Beowulf Test Review
Character: Who is Grendel's Mother?
An unnamed swamp-hag that fights Beowulf for vengeance of her dead son, Grendel. Beowulf kills her in the battle.
Quest
Quest is a long, dangerous journey or mission undertaken by the epic hero. The quest is the hero's opportunity to prove his heroism and when honor and undying renown. Beowulf and Barks on a quest to the neighboring Kingdom by defeating the Hideous monster Grendel.
Valorous Deeds
Cohen these actions demonstrate the hero's courage, strength, or virtue and make up most of the action in the narrative. For example, Beowulf's superhuman strength is shown when he fights the Savage Grendel with his bare hands and wins!
What are the elements of an Epic that set it apart from other types of stories?
Epic Hero, Quest, Valorous Deeds, Divine Intervention, and Great Events
The Epic genre is often divided into what two categories?
Folk Epics and Literary Epics
Examples of a literary epic include the following:
The Iliad and Odyssey by Homer Aeneid by Virgil Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri Paradise Lost by John Milton
Great Events
Important events from the history or mythology of a nation or culture often provide the themes and backdrop for the Epic narrative. The Iliad, for example, takes place during the Trojan War, a war in which the Greeks invaded and conquered the city of Troy.
Folk Epics
In ancient times, stories about heroes Riverside adore song as entertainment and passed down orally from one generation to the next. These stories were eventually unified into folk epic sand written down long after they were first composed.
Divine Intervention
In many epics, the hero received help from a God or another super Supernatural Force to takes an interest in his quest. In the ancient Greek epic The Iliad, for example, the goddess Athene helps the hero Achilles.
Anglo-Saxon Period
It is the earliest recorded time period in history. It ranges from 449-1066 and ends with the Battle of Hastings. Few people read during this time, so stories were passed down through the oral tradition. Because of this, there are often several different versions of the same story. Beowulf marks the beginning of English literature and was written in the Old English language.
Remember: Hrothgar
King of the Danes
Literary Epics
Literary Epics are written by individual authors, drawing on the style and conventions of the folk epic. Examples of a literary epic include the following:
Character: Who is King Hrothgar?
The king of the Danes. Grendel destroyed and terrorized his kingdom. He is a father figure to Beowulf.
Remember: Geats
The name of Beowulf's people
Remember: Wiglaf
The only thane who helps Beowulf fight the dragon
How does the plot begin?
The plot begins in medias res, Latin for in the middle of things. in other words, the reader joins the story and the thick of the action.
Character: Who is Beowulf?
The protagonist of the epic. Beowulf is an epic hero who defeated the monster Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon. Beowulf is a very boastful person, who is the strongest man alive.
Remember: Grendel
Monster spawned in slime
Epic Conventions
Most epic share certain literary or formal characteristics called epic conventions.
Type of Writing in an Epic Poem
Most epics are serious in tone and lofty in style, a technique meant to convey the importance of the events. Long speeches by the characters suggest an impressive formality, as do the lists, or catalogs, of battles, weapons, and royal gifts.
What is an Epic?
One of the earliest forms of literature is the Epic. An epic is a long narrative poem that recounts the adventures of a legendary hero in pursuit of a goal of national importance. The hero's accomplishments reflect the values of his culture and usually figure prominently in the history of the Mythology of his people.
What techniques, that is common to Anglo-Saxon poetry, does this poem use?
Alliteration (the repetition of initial consonant sounds) Kennings (compound metaphorical phrases) Caesuras (a pause in the middle of a line of poetry)
How does an epic open?
An epic opens by stating the subject or purpose, followed by an invocation of a muse or Supernatural Force who would help tell the story.
Remember: Denmark
Hrothgar's country
Character: Who is the Dragon?
A huge dragon that guards treasure in a hidden mound. Beowulf's fight with this dragon is his last battle as an old man in the third and final part of the epic.
Character: Who is Grendel?
A ruthless man-like demon, who's father is Cain. Grendel kills and eats Hrothgar's warriors in the king's mead-hall, Heorot. Beowulf kills Grendel as revenge for killing all those men and destroying the kingdom.
Examples of the folk epic include the following:
Beowulf (Anglo-Saxon) Gilgamesh (Sumerian) Mahabharata (Indian) Sundiata (West African)
Remember: Hrunting
Beowulf's sword
Epic Hero
The epic hero is the central character of an epic. This character is a larger-than-life figure, typically of noble or semi-divine birth, who hits his courage, skill, and virtue against opposing, often evil, forces. In the early English epic Beowulf, for example, the hero Beowulf as a young warrior of high standing who battles a brutal and bloodthirsty monster.
What is Beowulf about?
This epic poem is a narrative that relates the great deeds of a hero who embodies the values of their society. This poem is often discussed in three sections; the battle with Grendel is the first section.
