Beowulf: An Epic Poem

Introduction
The story of the hero Beowulf (written as an epic poem)
is the only surviving complete poem from Anglo-Saxon
times. It is over 3000 lines long and was written in
Old English by an Anglo-Saxon poet (minstrel) or ‘scop’
(pronounced ‘shop’). The tale tells of the life and
adventures of one of the princes of Sweden, Beowulf,
who spends his time fighting monsters (Grendel
and his mother in particular) across Denmark,
Norway and Sweden (Scandinavia).

The Poem
The poem is set in three parts and opens with Grendel
terrorising the people of Denmark. In the nearby
country of Sweden, the prince of the Geats (a
kingdom in southern Sweden), Beowulf, hears of the monster and
takes his warriors (thanes) with him and sets sail to help the King (Hrothgar)
and his people.

Beowulf fights the monster in unarmed combat and after a long battle, he
eventually wins by ripping off its arm. The Danish people are overjoyed and
celebrate in the King’s hall with Beowulf, but Grendel’s mother has plans of her
own.

She takes revenge on Hrothgar by attacking the King’s hall, killing the King’s
best friend (Aeschere) and taking his body away, along with the arm of her
dead son. Beowulf follows her to her underwater lair and
fights another long and exhausting battle. At last, he grabs a
magical sword from her and kills her too. Beowulf and his
warriors set sail for home in Sweden.

50 years later, Beowulf is now king of the Geats and

his own kingdom is being threatened by a fierce
dragon. Once more, Beowulf takes his warriors and
sets off to fight. The battle is fierce and all of the
soldiers except one (Wiglaf) flee. Beowulf is fatally
wounded, but still manages to cut the beast in half
with his sword.

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A translation of part of the poem

Grendel the Murderer

{Grendel attacks the sleeping heroes}

When the sun was sunken, he set out to visit

The lofty hall-building, how the Ring-Danes had used it

For beds and benches when the banquet was over.

Then he found there reposing many a noble

Asleep after supper; sorrow the heroes,

Misery knew not. The monster of evil

Greedy and cruel tarried but little.

{Grendel drags off thirty of them, and devours them}

Fell and frantic, and forced from their slumbers

Thirty of thanemen; thence he departed

Leaping and laughing, his lair to return to,

With surfeit of slaughter sallying homeward.

In the dusk of the dawning, as the day was just breaking,

Was Grendel’s prowess revealed to the warriors.

When was the poem composed and written down?

In Anglo-Saxon times, poems and stories were told by a travelling minstrel
or scop as most people could not read or write. The poem must have been
passed down through the generations, being modified by each storyteller, until
the existing copy was written down by two scribes somewhere in Anglo-Saxon
England over 1000 years ago.

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 Beowulf: An Epic Poem

Questions
1. Which country and group of people was Beowulf prince of?


2. Do you think ancient Scandinavian countries had only one king or many rulers? Find
evidence from the text to support your answer. 



3. In the text, what are the sub-headings for? How does this help the reader?



4. Look at the poem in the text box; what are the unusual shaped brackets { } for? Where
might you have seen them before?


5. Look at the poem in the text box. Can you find and record words which tell you when the
monster arrived at the King’s hall to begin his attack and when he returned to his
lair (home)?



6. Using clues from the text, what do you think the words ‘reposing’ and ‘tarried’ and
‘surfeit’ mean? 


7. Why does each new line of the poem begin with a capital letter?


8. If the poem was not written down for many years after it was made up, how do you think
minstrels remembered it? How do you think ancient people communicated with each other
if there were no phones, newspapers or television?



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 Beowulf: An Epic Poem
9. How can historians tell how old something is by looking at the words? Hint – think about
the vocabulary that is written down.



10. How do historians know there were two people who wrote the poem?


11. Can you find six present tense verbs under the heading ‘The poem’ and record them in a
table. Can you change them to past tense and record them too? Think about how you will
set your table out.



12. Some scholars believe Beowulf was an ancient day ‘superhero’? Can you explain why they
might think that?




Extension task:
Do you think neighbouring countries should help each other out in battle, like Beowulf did
for his Danish friends? What could happen if they did not want to? Explain your opinion.

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 Beowulf: An Epic Poem

Answers
1. Which country and group of people was Beowulf prince of?
Beowulf was prince of the Geats in southern Sweden.

2. Do you think ancient Scandinavian countries had only one king or many rulers?
The text says the Geats lived in southern Sweden, so there must
have been more than one kingdom and more than one ruler.

3. In the text, what are the subheadings for? How does this help the reader?
The sub-headings tell you what the next section of the text is about. It
helps direct the reader to information they may be interested in.

4. Look at the poem in the text box; what are the unusual shaped brackets { } for? Where
might you have seen them before?
The brackets give more information about what is happening in the poem.
They are also used for directions and to give more information in plays.

5. Look at the poem in the text box. Can you find and record words which tell you when the
monster arrived at the King’s hall and when he returned to his lair?
The monster arrived at the King’s hall ‘when the sun was sunken’ and returned
to his lair ‘In the dusk of the dawning, as the day was just breaking’.

6. Using clues from the text, what do you think the words ‘reposing’ and ‘tarried’ and
‘surfeit’ mean?
Reposing means resting, tarried means to stay and surfeit means a lot of something.

7. Why does each new line of the poem begin with a capital letter?
In poetry, each new line starts with a capital letter even if it isn’t the start of a sentence.

8. If the poem was not written down for many years after it was made up, how do you think
minstrels remembered it? How do you think ancient peoples communicated with each
other if there were no phones, newspapers of television?
Minstrels told the poem so many times they memorised the words. They
travelled from village to village telling stories and exchanging news.

9. How can historians tell how old something is by looking at the writing? Hint – think about
the vocabulary that is written down.
Historians know by the words that are used, how old a piece of writing
is. Just like nowadays, words come in and out of fashion.

10. How do historians know there were two people who wrote the poem?
Historians looked at the style of handwriting and could tell it was by just two people.

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