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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Who does Beowulf's guide tell him will meet them at Heorot?

2. What does the Queen give Beowulf and his men to drink?

3. Who is Wulfgar?

4. According to Beowulf, who was the first ashore in the swimming match with Breca?

5. What wound does Beowulf inflict on Grendel?

Short Essay Questions

1. What do Beowulf's people do with the dragon's treasure and why?

2. Why does the dragon wake up?

3. Where was the "tremendous sword" forged and who forged it?

4. According to Hrothgar, what cannot harm Grendel?

5. Once the Queen leaves Heorot, where do the Danes go?

6. What item lights Beowulf's way as he dives through the Grendel lake?

7. When do Beowulf and his men learn of the attack of Grendel's mother on Heorot?

8. What is the name of the man the watchman says will meet Beowulf and his men at the door of Heorot, and what is the man's position in the kingdom?

9. When Beowulf cuts Grendel's head from his body, what happens to Grendel's blood?

10. How do Beowulf's men react when they see that Beowulf is faltering during his battle with the dragon?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What makes Beowulf an archetypal hero? What characteristics does he possess? What are some of the things he does that show he is a hero?

Essay Topic 2

Why is Grendel's mother's lair so much like Heorot? What is the significant difference between the two?

Essay Topic 3

What does Heorot represent to the warriors? Why does it represent these things? How does it represent them?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 469 words (approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample