Ian Faustin D.

Carino
Gr.9-STE-P

July 20, 2016

Mrs. Esteban

I. A.TITLE: The Battle With Grendel (from Beowulf)

B. AUTHOR: Burton Raffel
- Burton Raffel (born 1928) is a translator, a poet and a teacher. He has
translated many poems, including the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, poems by Horace,
and Gargantua and Pantagruel by Franois Rabelais. In 1964, Raffel recorded an
album along with Robert P. Creed, on Folkways Records entitled: Lyrics from the Old
English. In 1996, he published his translation of Miguel de Cervantes' Don Quixote,
which has been acclaimed for making Cervantes more accessible to the modern
generation. In 2006, Yale University Press published his new translation of
the Nibelungenlied.
II: CHARACTERS
Hrothgar
-Hrothgar appears in the Anglo-Saxon epics Beowulf and Widsith, in
Norse sagas and poems, and in medieval Danish chronicles. In both Anglo-Saxon and
Scandinavian tradition, Hrothgar is a Scylding, the son of Halfdan, the brother of Halga,
and the uncle of HrlfrKraki.
Grendel
-Grendel is one of three antagonists (along with Grendel's mother and the dragon)
in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf (AD 7001000). Grendel is usually depicted as
a monster or a giant, although this is the subject of scholarly debate. In the poem,
Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf.
Beowulf
-The protagonist of the epic, Beowulf is a Geatish hero who fights the monster
Grendel, Grendels mother, and a fire-breathing dragon. Beowulfs boasts and
encounters reveal him to be the strongest, ablest warrior around. In his youth, he
personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture. In his old age, he proves a wise
and effective ruler.
Hygelac
-Beowulfs uncle, king of the Geats, and husband of Hygd. Hygelac heartily
welcomes Beowulf back from Denmark.

III: KEYTERMS
Abysm of time
- a reference to the hellish chaos, the unfathomable chasm that spawned
Grendel's mother and other descendants of Cain.
Aelfhere
- some scholars think that this is a reference to Beowulf, indicating that Wiglaf
is related, perhaps a cousin.
Battle-flame
- the sword, Hrunting.
Battle-Scylfings
- Swedes. The Geats have a long feud with the Scylfings.
Battle-talon
- another reference to Grendel's claw.
Body-warden
- a kenning for a chain-mail shirt.
The bold Scylding
- the poet associates Beowulf with the Scyldings, perhaps out of respect for
his loyal service, even though the champion is a Geat.
Bone-house
- a kenning for the body.
Bright-Danes
- another name for the Scyldings, the reference to shining light.
Burnished
- polished until glossy.

Chant-wood
-a kenning for the scop's harp, with which he accompanied himself as he sang or
chanted a story-song.
Crest-glider
- a kenning for ship.
Kenning
a conventional poetic phrase used for or in addition to the usual nameof a person or thin
g, especially in Icelandic and AngloSaxon verse, asa wave traveler for a boat..
IV: SUMMARY
King Hrothgar, the ruler of the Danes, is troubled by the rampages of a demon
named Grendel. Every night, Grendel attacks King Hrothgar's wealthy meadhall, Heorot, killing Danish warriors and sometimes even eating them.
Hrothgar was a great warrior in his time, but now he's an old king and can't seem to
protect his people. Fortunately, a young Geat warrior named Beowulf travels to Heorot
Hall from his own lands overseas to lend a helping handliterally.

After explaining that he owes Hrothgar a favor because Hrothgar helped out his father,
Beowulf offers to fight Grendel himself. King Hrothgar gratefully accepts his offer. The
next time Grendel attacks Heorot Hall, Beowulf is waiting for him. Choosing to fight
Grendel in hand-to-hand combat, Beowulf wrestles the demon into submission and
eventually tears off his arm at the shoulder.
Mortally wounded, Grendel flees into the wilderness and dies. Beowulf, Hrothgar, and
their followers throw a wild party to celebrate. Hrothgar also gives Beowulf many
presents and treasures to reward him for his heroic defeat of the demon.
Unfortunately, Grendel has an overprotective mother who decides to avenge her son.
While all the warriors are sleeping off the party, she attacks Heorot Hall. But when the
warriors wake up, she panics and flees back to her lair, a cave underneath a nearby
lake.
Beowulf, his Geatish warriors, and some of Hrothgar's Danish warriors track her there.
Beowulf dives into the lake and finds the cave, where he takes on Grendel's mother in
another one-on-one battle. Seizing a nearby sword from Grendel's mother's stash of

treasure, he slays her, even though her poisonous demon blood melts the blade. When
Beowulf returns to the surface, carrying the sword hilt and Grendel's severed head, the
Danish warriors have given him up for dead, but his own Geatish followers are still
waiting patiently. When everyone sees that Beowulf has survived this second challenge,
there's even more partying and gift-giving.
Finally, the Geats take their leave of the Danes; Beowulf says goodbye to King Hrothgar
and sails back to Geatland, where he is a lord in the court of King Hygelac. Eventually,
Hygelac and all his relatives are killed in differentblood-feuds, and Beowulf becomes the
King of the Geats. Beowulf reigns as king for fifty years, protecting the Geats from all
the other tribes around them, especially the Swedes. He is an honorable and heroic
warrior-king, rewarding his loyal thanes (warrior lords) and taking care of his people.
But one day, Beowulf finally meets his match: a dragon, woken by a thief stealing a
goblet, begins attacking the Geats, burning villages and slaughtering people. Beowulf
takes a group of eleven trusty warriors, plus the thief who knows where the dragon's lair
is, to the barrow for a final showdown with the monster. When they see the dragon, all
but one of the warriors flee in terror. Only one man, Wiglaf, remains at Beowulf's side.
With Wiglaf's help and encouragement, Beowulf is able to defeat the dragon, but he is
mortally wounded in the process.
After Beowulf's death, the Geats build an enormous funeral pyre for him, heaped with
treasures. Once the pyre has burned down, they spend ten days building an enormous
barrow (a large mound of earth filled with treasure) as a monument to their lost king.