Perils in the Dark: Beowulf's Battle Against Grendel

Beowulf and his men await the feared monster Grendel in the hall of Heorot, knowing the dangers that lurk in the night. As Grendel approaches, the descriptions of his menacing presence and the harrowing events that unfold set the stage for an epic confrontation. Through vivid imagery and careful choice of words, the author conveys the tense atmosphere and the looming threat faced by Beowulf and his companions.

• Beowulf
• Grendel
• Heroism
• Battle
• Epic

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1. WALT Identify how meaning is enhanced through choice of words and phrases Recap: In the last lesson, we discovered that Beowulf was a famous and brave warrior who has come from the land of the Geats (modern-day Sweden) to help the king of the Danes, Hrothgar. Hrothgar believes that maybe Beowulf alone has the strength to defeat the monster Grendel who is killing his people every night. Beowulf is left with his companions at night to guard the hall of Heorot and wait for Grendel s attack. How do you think they would have been feeling? What would have worried them? What would have given them hope? _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________

2. So Beowulf went to his bed, and his men too, but in truth they slept only fitfully, for there was not one of them, not Beowulf himself even, who could be certain how the night would end, whether any of them would ever again see the light of dawn. They knew well enough how many brave Danes this Grendel creature had dragged lifeless and bleeding from Heorot, how unlikely it was that some, or all of them, would ever again see their hearth and home. 1) What does the word fitfully tell you about how the men slept? ____________________________ 2) Why are they worried that it is unlikely that they will see their homes again ? ________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 3) Instead of saying daylight , the author uses the phrase the light of dawn how do you think this contributes to the effect of his words? ______________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ 4) The author uses a contrast between two phrases lifeless and bleeding and hearth and home explain why these two ideas are opposites __________________________________________________.

3. Up from his lair and through the shadows came Grendel, this stalker of the night, while in Heorot the warriors lay turn-tossed in their sleep Grendel came gliding through swirling moorland cloud-mists, death-dealing in his hate-filled heart, thirsting to kill again that night as he had so often before. Rage-wracked, on wreckage bent, Grendel ripped open the iron-studded doors they were no hindrance to him. He scanned the dark hall through fire-blazing eyes, saw the slumbering thanes, still drowsy in sleep, the solitary startled sentry, the whole war-band. 1) How is Grendel described as moving in line 3 ? What sort of creature does this make you think he is? ____________________________________________________________________________ 2) Look at the phrases below. What do they have in common ? turn-tossed, cloud-mists, death-dealing, hate-filled, rage-wracked, iron-studded, fire-blazing, war- band ____________________________________________________________________________ 3) Look up the meaning of the word wreckage . Now consider what is the effect of the phrase rage-wracked, on wreckage bent? ___________________________________________________________________________

4. Beowulfs look-out man, Handscio, is killed and eaten by Grendel before Beowulf can stop him then he turns on Beowulf himself But now he was met with a grip of steel, a grip harder, tighter than he had ever known, that seized him, held him fast by the arm. Locked in the vice of this grip, he could not break free, however much he struggled, and he knew at once he had met his match. Fear of this death drove him mad with anger, and anger only made him stronger; he would fight to the death to save himself. He would never give in. It was amazing that the great hall of Heorot was not split asunder that night, so ferocious was the wrestling between these two giants. Gold-worked trappings and iron braces, all well made and sturdy, simply snapped and buckled as the two of them in deadly earnest wrestled and grappled and struggled with each other. How is the strength of Beowulf s grip described ? Can you find another example in the passage where the strength of the wrestlers is described in a similar way ? ______________________ _________________________________________________________________________

5. Beowulfs remaining friends dashed to help him, drawing their swords They were not to know, Beowulf s battle-friends, that no man-made sword, no steel could pierce this cruel creature s enchanted hide. Only pure strength could end his unnatural life. Grendel understood this, and he knew he was weakening, that his end must be near. Great-hearted Beowulf, sensing his sagging strength, had him still by the arm, now he twisted it and turned it until the shoulder muscles split apart, the tendons snapped, the bone joints burst, and Grendel s arm was ripped and wrenched, bleeding, from his body. Then Grendel fled, armless and half-dead already from Heorot. Over the moors he staggered and stumbled, through the fens back to his den, knowing all the while that this was his last day on earth, that his life s blood was draining from him. So Beowulf the Good had triumphed in his bitter fight with Grendel. This climactic passage contains a lot of near-repetitions. For example, in line 1, no man-made sword, no steel or in line 3 he was weakening, his end must be near. I have highlighted some more near-repetitions and you might find more of them ! Why do you think the author has chosen to include them ? What do they add to the drama of the description ? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

6. In Beowulf, the author contrasts long sentences with lots of clauses with short sentences. This makes the short sentences, and the important messages in them, really stand out. Look back at slides 4 and 5. Can you find two examples of a long descriptive sentence followed by a short sentence ? Which do you think is most effective ? _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________