Beowulf (Characters, themes, symbols etc)

Question 1

Beowulf

Answer 1

• The protagonist of the epic
• Prince of Geatland
• ## Travels from Geatland to Denmark to kill Grendel

Question 2

King Hrothgar

Answer 2

• The king of the Danes
• He is a father figure to Beowulf and a model for the kind of king that Beowulf becomes.

Question 3

Grendel

Answer 3

• A demon descended from Cain
• Hates the sound of laughter and festivity so he preys on Hrothgar’s warriors in the king’s mead-hall

Question 4

Grendel’s Mother

Answer 4

• ## An unnamed swamp-hag

Question 5

The Dragon

Answer 5

An ancient, powerful serpent, the dragon guards a horde of treasure in a hidden mound. Beowulf’s fight with the dragon constitutes the third and final part of the epic.

Question 6

Unferth

Answer 6

A Danish warrior who is jealous of Beowulf, Unferth is unable or unwilling to fight Grendel, thus proving himself inferior to Beowulf.

Question 7

Wiglaf

Answer 7

A young kinsman and retainer of Beowulf who helps him in the fight against the dragon while all of the other warriors run away. Wiglaf adheres to the heroic code better than Beowulf’s other retainers, thereby proving himself a suitable successor to Beowulf.

Question 8

Theme: Fame, Pride and Shame

Answer 8

The warriors of Beowulf seek fame through feats of strength, bravery in the face of danger, an utter disdain for death, as well as by boasting about their feats of strength, bravery, and disdain for death. The quest for fame is of the utmost importance to a warrior trying to establish himself in the world.

Yet the quest for fame can lead to harm in two very different ways. First, a quest for fame can easily succumb to pride. Both pride and fame involve a desire to be great, but while fame involves becoming great in order to bring strength and power to one’s people, pride involves a desire to be great no matter what. Put another way, fame in Beowulf is associated with generosity and community while pride is associated with greed and selfishness. Second, a man who seeks fame can also bring shame to himself (and therefore his family) if his courage fails him. And shame, in Beowulf, is not mere embarrassment. It’s a kind of curse that broadcasts to the world that you, your family, and your people lack the courage, will, or might to protect yourselves. When Wiglaf rebukes Beowulf’s men for fleeing in the face of the dragon, he does not merely say that they have shamed themselves. Rather, he implies that their shame is bound to bring ruin down the entire Geatish people.

Question 9

Theme: The Importance of Establishing Identity

Answer 9

Identity, shaped by ancestral heritage and individual reputation, is a central theme in Beowulf. Lineage is paramount in this world, where characters are constantly referred to as their father’s son. Family history is crucial due to the poem’s focus on kinship bonds, with characters striving to uphold the valorous deeds of their ancestors. While heritage provides behavioral models, a good reputation is vital for solidifying one’s identity. For instance, Shield Sheafson, the progenitor of the Danish royal line, lacked a father figure, relying on heroic deeds to establish himself. In this pagan warrior culture, fame serves as a means of ensuring one’s memory lives on after death, a concern in a world haunted by mortality.

Question 10

Theme: Evil

Answer 10

Many readers have seen Beowulf’s monsters as embodiments of evil, representing the idea that evil is a mysterious, inhuman force. All three monsters emerge from darkness, inflicting fear and suffering on the poem’s human characters. Grendel, in particular, is closely allied with the forces of evil. He is a “fiend out of hell” (l.100) and a descendant of the cursed sinner Cain. However, none of the monsters acts out of sheer evil alone. Grendel’s mother is legitimately seeking vengeance for her son’s death. Even Grendel nurses “a hard grievance” (l.87), and we understand that even if his deeds are evil, Grendel acts out of isolation, envy, and fear. By giving the monsters comprehensible, human motives and at moments even showing us their points of view, Beowulf humanizes evil, suggesting that evil is both an unspeakable threat from the darkness and at the same time an ordinary part of human life. When we hear the poem’s stories of war between humans, of Beowulf and Hygelac emerging from the sea to slaughter their enemies, we might begin to wonder if there’s anything inhuman at all about Grendel or his mother.

Question 11

Symbol: The Mead Hall

Answer 11

The poem contains two examples of mead-halls: Hrothgar’s great hall of Heorot, in Denmark, and Hygelac’s hall in Geatland. Both function as important cultural institutions that provide light and warmth, food and drink, and singing and revelry. Historically, the mead-hall represented a safe haven for warriors returning from battle, a small zone of refuge within a dangerous and precarious external world that continuously offered the threat of attack by neighboring peoples. The mead-hall was also a place of community, where traditions were preserved, loyalty was rewarded, and, perhaps most important, stories were told and reputations were spread.