Free beowulf character map graphic organizer by storyboard. The poem explores his heroism in two separate phasesyouth and ageand through three separate and increasingly difficult conflictswith grendel, grendels mother, and the dragon. A teachers guide to the signet classic edition of beowulf. For long thereafter in the walled towns was beowulf, the loved folkking of the scyldings, known to fame among the peoples his father had gone elsewhere, the prince from his own, till in time was born to him the great healfdene, who, whilst he lived, ruled the scyldings in kindness, the ancient one, fierce in battle. Please practice handwashing and social distancing, and check out our resources for adapting to these times. Reenact the scene between beowulf and unferth through a puppet show or skit. These are someof the reasons why beowulf is a great example of an early english epic. From the old testament, he is the brother of cain, also killed by cain, progenitor of mankind and humanity goodness. Beowulfs father was the warrior ecgtheow, and his mother is a sister of hygelac.
About beowulf beowulf summary character list lines 1193 lines 194709 lines 710915 lines 9161250 lines 12511649 lines 16501887 lines 18882199 lines 22002537 lines 25382819 lines 28203182 related links citations. Despite his noble lineage read full character analysis the king of the danes, the son of healfdene, the brother of heorogar and halga, and the brotherinlaw of onela the swede. From beowulf a verse translation, a norton critical edition. Beowulf s father, hygelacs brotherinlaw, and hrothgars friend. Beowulf is a geatish hero who becomes king after defeating. Monkeynotes study guide summarybeowulfcharacter analysis. Tolkien was a professor of anglosaxon at oxford university, and an authority on beowulf. File is in a pdf so all images and text are embedded. Beowulf is also willing to serve king hrothgar of the danes, because hrothgar once helped beowulf s father, ecgtheow, out of a difficult situation. Beowulfs transformation into an unheroic hero the artifice. Carries a long knife to compensate for feelings of inadequacy. As the title character of the old english epic beowulf, hes a classic epic hero. See more ideas about beowulf, teaching and teaching resources. Cain biblical character described as an ancestor of grendel who is infamous for killing his brother abel, the first murder.
Get the entire beowulf litchart as a printable pdf. Beowulf activities and projects houston county high school. What is produced by this daring feat is an interpretation that seems to combine ideas and characteristics from the old. Beowulf study guide from litcharts the creators of.
Beowulf, everyone now knows you very well, and you are popular wherever you go. Creately diagrams can be exported and added to word, ppt powerpoint, excel, visio or any other document. Beowulf s boasts and encounters reveal him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around. This map shows the different peoples and territories of ancient scandanavia. Beowulf exemplifies the traits of the perfect hero.
Beowulfs boasts and encounters reveal him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around. He fights grendel, grendels mother, and a fire breathing dragon. In his final moments, beowulf gives wiglaf his battle armor. The king, myself, promises to conserve truth and justice, respect the tradition. A number of origins have been proposed for the name beowulf beowulf. I uphold that this man is born differently than others. Summaries of beowulf lectures introduction to beowulf. Roger zemeckis filmic reimagining of beowulf appears to wrestle with the notion of transcribing a medieval anglosaxon piece of epic poetry onto screen for modern day audiences approval.
The danes suffer for many years until a young, geatish warrior named beowulf takes on the challenge of defeating grendel. Beowulfs father, hygelacs brotherinlaw, and hrothgars friend. His novels the hobbit and the lord of the rings trilogy are steeped in the mythology and culture in which. Beowulf study guide from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. Beowulf character map teaching beowulf to my pre ap class after christmas break. Although we can view these three encounters as expressions of the heroic code, there is perhaps a clearer. Use this great character map worksheet to engage your students in the classroom. Wakes up in the middle of the night screaming shes gonna eat me. Characterized as a man with extraordinary strength and skills, beowulf proves himself, during the course of the poem, to be powerful, virtuous, and courageous.
Beowulf dives down to find her and kills her with a magical sword. The present work is a modest effort to reproduce approximately, in modern measures, the venerable epic, beowulf. Beowulf s first allegiance is to the king of the geats, hygelac. Use pdf export for high quality prints and svg export for large sharp images or embed your diagrams anywhere with the creately viewer. Beowulfs speech, thoughts, and actions show that beowulf did anything to succeed, leading him to become a selfish person. Beowulf s speech, thoughts, and actions show that beowulf did anything to succeed, leading him to become a selfish person. This etymology is mirrored in recorded instances of. Beowulf translated by burton raffel the selection opens during an evening of celebration at herot, the banquet hall of the danish king hrothgar. Regardless of all the faults encountered, with certain characteristics such as honor, courage, loyalty, and honesty, an epic hero can mean so much to an individual. The main characters in beowulf are beowulf, hrothgar, grendel, grendels mother, wiglaf, wealhtheow, and unferth. Top 10 problems women have about dating beowulf 10. Henry sweet, a philologist and early linguist specializing in germanic languages, proposed that the name beowulf literally means in old english beewolf or beehunter and that it is a kenning for bear. He helps beowulf defeat the dragon when the rest of beowulfs men run and hide.
When all of beowulfs other thanes, or lords, abandon him, wiglaf remains loyally with his king, encouraging and supporting him. It is about three thousand lines long and the story revolves around three battles. Beowulf character map with images teaching british literature. The anglosaxon world of beowulf beowulf libguides at. It is only with wiglafs help that beowulf is able to defeat the dragon. Wakes up in the middle of the night screaming shes gonna. From the tales of beowulf, le morte d arthur, and sir gawain and the green knight, an epic heros persona becomes the ideal image of an admirable character.
Summaries of beowulf lectures introduction to beowulf, september 10, 2014 keywords. The early english epic beowulf is filled with a marvelous hero, ghastly villains, far off lands, and deeds of great valor. The creators of sparknotes beowulf characters from litcharts. Recognized in literature as the great anglosaxon hero, beowulf can be considered a selfish hero. Through his strength, honor, and the way he rules his kingdom, beowulf demonstrates that he possesses the qualities of an epic hero. Beowulf shares characteristics with many old english epic poems. Jan 3, 20 beowulf character map teaching beowulf to my pre ap class after christmas break. Beowulf character map teaching beowulf to my pre ap class. The hero of beowulf, beowulf is a geatish warrior loyal to his king, hygelac. But whats most interesting is to watch his heroism progress and mature throughout the poem. Use pdf export for high quality prints and svg export for large sharp images or embed your diagrams anywhere with the. Whatever happens, you never lose your presence of mind, and you are intelligent and definite. Beowulf s father was the warrior ecgtheow, and his mother is a sister of hygelac.
Pd1923 the most logical beowulf character to start with is the man himselfbeowulf. He shows just how much he lives up to the anglosaxon beliefs. Beowulf the protagonist of the epic, beowulf is a geatish hero who fights the monster grendel, grendels mother, and a firebreathing dragon. Occasionally a deviation has been made, but always for what seemed. Once students seem familiar with the concepts of alliteration and kenning, have them identify three examples of each. All contain heroic boasting, verbal taunting, and a hero with a troubled youth. May include paintings, drawings, papiermache, and costume sketches. Beowulfs whole mission in hart was the discharge of a solemn obligation of help from the strong to the weak. Its creation dates to between the 8th and the 11th centuries, the only surviving manuscript dating to circa 1010. The geats, beowulfs people, lived on what is now the tip of modernday sweden designated by the dragon on this map. Learn the roles and relationships of the characters in beowulf, and how they contribute to the plot. Beowulfs transformation into an unheroic hero ray winston as beowulf. Wiglaf the only thane to stand with beowulf against the dragon, he is the geats future king and a symbol of loyalty within the socialpolitical structure of the. Jun 19, 2016 lesson materials for beowulf, available on teacherspayteachers.
Beowulf an anglosaxon epic poem, translated from the heynesocin text by lesslie hall author. Beowulf activities and projects construct a model of herot i. Beowulf characters from litcharts the creators of sparknotes. In the epic, our hero beowulf journeys to the danish king hrothgars palace heorot, shown within the circle on the map to defeat the monster grendel. He is known as one of the first great kings of the danes. Create a video or comic book relating the battle between beowulf and grendels mother create a representation model, drawing, etc.
Describe the battle in words of beowulf, wiglaf, and one of the geats who witnessed the event. Its beowulf, a medieval geatish warrior willing to take on any c. When all of beowulf s other thanes, or lords, abandon him, wiglaf remains loyally with his king, encouraging and supporting him. Mythical son of edgetho, higlacs nephew and followerbound warrior. His novels the hobbit and the lord of the rings trilogy are steeped in the mythology and culture in which beowulf is set.
Beowulf a mighty warrior and noble individual, the poems hero, with the strength of 30 in his handgrip, comes to the aid of hrothgars danes. Killing your kin was the greatest sin in anglosaxon culture. He helps beowulf defeat the dragon when the rest of beowulf s men run and hide. What are beowulfs thoughts as he waits for grendels arrival. Beowulf is one of the most famous poems in old english. Iso88591 start of this project gutenberg ebook beowulf produced by david starner, dainis millers and the online. Beowulf organizing unit plan beowulf is an epic poem that, as an epic, has a certain complexity and it is often challenging length for a reader not familiar with this particular genre. In the lands of the danes modernday denmark, a terrible beast, grendel, plagued the kingdom of hrothgar and his people.
Breca beowulfs childhood friend who competed with him in a swimming match. Outside in the darkness, however, lurks the monster grendel, a murderous creature who poses a great danger to the people inside the banquet hall. Beowulf characters, places, terms flashcards quizlet. Wiglaf is a trusted companion and a cousin of beowulf. When beowulf the geat hears in gautland of the raids of grendel upon hart, he commands his folk to make ready a boat that he may fare across the sea to the help of hrothgar, because he was lacking in warriors. In his youth, he personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture.
Beowulf is an epic because it has action that consists of deeds of great valor, the setting of. Old english, translation, kingship most of this class was background to old english and to the poem, but there are a few useful things to remember about old english poetry and about beowulf we talked about what it means to translate a work, in terms of language old. As beowulf is dying, he gives his golden necklace, called a torque, to wiglaf, probably symbolizing the transfer of power from the dying king to his chosen successor. It has reached national epic status in england although its setting is scandinavia, not the british isles. In the poem, beowulf, a warrior from geats comes to the. Beowulf, prince of the geats, has many fine qualities. There is often a character flaw or other weakness which brings problems to the epic hero.
Beowulf starts out as a confident maybe too confident. Although there is no evidence to show that beowulf is an actual historical character, other names mentioned in the poem are certainly historical, including hygelac, king of the geats. Beowulf is the protagonist and main character of the poem. This worksheet is adaptable to suit your specific needs in the classroom. Have students track various character traits, important quotes, and more while reading.