Beowulf

Learn about a famous Anglo-Saxon hero: Beowulf

Before we begin, watch this short clip about the Anglo-Saxons: HERE

(Clicking on the links on this page will take you away from Ms. Rosen Reads. Ms. Rosen is not responsible for the content on other sites.)

Goals:

Participation: silently view the most famous story from Anglo-Saxon times.

Knowledge: know the basic plot and style of writing of Beowulf.

Attitude: show an in interest in how stories portray great themes of humanity.

Skills: be able to listen to a long story

Watch the story:

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Part Five

Part Six

What did you especially notice in this story?

Complete the following summary:

Beowulf is the first great work of _________ in the __________ language. It was an e________ poem and used a lot of a_________ . Scholars believe it was written in the _______ .

In the epic, a long story about a hero, Beowulf travels from E______ to D_______ to help a king. That king had saved the life of Beowulf’s father long ago, and Beowulf wanted to repay the favour, so he came and killed G________ , a monster that was taking everyone’s h__________ away and killing people. Beowulf also killed G______’s mother and then sailed back to E___________ .

Many years later, fifty years later, a th_________ steals ________ from a d__________ . Once again, Beowulf saves people, his own people. He kills the ___________ but dies.

The Anglo-Saxons admired s_________ , c__________ , l___________ and g_______ . Beowulf portrayed all these qualities in this great story still remembered today.

Evaluation: accurate in answers, spelling and punctuation; neat and attractive.

 

Observations from students who have watched this story:

– there was always someone who doubted the hero

– the first king did not sit on his throne when under seige from Grendel

– three monsters

– Beowulf was humble.

– good versus evil

– the king was kind and gave his people nice things

– even though Grendel’s mother was a monster, she still grieved over her son

– the necklace was passed on from person to person

– in many stories of dragons, all the dragons crave gold

– Beowulf lived much longer after the first two battles with Grendel and his mother

– the dead people floated down the river – when battling, the fire didn’t hit the gold

– Beowulf didn’t take his sword into battle with Grendel

– Beowulf went under water for more than a day against Grendel’s mother

– the land of the Danish is now called Denmark

– the colour of the blood varied: red versus black: mother versus Grendel

– the people didn’t want to believe the monster was a demon

– Grendel walked right back the first guy and went to the people who didn’t believe in him

– Grendel feasts on happiness

– Beowulf was trying to defeat Grendel’s mother, he took a sword

– when Beowulf was fighting the dragon, he was hallucinating that the dragon was himself

– Grendel’s mother kept coming back to fight again, she kept reappearing

– when the fisherman came, he was the first one to deny that the monster was a demon but he slowly gained respect for Beowulf

– there could be allusions to Christian stories such as the Passover

– when the man was drunk, Beowulf offered him more ale

– when Beowulf fought Grendel, he tore off his arm and hung it

– the monsters formed from Beowulf’s shadows

– Beowulf hung up the monsters and then they disappeared

– you shouldn’t ignore your problems; face them if you want happiness

– Grendel’s mother took his body and kept it with her…

– wine spilled on the ground like blood

– Grendel and his mother could possibly not exist

– The point of stories is to help us deal with our own psychological battles in life.

– only one soldier helped Beowulf

– the dragon was voracious: it wanted all the gold

– most of the soldiers ran off except one – Grendel was full of hatred = black

– mother was full of love for her son = red

– the dragon and it’s gold is like in the Hobbit movie

– every time when one of the monster died, it turned into dust and disappeared

– a necklace kept being passed along

– the monsters only came where there were feasts

– when Beowulf died, he wasn’t sad; he honoured death

– he would rather die in battle than live in shame

– Beowulf always kept a body piece to show the others that he had killed

– he was quite humble

– when he dove into the hole, he had to hold his breath for a day and later he climbed out: a myth

– Titanic and Journey to the Centre of the Earth are similar: diving into the depths

– everyone who ate with the king had long hair

– when the mother knocked him down, there was a sword… fantastical world of myth

– always slept on the floor
- Beowulf was very brave – he kind of looked like Thor – had a lot of alcohol

– Beowulf’s king didn’t want him to go but was proud of him

– the story is similar to Percy Jackson: he had to go into an underworld to get a pearl

– there weren’t many women

– at the end, all of the soldiers except one were cowards and ran

– they never trusted the peasant when he was scared

– only one person helped; the others ran

– at the first, there was a man who called Beowulf a traitor

– Beowulf wasn’t burned by the dragon three times until the very end, the fourth time

– Beowulf cut of the mother’s hands and she grew back

– Beowulf passes on the crown the brave soldier

– people had long hair like the Franks

– Grendel comes when there is happiness and joy among the people

– when the one man stayed to help, in the Bible only one man thanks Jesus and the rest leave

– Beowulf went on 3 missions

– after Beowulf dies, people build a mountain of rocks, a monument

– the setting was dark when there was a monster

– at the beginning, he didn’t want to use weapons

– on the sacred necklace, there were three medallions

– the hands and heads disappeared after being killed

– the thief fled from the banquet, stole from the dragon, the dragon awoke and came to destroy: greed

 

Print Friendly, PDF & Email