Beowulf Questions

Prologue

1)Shield came to be the ruler of the Danes by conquering each clan one by one till they all were forced to obey him and worship him as a King, this made him a ‘good king’.

Shield had been very specific on how he wished to be honored at burial.  His body was placed onto a long boat, then all of his treasures of gold and silver, precious gems and chalices, were loaded on top of him, as offering and to pay homage, then came the weapons, many sets of armor and different weapons used by the Danes were loaded onto the boat,  for he was a warrior king. After that the boat was set out to sea, to drift until it sunk, or was salvaged by someone else.

Hrothgar was the great grandson of Shield and a warrior who found great riches and fame in battle.

Heort is Attacked

1)  Hrothgar wanted to build a mighty fort like no other, so he went to building the mighty fort of Heort, a massive fort like no other.

 the Beast Grendel  hears the sounds of music and celebration from the fort, and due to its sensitive hearing became enraged and attacked the fort continuously night after night killing every warrior and bard in the fort again and again, however it did not attack Hrothgar or the throne.

The Danes turned to old stone idols and prayed to Gods that hadn’t been worshiped for years in an attempt to be free of the beast Grendel’s ravaging.

Hero comes to Heort

1) When Beowulf hears of the Danes problems with Grendel he ordered a ship to be readied and gathered his mightiest warriors to sail with him to Heort to defeat the great beast and help the King of Danes Hrothgar.

2) When the Geats first arrive in Denmark they meet a Danish Watcher that had been patrolling the coast, he confronts the Geats asking their business in Denmark, and why they seem ready for a battle. Beowulf replies by stating their business, they are Geats, he tells the watcher of his lineage his father’s father and his father. He then tells the watcher they have come to slay the beast that haunts the halls of Heort.

3) Hrothgar’s Hearld is a man by the name of Wulfgar, when he hears of Beowulf and his men he asks Hrothgar to give them audience and hear their plans. Hrothgar responds by saying he remembers Beowulf from his youth, and that the Geats are hardy warriors welcome in the halls of Hrothgar.

4)  Beowulf tells Hrothgar that he plans to defeat Grendel in single battle, no lives of any Danes will be risked, only his own and his men,  that he would purge the evil from Heort so that the Danes no longer fear it.

Feast at Heort

1) Unferth accuses Beoewulf of losing in a swimming race to a lesser man and that Beowulf would surely turn and flee at the sight of Grendel.  Beowulf replies saying that he only lost because he stopped to slay a monstrous fish along the way, and that he could best any man in swimming. This is an important chapter in the poem because it shows that he would give up a race and show that he can take a hit to his pride, if it means slaying an enemy of man, it also show that some doubt the hero and that he must prove himself.

2)  The Queen spent the feasting time passing drink to the guests of Hrothgar, Beowulf and his men, and wished them luck with their coming battle against Grendel.

Fight with Grendel

1) Beowulf does little to prepare for the battle with Grendel other then enter Heort, he strips himself of his armor and weapons, wanting to fight Grendel with no armor or weapons, as it fights. This is the opposite of what would be expected, one would expect him to done more armor and weapons to fight the beast but that is not so.

2) Grendel  breaks through the front gates of the fort and immediately set upon one of Beowulf’s men and ate him immediately, upon trying to attack Beowulf the man jumped upon them.

They fought, grappling with each other, trying to tear each other apart with only their arms and bodies. Grendel leaves behind an arm at Heort for Beowulf tore it off as the beast tried to run from the battle.

Though Grendel escaped he bleed to death in his mother’s arm.