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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. After Beowulf tells the story of himself and Breca, what does he call Unferth?
(a) A truthful storyteller.
(b) A brave man.
(c) An idiot.
(d) A coward.

2. What wound does Beowulf inflict on Grendel?
(a) He chops Grendel's head off.
(b) He stabs Grendel through the heart with his sword.
(c) He rips Grendel's arm off.
(d) He cuts off Grendel's leg.

3. For how many years had Grendel plagued Hrothgar?
(a) 9 years.
(b) 3 years.
(c) 12 years.
(d) 50 years.

4. What does Hrothgar give Beowulf that is so tough no steel can cleave it?
(a) A shield.
(b) A plated helmet.
(c) Shin guards.
(d) A suit of armor.

5. What does Grendel want to do when he is first confronted by Beowulf?
(a) Convince Beowulf not to kill him.
(b) Kill Beowulf.
(c) Fight every man in the hall.
(d) Flee to his lair.

6. What are Hrothgar and his warriors doing when Grendel first enters Heorot?
(a) Sleeping.
(b) Feasting.
(c) Dancing.
(d) Arguing.

7. Who meets Beowulf and his men when they reach Denmark?
(a) Grendel.
(b) The Queen.
(c) The watchman.
(d) Unferth.

8. What does Grendel hate the sound of?
(a) Men's voices.
(b) The harp.
(c) Snoring.
(d) A warrior's battle cry.

9. Who do the Danes honor the one man in Beowulf's party who was killed by Grendel?
(a) With a poem in his honor.
(b) They do not honor him.
(c) By re-naming the hall after him.
(d) With a song by the minstrel.

10. During their swimming competition, what separated Beowulf and Breca?
(a) Nothing.
(b) A north-easter storm.
(c) The whales.
(d) A ship.

11. What instruments are playing as the Queen enters the hall?
(a) Trumpets.
(b) Drums.
(c) Harps.
(d) Flutes.

12. What decorates the goblets the Queen uses to serve Beowulf and his men?
(a) Copper.
(b) Nothing.
(c) Jewels.
(d) Carvings of dragons.

13. Who does Beowulf's guide tell him will meet them at Heorot?
(a) Grendel.
(b) Wulfgar.
(c) Hrothgar.
(d) Unferth.

14. How many serpents did Beowulf slay in his story of the swimming competition between he and Breca's?
(a) 6.
(b) 2.
(c) 15.
(d) 10.

15. Who stays awake waiting for Grendel while the other warriors sleep in the hall?
(a) Unferth.
(b) Grendel's mother.
(c) Hrothgar.
(d) Beowulf.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who tells Beowulf that Grendel can only be defeated by bare hands?

2. What are Grendel's arms described as being like?

3. According to Beowulf, in the story of his swimming competition with Breca, who cried out for help?

4. What does Hrothgar vow to treat Beowulf like after Grendel's defeat?

5. What does Beowulf say his spears are made of?

(see the answer keys)

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