so does beowulf also. The heynesocin text and glossary have been closely. Beowulf is the oldest surviving work of fiction in the english language so old, in fact, that the language its written in is barely recognizable as english.
Beowulf the protagonist of the epic, beowulf is a geatish hero who fights the monster grendel, grendels mother, and a firebreathing dragon. Inside, a dragon guards a treasure trove left there long ago by the last survivor of an extinct people. Beowulf is an old english story by an anonymous anglosaxon poet. Tolkien used many elements from beowulf as inspiration for his famous lord of the rings trilogy. But, although beowulf is a loyal retainer and distinguishes himself in hygelacs service, we suspect that his real loyalty is always to number one. Because his ruthless and miserable existence is part of the retribution exacted by god for cains murder of abel, he fits solidly within the ethos of vengeance that governs the world of the poem. The king praises beowulf and rewards him, and they feast in hart, and the tale of finn and hengest is told. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. He comes to help king hrothgar, whose army was being terrorized by grendel. Beowulf tells a story of having to fight monsters underwater, and then has to fight monsters underwater. The thief steals a cup, but the dragon discovers the theft and burns the land, including beowulf s meadhall. Second, by tellingor maybe embroideringthis story, beowulf gets a chance to boast about his prowess as a warrior.
In a hundred and twenty pages, you can experience the essence of beowulfs extraordinary story, from his. There is no evidence of a historical beowulf, but some characters, sites, and events in the poem can be historically verified. Beowulf is also willing to serve king hrothgar of the danes, because hrothgar once helped beowulf s father, ecgtheow, out of a difficult situation. Detailed analysis of characters in unknowns beowulf.
And, whether its interpreted by critics or enjoyed as an adventure story, beowulf has become one of the most important pieces of literature in english. Beowulfs characters have lifeaffirming values that readers can take away while reading this. Its creation dates to between the 8th and the 11th centuries, the only surviving manuscript dating to circa 1010. From all over geatsland famous warriors and earls gathered at the drinkingbenches of. With wiglafs help beowulf kills the dragon, but not before he himself is terribly wounded. Oct 17, 2018 there one of king hygelacs retainers, beowulf, heard the story of hrothgars dilemma. With the help of the young man wiglaf, beowulf kills the dragon. Accompanied by his kinsman wiglaf, ten warriors, and the thief, beowulf sets out to confront the dragon. It recounts two stories from the life of its eponymous geatish hero. Beowulf poem, story, summary, grendel, history, beowulf movie. Scylding the ruling clan in denmark, by metonymy also used to refer to the danish nation as a whole. The beowulf movie is fun to watch, but to really appreciate the beowulf story and understand the beowulf movie, one should read the original beowulf poem. Beowulf departs after a sorrowful goodbye to hrothgar, who has treated him like a son. Learn all about how the characters in beowulf such as beowulf and king hrothgar contribute to the story and how they fit into the plot.
The main characters in beowulf are beowulf, hrothgar, grendel, grendels mother, wiglaf, wealhtheow, and unferth. Beowulf is the prince and hero of the geats and savior of the danes. Beowulf study guide contains literature essays, a complete etext, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. Finn, a frisian lord whose tale picks up where the finnsburg fragment ends. It is preserved in a single manuscript that dates to circa and is known as the beowulf manuscript cotton ms vitellius a xv. Unferth alludes to the story of their contest, and beowulf then relates it in detail. Beowulf, knowing his death is near, decides to fight the dragon. It has also been the source for retellings in text john gardner s grendel 1971, for example, which takes the point of view of the monsterand as movies. A demon descended from cain, he preys on hrothgars warriors in the kings meadhall, heorot. But when beowulf and the dragon fight, all of beowulfs men flee except wiglaf. Sometimes the full story is told, sometimes just parts of the story.
In it, he, his wife wealhtheow, and his warriors spend their time singing and celebrating. Beowulf is a character on the abc series once upon a time. Wulf and eofor are two geatish brothers who are part of a bloodfeud between the geats and their. Thats why the most significant characters in this cast exist for one key reason.
First, it gives beowulf some of the characteristics of a folk hero or even a demigod. Beowulf rips off grendels arm and he runs back to his mothers cave, slowly dying. Son of scyld, the founder of the dynasty of scyldings. As a young man beowulf fought in many battles and as a result showed his great character to others. Beowulf tells the story of the kingdom of king hrothgar a delightfully campy anthony hopkinswhich is currently being terrorized by a monster named grendel crispin glover. Beowulf summary from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Beowulf grendel king hrothgar wiglaf unferth aeschere beow breca ecgtheow grendels mother.