Beowulf Is The Longest and Greatest Surviving Beowulf Is The Oldest Surviving Epic in English
Beowulf Is The Longest and Greatest Surviving Beowulf Is The Oldest Surviving Epic in English
Beowulf Is The Longest and Greatest Surviving Beowulf Is The Oldest Surviving Epic in English
• The arm
trophy
hangs high
under the
roof of
Heorot.
Celebration
• The Danes celebrate the next day with a huge
feast featuring entertainment by Hrothgar’s
scop (pronounced “shop”), a professional bard
who accompanies himself on a harp and sings
or chants traditional lays such as an account of
the Danes’ victory at Finnsburh.
• This bard also improvises a song about
Beowulf’s victory.
Queen
Wealhtheow
• Hrothgar’s wife,
Queen
Wealhtheow,
proves to be a
perfect hostess,
offering Beowulf
a gold collar and
her gratitude.
Filled with mead (drink made from honey), wine, and great
food, the entire party retires for what they expect to be the
first peaceful night in years.
Revenge
• But Grendel’s mother—not quite as powerful
as her son but highly motivated—climbs to
Heorot that night, retrieves her son’s claw, and
murderously abducts one of the Scyldings
(Aeschere) while Beowulf sleeps elsewhere.
• The next morning, Hrothgar, Beowulf, and a
retinue of Scyldings and Geats follow the
mother’s tracks into a dark, forbidding swamp
and to the edge of her mere.
Heading towards the mere
Diving into the
mere
• Carrying a sword
called Hrunting, a
gift from the
chastised Unferth,
Beowulf dives into
the lake to seek
the mother.
Fight Underwater
• The slaughtered Aeschere’s head sits on a cliff
by the lake, which hides the ogres’
underground cave.
• Near the bottom of the lake, Grendel’s mother
attacks and hauls the Geat warrior to her dimly
lit cave.
• Beowulf fights back once inside the dry cavern,
but the gift sword, Hrunting, strong as it is, fails
to penetrate the ogre’s hide.
Encounter
• Beowulf wrestles with
Grendle’s mother
• The mother moves to
kill Beowulf with her
knife, but his armor,
made by the
legendary blacksmith
Weland, protects him.
Magical sword
• Suddenly Beowulf spots a magical, giant sword
and uses it to cut through the mother’s spine at
the neck, killing her.
• A blessed light unexplainably illuminates the
cavern, disclosing Grendel’s corpse and a great
deal of treasure. Beowulf decapitates the corpse.
• The magic sword melts to its hilt. Beowulf returns
to the lake’s surface carrying the head and hilt but
leaving the treasure.
Return to Geatland
• After more celebration and gifts and a sermon by
Hrothgar warning of the dangers of pride and the
mutability of time, Beowulf and his men return to
Geatland.
• There he serves his king well until Hygelac is killed
in battle and his son dies in a feud.
• Beowulf is then named king and rules successfully
for 50 years.
• Like Hrothgar, however, his peace is shattered in
his declining years. Beowulf must battle one more
demon.
Dragon
• A fiery dragon has
become enraged
because a lone
fugitive has
inadvertently
discovered the
dragon’s treasure-
trove and stolen a
valuable cup.
• The dragon terrorizes
the countryside at
night, burning several
homes, including
Beowulf’s.
The final fight
• Led by the fugitive, Beowulf and eleven of his
men seek out the dragon’s barrow.
• Beowulf insists on taking on the dragon alone,
but his own sword, Naegling, is no match for
the monster.
Wiglaf
• Seeing his king in trouble,
one thane, Wiglaf, goes to
his assistance.
• The others flee to the
woods.
Death
• Together, Wiglaf and Beowulf kill the dragon,
but the mighty king is mortally wounded.
• Dying, Beowulf leaves his kingdom to Wiglaf
and requests that his body be cremated in a
funeral pyre and buried high on a seaside cliff
where passing sailors might see the barrow.
• The dragon’s treasure-hoard is buried with
him. It is said that they lie there still.
Mourning
A dirge for Beowulf
• Song of
mourning