Chapters 1-2:

Country: Denmark

Meadhall (central place where people gather): Herot

King: Hrothgar (king of Danes)

Villain: Grendel

What’s Happening: Grendel has been taking and killing 30 men during the night for 12 years and wouldn’t stop no matter what was offered. This made everyone very scared of Grendel, even the king, as he mourns the loss of his people. Grendel lives in Herot and continues to kill, but doesn’t touch the king.

Chapters 3-6:

Call to Adventure: Beowulf hears about how Grendel has been killing and decides to go

Guardian of the Threshold: A lieutenant stops Beowulf and questions who he is/why he’s there

Danish coast guard/lieutenant shows courage and loyalty and helps us characterize Beowulf

Beowulf meets about lieutenant (king’s right-hand man) then meets the king

Hero/Villain Battle: Grendel is a threat to the whole country because of his killing. He brings fear to everyone and will most likely have to battle Beowulf

Motivation: Beowulf’s motivation is glory and fame in defeating Grendel

Super-abilities: Fighting abilities (fought sea monsters and giants) and supernatural courage

Beowulf: Fearless, confident, believes in fate, readiness for death, honorable

Chapters 8-14:

Unferth: Denmark’s greatest fighter

Unferth feels threatened and tries to get under Beowulf’s skin by shaking his confidence and scaring him. Beowulf claps back by telling a dramatic story of the swimming match.

Flaw: Beowulf’s arrogance and confidence. The more people praise him the larger his ego gets which can hurt him because he believes that he can conquer anything when he really might not be able to

Beowulf and the Geats sleep in Herot to wait for Grendel. Grendel eats one of the Geats and then tries to eat Beowulf but Beowulf is awake. Grendel is scared of Beowulf. The battle is so intense that it shakes Herot. Grendel looks like he’s losing.

Sigmund is a good king, who we should all try to be. Hermond was a bad king who was vain, put his own legacy before his people, so we should try not to be him. Society values leaders like Sigmund.

Beowulf doesn’t kill Grendel. He rips his arm off and Grendel runs away. Everyone is very grateful for Beowulf, celebrating him as a hero. The king tells Beowulf he loves him as a son and that he will give him whatever he wants. Beowulf responds by saying he wished he had Grendel’s whole body to show everyone the pain he felt.

The society values loyalty and shows that by rewarding others with praise and treasure to show their gratitude. The king tells Beowulf that he’s like a son to him and wants to bring him gifts. Beowulf was courageous and loyal to the king even though he wasn’t from Denmark and was therefore praised.

Society likes having tangible objects/symbols to represent/promote a legacy. They hang up Grendel’s claw as a sign of victory.

Family legacy is important as everyone is introduced as someone else’s son and everyone wants to follow in their parent’s footsteps. Accomplishment driven society.

Nature is not forgiving and kind. It is shown as threatening and scary.

The society is very focused on status. No one is acknowledging the fallen soldiers who sacrificed their life as they are “just soldiers” while Beowulf is a prince.

Chapters 15-19:

Herot is cleaned and decorated with golden tapestries.

Hrothgar gave Beowulf a lot of gifts, more than anyone else (banner, sword, chain mail, flag, helmet).

Finn, a king is married to Hnaf’s sister. Hnaf is the king of the Danes. Finn’s army attacks the Danes and kills Hnaf, and Hnaf’s sister’s son. The two kingdoms try to make peace, but the Danes are still mad. Hengest kills Finn and the Danes take Hnaf’s sister and treasure back to Denmark.

Cultural Values:

• Revenge is fair and important

• Betrayal is bad; we need to honor alliances

• Trust should be earned

• Treasure, power = success

• Strategy; smart

• Patriotism; home country/Denmark/loyalty to country or family

Welthow brings up Hrothgar’s death and his own sons to remind him of them. He’s treating Beowulf better than he’s treating his own son. She’s reminding everyone including the king that it will be her sons that will rule Denmark, not Beowulf. This shows the role/power of women in this society.

Beowulf was given a chain mail shirt, golden armbands, and the most beautiful necklace ever by the queen. Welthow tells Beowulf to be strong, safe, and to watch over and guide her sons.

Women are described as having more diplomatic/political power not exactly physical strength.

Grendel’s mother wants revenge. She storms Herot and fights soldiers. She ends up taking Hrothgar’s closest friend and kills him. She took Grendel’s clawback. The king is very unhappy and calls for Beowulf who doesn’t know what happened because she was sleeping in another room.

This shows the power/role of women in this society. The queen is shown as a symbolic diplomat and Grendel’s mother is shown as a very powerful beast. They are shown as having influence over others as the queen shows her control over the king/hierarchy and Grendel’s mother shows her influence in killing more soldiers. Whatever they want, they get.

Grief left untouched can lead to a lot of pain. Grendel’s mom only kills one person. She lost someone she loves so she kills the one person the king loves. This shows the value of justice/revenge in the community. Grendel’s mom is somewhat reduced to just being an emotional mother.

Chapters 20-25:

Hrothgar is mad about Grendel’s mother so he sends Beowulf to kill her. Beowulf goes to the swamp where she lives. He wears armor and brings a weapon this time and goes to fight her. Beowulf swims to the bottom of the swamp and fights Grendel’s mother. The sword doesn’t work. She is about to kill him but can’t because the armor is too tough. Beowulf takes a sword from the wall and kills Grendel’s mother. He then chops off Grendel’s head and takes it and the sword back. The water is red with blood and all the Danes start to go back thinking he’s dead but the Geats wait for Beowulf. Beowulf emerges and brings Grendel’s head back to Hrothgar’s castle. Hrothgar warns Beowulf not to let fame and glory get to him.

Grendel’s mom’s home is a castle/fort-type thing underwater (lake is both on fire and wet??) and Beowulf can breathe. There’s a battle arena in her home. Fight lasts the whole day.

Superhero Characteristics: Beowulf’s fighting, swimming, and ability to hold his breath underwater

Beowulf brings back half of the sword as proof of his success. The evil of the sword is the thing that can kill the evil of Grendel’s mother.

Flaws: Arrogance

The way Beowulf prepares for this battle vs Grendel’s battle makes it seem that Grendel’s mother is more powerful than Grendel, Beowulf might not see this battle as honorable like the other, Beowulf was in her territory, he didn’t have a plan, underwater.

The story shows the differences between different people’s stereotypical views of women.

Mentor: Hrothgar

Chapters 26-32:

Beowulf tells Hrothgar that he is going to return home and if Hrothgar ever needs something then Beowulf will fight for him. This shows Beowulf’s loyalty and appreciation to Hrothgar as a mentor, which is a value in their society. Hrothgar thanks Beowulf and tells him that he will be a great leader and protector. Hrothgar gives more treasure to Beowulf, a way of showing his loyalty, and hugged him. This really shows the mentor-student relationship they have. It’s time for the student to become the mentor.

Hrothgar pg. 81-81:

• Praises Beowulf’s ability to bring people together which means he values alliances and relationships

• 1851-8152 encourages Beowulf to be a good king

• Hrothgar cries, hugs, kisses (emotional)

• Values strength and wisdom

• Recognizes his responsibility as King is to find and praise warriors

• He has to stay home and protect his people

The Geats left Denmark and arrived home. They unloaded treasure and went to Higlac’s house (the king of the Geats). Higlac is married to Higd (Hareth’s daughter) who is a young and wise queen, opposite of Queen Thrith who had men killed for looking at her. Thrith was married to prince Offa and became a more generous queen. Beowulf gives his king horses and treasure and his queen Welthow’s necklace and three horses. Higlac brought Boewulf’s grandfather’s gold sword and gave Beowulf seven thousand hides of land, houses, and ground. This shows how loyal and proud the king is of Beowulf. In their society treasure and praise is a sign of honor and loyalty.

Higlac pg. 90-91:

• Trusted his nephew

• Leaned on his strength in was

• Values military skills more

• More admiration, less overflowing love

• Respected by Beowulf and his people

Years later… Beowulf becomes king Between Grendel’s mom and now, Beowulf had fought in a battle where Higlac had died.  Beowulf didn’t become king at first. He advised Herdred until he died in a battle with the Swedes which left Beowulf to become king.

Beowulf was a good ruler until a dragon appeared with treasure in its lair (new villain). A man stole a goblet from the dragon while it was sleeping. This man didn’t steal because he wanted to. He was a slave and had been beaten and ran from his master. He found the lair and hid there. He didn’t want to wake the dragon, got scared, took the goblet, and ran.

The dragon destroyed homes everywhere and scared many people. The dragon planned revenge. This shows the eye for an eye/blood payment value again. The dragon wanted revenge for his goblet being stolen.

Chapters 33-36:

Beowulf had fought with Higlac against the Frisains until Higlac was killed by a sword. Beowulf escaped and arrived back in Geatland being the only survivor. Hidg, the queen offered Beowulf the kingdom because she didn’t trust her son Herdred to be able to protect their kingdom from invaders. Beowulf refused to be king while Herdren was alive so Herdred became king. Swedish exiles came and Herdred protected them. Onela, who had exiled them became angry and brought his army to Geatland. They killed Herdred and went back to Sweden. Now Beowulf is king.

Beowulf has seen a lot of death because of all the battles he has fought including King Hrethel who was basically his father and Higlac, his king. Because of all this experience, he can no longer look back on his past battles with a feeling of accomplishment. When he thinks of these battles he thinks of the people he lost. This makes him feel somewhat upset about the upcoming battle because instead of seeing it as an exciting event, he sees it as another battle that could cause even more death, possibly even himself. Instead of giving a heartwarming courageous speech before battling the dragon, Beowulf gives a depressing one about death which shows that he sees the world differently than he used to.

Changes in Beowulf/Beowulf as king:

• Proving himself, glory/fame, going down fighting, not just as weak old man

• Wants to stay warrior not be “king” but it leaves people vulnerable

• Legend-making/selfish about his fame

• Paves the way for others

• Not thinking about consequences, unrealistic

• Unable to work with others

• Doesn’t prep the people

• Doesn’t trust anyone but himself

• Brings armor, sword, shield (maybe he’s afraid)

• Emotions make him more human

Beowulf yelled loudly as he ran into the lair, which woke the dragon. The dragon’s poisonous breathe started pouring out and Beowulf took his shield and sword. The dragon charged and Beowulf stood there, standing his ground. He swung his sword and the dragon yelled, but it wasn’t as strong as Beowulf wanted as the sword didn’t cut through the dragon. The dragon leaped at Beowulf and he was ready to die. All his men ran to the woods except one.

Wiglaf is a soldier and is part Swedish.  He is very brave and loyal as he is the only one out of all of Beowulf’s men to stay to help his king fight the dragon. He tried to motivate the other men to come help by reminding them of how they all promised to help their king whenever he needed them. Wiglac said that he would rather die himself than watch Beowulf die, which shows how loyal he is to Beowulf and how much he cares about others. He then tried to encourage Beowulf by reminding him of how great of a warrior he was when he was younger when he knows he could die at that point, which shows how fearless and strong he is.

Beowulf tries to kill the dragon but fails. The dragon bites into Beowulf’s neck which sends blood flying everywhere.

Chapters 37-43:

Wiglaf kills the dragon by stabbing him in the stomach. Beowulf took a dagger and cut the dragon in half. Beowulf felt the venom of the dragon in his veins and he knows he’s going to die. Beowulf says that he would have liked to give his armor to his son if he had one. He ruled the Geats for fifty years and no other king challenged him. He focused on his own kingdom and never started any wars or broke promises. This brings Beowulf comfort because he has never done anything bad so he knows he will go to heaven. He tells Wiglaf to get the treasure because he wants to see it before he dies. He thinks it will make his death easier.

Wiglaf goes into the lair and sees the treasure. He sees a banner woven by the best weavers. He took everything he wanted and went back to Beowulf who was about to die. Wiglaf splashed Beowulf with water and Beowulf tanked God for him seeing the treasure and for allowing him to give it to his people. He tells Wiglaf to build a tower called Beowulf’s tower to remember him. Beowulf gives his helmet, rings, and mail shirt to Wiglaf and dies.

The other soldiers finally came and were ashamed. Wiglaf criticizes them as they were cowards and don’t deserve any of the treasure. A messenger told everyone that Beowulf was dead and that they should expect war/an attack because the kingdom is vulnerable. Wiglaf tells everyone to go get Beowulf’s body and bury the treasure with it because no one is worthy enough to have them. Everyone went and saw both Beowulf’s and the dragon’s bodies. Wiglaf makes a speech about how one man’s death can cause everyone suffering and how they can’t enjoy the treasure because of how they got it. Seven of the best men went and got treasure and wood for Beowulf’s funeral. They pushed the dragon’s body into the ocean. They build a funeral pyre with Beowulf’s armor and treasure and lit it on fire. Everyone praised Beowulf, telling stories of his life and adventures and mourned the loss of their greatest king.

Beowulf’s first motivation is helping people. Then fame. Then treasure.

Dragon is a symbol of empty, materialistic wealth.