Beowulf Packet 1 PDF

Name, date, period: ENGLISH 4 HONORS - RUTHERFORD Beowulf - Packet 1 Answer the embedded questions on a separate piece of paper and upload it to Canvas. Prologue Hear me! We've heard of Danish heroes, Ancient kings and the glory they cut For themselves, swinging mighty swords! How Shild made sla...

Name, date, period: ENGLISH 4 HONORS - RUTHERFORD Beowulf - Packet 1 Answer the embedded questions on a separate piece of paper and upload it to Canvas. Prologue Hear me! We've heard of Danish heroes, Ancient kings and the glory they cut For themselves, swinging mighty swords! How Shild made slaves of soldiers from every Land, crowds of captives he'd beaten 5 Into terror; he'd traveled to Denmark alone, An abandoned child, but changed his own fate, Lived to be rich and much honored. He ruled Lands on all sides: wherever the sea Would take them his soldiers sailed, returned 10 With tribute and obedience. There was a brave King! 1.​ Beowulf begins with a brief synopsis of the life and death of an ancestor named Shild. In a compound sentence with a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb, summarize that life in your own words. And he gave them more than his glory, Conceived a son for the Danes, a new leader Allowed them by the grace of God. They had lived, Before his coming, kingless and miserable; 15 Now the Lord of all life, Ruler Of glory, blessed them with a prince, Beo,2 Whose power and fame soon spread through the world. Shild's strong son was the glory of Denmark; His father's warriors were wound round his heart 20 With golden rings, bound to their prince By his father's treasure. So young men build The future, wisely open-handed in peace, Protected in war; so warriors earn Their fame, and wealth is shaped with a sword. 25 When his time was come the old king died, Still strong but called to the Lord's hands. His comrades carried him down to the shore, Bore him as their leader had asked, their lord And companion, while words could move on his tongue. 30 Shild's reign had been long; he'd ruled them well. There in the harbor was a ring-prowed fighting Ship, its timbers icy, waiting, And there they brought the beloved body Of their ring-giving lord, and laid him near 35 The mast. Next to that noble corpse They heaped up treasures, jeweled helmets, Hooked swords and coats of mail, armor Carried from the ends of the earth: no ship Had ever sailed so brightly fitted, 40 No king sent forth more deeply mourned. Forced to set him adrift, floating As far as the tide might run, they refused To give him less from their hoards of gold Than those who'd shipped him away, an orphan 45 And a beggar, to cross the waves alone. High up over his head they flew His shining banner, then sadly let The water pull at the ship, watched it Slowly sliding to where neither rulers 50 Nor heroes nor anyone can say whose hands Opened to take that motionless cargo 2.​ The lines above describe the rising fame of Beo and the death of his father, Shild. On the basis of this passage, describe in a single sentence how the Danes of the time honor the dead in a funeral—what is done with the body, and how is it accompanied? In the second part of the sentence, after a colon, describe your opinion regarding such funereal rights. (In an I: I compound sentence, the purpose of a colon is to introduce more specific or more opinionated material.) Chapter 1: Grendel Attacks the Danes Then Beo was king in that Danish castle, Shild's son ruling as long as his father And as loved, a famous lord of men. 55 And he in turn gave his people a son, The great Healfdane, a fierce fighter Who led the Danes to the end of his long Life and left them four children, Three princes to guide them in battle, Hergar 60 And Hrothgar and Halga the Good, and one daughter, Yrs, who was given to Onela, king Of the Swedes, and became his wife and their queen. 3.​ In oral literature, it is common for poets to describe family genealogies going back three or four generations: in this case, grandfather (Shild), father (Beo), and son (Hrothgar, a principal protagonist of this narrative). This is also true of the Homeric epics, where a character will talk of a father and grandfather, but in describing the time before that there will be recourse to divine ancestry (Zeus is many a hero’s great-grandfather). The reason for this is probably that in societies without writing and with low life expectancies, living memory only really lasts for two generations or so. An entire culture will only remember people and their stories involving grand- or great grandparents. For this question, discuss your own family history with a guardian, and document the oldest anecdotes you learn that you would care to share with your teacher. How old is your own family’s memory of its history? Then Hrothgar, taking the throne, led The Danes to such glory that comrades and kinsmen 65 Swore by his sword, and young men swelled His armies, and he thought of greatness and resolved To build a hall that would hold his mighty Band and reach higher toward Heaven than anything That had ever been known to the sons of men. 70 And in that hall he'd divide the spoils Of their victories, to old and young what they'd earned In battle, but leaving the common pastures Untouched, and taking no lives. The work Was ordered, the timbers tied and shaped 75 By the hosts that Hrothgar ruled. It was quickly Ready, that most beautiful of dwellings, built As he'd wanted, and then he whose word was obeyed All over the earth named it Herot. His boast come true he commanded a banquet, 80 Opened out his treasure-full hands. That towering place, gabled and huge, Stood waiting for time to pass, for war To begin, for flames to leap as high A powerful monster, living down In the darkness, growled in pain, impatient As day after day the music rang Loud in that hall, the harp’s rejoicing Call and the poet’s clear songs, sung 90 Of the ancient beginnings of us all, recalling The Almighty making the earth, shaping These beautiful plains marked off by oceans, Then proudly setting the sun and moon To glow across the land and light it; 95 The corners of the earth were made lovely with trees And leaves, made quick with life, with each Of the nations who now move on its face. And then As now warriors sang of their pleasure: So Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall 100 Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend, Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild Marshes, and made his home in a hell Not hell but earth. 4.​ In a compound sentence with a semicolon and a conjunctive adverb, explain what it is that seems to anger the monster, Grendel. He was spawned in that slime, Conceived by a pair of those monsters born 105 Of Cain, murderous creatures banished By God, punished forever for the crime Of Abel’s death. The Almighty drove Those demons out, and their exile was bitter, Shut away from men; they split 110 Into a thousand forms of evil—spirits And fiends, goblins, monsters, giants, A brood forever opposing the Lord’s Will, and again and again defeated. 5.​ In a compound sentence with a semicolon, contrast the genealogy of Hrothgar with the genealogy of Grendel. What is different about their ancestry? Chapter 2 Then, when darkness had dropped, Grendel 115 Went up to Herot, wondering what the warriors Would do in that hall when their drinking was done. He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting Nothing, their dreams undisturbed. The monster’s Thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws: 120 He slipped through the door and there in the silence Snatched up thirty men, smashed them Unknowing in their beds, and ran out with their bodies, The blood dripping behind him, back To his lair, delighted with his night’s slaughter. 125 At daybreak, with the sun’s first light, they saw How well he had worked, and in that gray morning Broke their long feast with tears and laments For the dead. Hrothgar, their lord, sat joyless In Herot, a mighty prince mourning 130 The fate of his lost friends and companions, Knowing by its tracks that some demon had torn His followers apart. He wept, fearing The beginning might not be the end. And that night Grendel came again, so set 135 On murder that no crime could ever be enough, No savage assault quench his lust For evil. Then each warrior tried To escape him, searched for rest in different Beds, as far from Herot as they could find, 140 Seeing how Grendel hunted when they slept. Distance was safety; the only survivors Were those who fled him. Hate had triumphed. 6.​ In a I, ccI; I compound sentence, explain the ironic juxtaposition of the material above with the conclusion of “chapter 1.” So Grendel ruled, fought with the righteous, One against many, and won; so Herot 145 Stood empty, and stayed deserted for years, Twelve winters of grief for Hrothgar, king Of the Danes, sorrow heaped at his door By hell-forged hands. His misery leaped The seas, was told and sung in all 150 Men’s ears: how Grendel’s hatred began, How the monster relished his savage war On the Danes, keeping the bloody feud Alive, seeking no peace, offering No truce, accepting no settlement, no price 155 In gold or land, and paying the living For one crime only with another. No one Waited for reparation from his plundering claws: That shadow of death hunted in the darkness, Stalked Hrothgar’s warriors, old 160 And young, lying in waiting, hidden In mist, invisibly following them from the edge Of the marsh, always there, unseen. So mankind’s enemy continued his crimes, Killing as often as he could, coming 165 Alone, bloodthirsty and horrible. Though he lived In Herot, when the night hid him, he never Dared to touch king Hrothgar’s glorious Throne, protected by God—God, Whose love Grendel could not know. But Hrothgar’s 170 Heart was bent. The best and most noble Of his council debated remedies, sat In secret sessions, talking of terror And wondering what the bravest of warriors could do. And sometimes they sacrificed to the old stone gods, 175 Made heathen vows, hoping for Hell’s Support, the Devil’s guidance in driving Their affliction off. That was their way, And the heathen’s only hope, Hell Always in their hearts, knowing neither God 180 Nor His passing as He walks through our world, the Lord Of Heaven and earth; their ears could not hear His praise nor know His glory. Let them Beware, those who are thrust into danger, Clutched at by trouble, yet can carry no solace 185 In their hearts, cannot hope to be better! Hail To those who will rise to God, drop off Their dead bodies, and seek our Father’s peace! 7.​ In a compound sentence with three clauses, explain what is problematic about Hrothgar’s response to Grendel’s persecutions. Chapter 3: The Coming of Beowulf So the living sorrow of Healfdane’s son Simmered, bitter and fresh, and no wisdom 190 Or strength could break it: That agony hung On king and people alike, harsh And unending, violent and cruel, and evil. In his far-off home Beowulf, Higlac’s Follower and the strongest of the Geats—greater 195 And stronger than anyone anywhere in this world— Heard how Grendel filled nights with horror And quickly commanded a boat fitted out, Proclaiming that he’d go to that famous king, Would sail across the sea to Hrothgar, 200 Now when help was needed. 8.​ Like the Homeric heroes, Beowulf moves with haste. However, how does his haste in departing now seem ironic in relation to the narrative thus far? Explain in a compound sentence including the word “ostensibly.” None Of the wise ones regretted his going, much As he was loved by the Geats: The omens were good, And they urged the adventure on. So Beowulf Chose the mightiest men he could find, 205 The bravest and best of the Geats, fourteen In all, and led them down to their boat; He knew the sea, would point the prow Straight to that distant Danish shore. Then they sailed, set their ship 210 Out on the waves, under the cliffs. Ready for what came they wound through the currents, The seas beating at the sand, and were borne In the lap of their shining ship, lined With gleaming armor, going safely 215 In that oak-hard boat to where their hearts took them. The wind hurried them over the waves, The ship foamed through the sea like a bird Until, in the time they had known it would take, Standing in the round-curled prow they could see 220 Sparkling hills, high and green Jutting up over the shore, and rejoicing In those rock-steep cliffs they quietly ended Their voyage. Jumping to the ground, the Geats Pushed their boat to the sand and tied it 225 In place, mail shirts and armor rattling As they swiftly moored their ship. And then They gave thanks to God for their easy crossing. High on a wall a Danish watcher Patrolling along the cliffs saw 230 The travelers crossing to the shore, their shields Raised and shining; he came riding down, Hrothgar’s lieutenant, spurring his horse, Needing to know why they’d landed, these men In armor. Shaking his heavy spear 235 In their faces he spoke: “Whose soldiers are you, You who’ve been carried in your deep-keeled ship Across the sea-road to this country of mine? Listen! I’ve stood on these cliffs longer 240 Than you know, keeping our coast free Of pirates, raiders sneaking ashore From their ships, seeking our lives and our gold. None have ever come more openly— And yet you’ve offered no password, no sign 245 From my prince, no permission from my people for your landing Here. Nor have I ever seen, Out of all the men on earth, one greater Than has come with you; no commoner carries Such weapons, unless his appearance, and his beauty 250 Are both lies. You! Tell me your name, And your father’s; no spies go further onto Danish Soil than you’ve come already. Strangers, From wherever it was you sailed, tell it, And tell it quickly, the quicker the better, 255 I say, for us all. Speak, say Exactly who you are, and from where, and why.” 9.​ Again the emphasis is on haste. On the basis of the speech above, why is Hrothgar’s “lieutenant” so anxious? Aside from Grendel, what other monsters inhabit the world? 10.​Do you like the story so far? Briefly explain why or why not