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Answer Key
This section provides answers to activities and the test in the order in which they appear in
the guide.
Novel Road Map to Success
Before We Start
Handout 5
I
1. Scyld-Scefing is the Danish Royal King from whom King Hrothgar is a descendent. He was a
good warrior king. He was orphaned as a child but became a great king.
II
1. Beowulf is the protagonist. He is a great Geatish warrior. He is the nephew of King Hrothgar.
2. Heorot is described as the most magnificent of mead-halls. It was built to draw warriors from
distant areas so that they could meet and exchange stories.
3. King Hrothgar is a direct descendent of Scyld-Scefing. He is a good king to the Danes.
4. Grendel is a lonesome being who envies the sound of revelry and celebration at Heorot.
5. Grendel’s ancestor is thought to be Cain—an allusion to the first murderer, marked by God in
the Old Testament.
IV
1. He questions them because his people are vulnerable to attack since Grendel has already killed
many Danish thanes.
VI
1. Wulfgar thinks Beowulf is to be trusted and is a noble warrior who means no harm to the
Danes.
VII
1. King Hrothgar knew Beowulf’s father. Beowulf says that he is the son of Ecgtheow and owes
his loyalty to Hygelac.
2. Answers will vary, but the idea is that Fate is actually the ruling factor in what happens in a
warrior’s life, not his own decisions.
IX
1. Unferth is jealous of Beowulf and tries to show a weakness in Beowulf’s reputation. Beowulf
responds by pointing out the fact that Unferth has been unable or unwilling to fight Grendel
for the safety of his king and countrymen.
X
1. She is a generous woman who serves the thanes with great skill. She is pleased that Beowulf
has come to their aid.
XI
1. Beowulf wonders how he will defeat Grendel.
XII
1. Grendel approaches Heorot in cover of darkness.
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XIII
1. Beowulf does not use a weapon but brute strength alone which he uses to tear the arm of
Grendel from his body, mortally wounding Grendel.
2. He keeps the shoulder socket and clawed arm of Grendel.
XIV
1. Because the Danish people loved King Hrothgar and owed their allegiance to him.
2. Because Sigemund’s slaying of the dragon is very much like Beowulf’s slaying of Grendel.
XV
1. King Hrothgar rewards Beowulf with gold, armor, and other loot. He gives Beowulf eight fine
horses as well. Wealtheow gives Beowulf a torque (golden collar) and a suit of mail (armor).
XVII
1. Finn is King of the Frisians, a neighboring tribe of the Danes (much like Geats). He married
Hildeburh, a Danish princess. There was an ongoing feud between the Frisians and the Danes,
which started up again. After the attack, many were killed, but peace was patched up. The new
leader of the Danes was set upon revenge, which lead to the death of Finn. In the course of this
war, Hildeburh lost her husband (Finn) and her Danish brother and her son, whose bodies
were burned together.
2. Hildeburh is the Danish wife of Finn (leader of the Frisians). She suffers divided loyalties
between her own people (brother and son) and those of her husband. In the end she loses her
husband, brother, and son.
XVIII
1. Unlike Hildeburh, Wealtheow is a Dane married to a Dane: King Hrothgar.
XIX
1. The people are loyal to their king.
XX
1. Grendel’s mother is a she-monster. She wants revenge for her son’s death.
2. Grendel is a lonely wretch. He is supposedly descended from Cain, and so his fate is to kill and
be hated by all.
3. She murders King Hrothgar’s loyal servant, Aeschere. She carries off “the famous bloodstained
hand” of Grendel.
XXI
1. Hrothgar asks Beowulf to kill Grendel’s mother.
XXII
1.
2.
3.
4.
He means that every man dies. It is only in a glorious act that a man attains immortality.
They found the head of Aeschere.
The lake is depicted as a watery hell full of blood and monsters.
He must battle against monsters in the lake. He dresses himself in armour and takes with him
the sword Hrunting.
5. Hrunting has a history of helping warriors be victorious in battle. “It was an excellent old
treasure; the brand was iron, marked with poisonous twigs, hardened in the blood of battle. It
never failed any men in war who seized it.”
XXIII
1. a dwelling of monsters
2. He uses an old sword used by giants before the Great Flood.
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3. He cannot use Hrunting. The blade will not penetrate her.
4. They should take the gifts given by the Danes to King Hygelac and tell him how gracious
were the king and queen of the Danes.
XXIV
1. Many things. The emergence of monsters, a “sea-wolf” witch in the water, the time spent
under the water fighting, the giant’s sword.
2. He brings back Grendel’s head.
XXV
1. He gives credit to God.
XXVI
1. Unferth gives him Hrunting, the broadsword.
XXVII
1. He tells Beowulf not to let the victory of battle go to his head. Be mindful of too much pride.
King Hrothgar is showing that he has become a father figure to Beowulf.
2. Because Hrothgar very much wants to honor the deed done by Beowulf in killing Grendel and
his mother and giving him back his kingdom.
3. Hrothgar has been king of the Danes for fifty years.
4. King Hrothgar’s generosity indicates that he honors the Heroic Code in place at that time.
XXVIII
1. Beowulf gives a sword to one of the lowliest of Danes for his service in keeping watch on
Bewulf’s ship.
2. He gives him a sword bound with gold.
3. Though very young, she is not prideful but wise and high-minded.
4. Because he must convince his king that the Danish thanes mean no harm to them.
XXX
1. He brought honor to his own people by acting according to the Heroic Code and defeating
both Grendel and his mother in bloody battle.
XXXI
1. Beowulf gives his king all the treasures bestowed upon him by King Hrothgar. He gives the
gold torque (necklace) to Hygd.
2. Beowulf becomes king after the death of Hygelac and his son.
3. fifty years
XXXII
1. A goblet was stolen. The dragon hoarded the treasure for 300 years.
2. The dragon wakes up and finds some of his treasure missing and seeks vengeance from the
men of Geatland.
XXXIII
1. He refused the throne offered to him the first time because he wanted to stay loyal to the royal
lineage, but, at the death of Heardred, he accepted the throne as king of the Geats.
2. Heardred is misled by the Swedes and is attacked and killed, which begins war between the
Geats and the Swedes.
3. Answers will vary. Beowulf knows that he is “fated” to fight the dragon and even suggests early
on that he may not survive the battle. Beowulf still has a fiery nature and thinks he can win the
battle with the dragon. Beowulf has no choice since his character obeys the Heroic Code,
which says the king protects his people.
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XXXV
1. Because he knows that the dragon would defeat anyone else, and all the other thanes do not
have the courage and skill necessary to win against the dragon. More importantly, it is hinted
at the beginning of XXXIII that Beowulf seems to think he himself has caused the anger of the
dragon because he has bitterly angered God.
2. He uses Naegling.
3. They ran away.
XXXVI
1. Wiglaf is the son of Weohstan, a valued shield-warrior prince of the Scylfings, kinsman of
Aelfhere. The men of this time period considered the lineage of a man to be part of the man.
If a man comes from a line of skilled warriors, then he too will be a skilled warrior.
2. The sword (Naegling) is broken in fighting the dragon.
3. Wiglaf also follows the Heroic Code and is courageous and loyal.
4. Beowulf stabs the dragon, mortally wounding him, while the dragon bites down on Beowulf’s
neck mortally wounding him.
XXXVII
1. Beowulf asks to see the treasure so it will have been worth it to fight the dragon. In the Heroic
Code it is expected that a successful warrior should receive treasure as his reward for fighting
well.
2. Beowulf gives Wiglaf the golden torque (necklace) that had been given to him by King
Hrothgar’s wife and was to be passed on to each succeeding king of Geatland thus
foreshadowing the fact that Wiglaf might be the next Greatish king.
XL
1. It is better to show courage in battle and die fighting for your king or your beliefs than to run
in cowardice and have a ruinous reputation.
XLIII
1. Beowulf is laid upon a funeral pyre for all to see. The body is cremated, and a eulogy is said,
recounting the deeds of Beowulf’s life.
2. The thanes say that “among the kings of the world he was the mildest of men and most kindly,
most gentle to his people and most eager for praise.” Some students will agree; some will not;
answers will vary.
3. Answers will vary. Some students may say that Beowulf believed that he was as great a warrior
as he had been in his youth, he cared about the safety of his people, he believed that fate had
led him to this final confrontation with a dragon, etc.
Every Story Needs a Foil!
IX
Handout 1
1. Unferth is jealous of Beowulf.
2. Unferth does not have confidence as a warrior.
3. Unferth accuses Beowulf of lying or at the very least exaggerating the details of his race with
Breca.
4. Unferth suggests that Beowulf put his friend’s life in jeopardy so that he would be victor and
receive the fame.
5. The custom is that a guest in your own “home” should be treated with respect.
6. Unferth thinks Beowulf will die.
7. Unferth lacks the courage that Beowulf has.
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