Beowulf: Summative Test

I. Characters/Literary Terms (1 point each): Match the word/name on the left with the
definition/description on the right.

____1. Kenning a The ruler of the Danes

___ 2. Caesura b. Beowulf’s homeland
____3. Alliteration c. a break or pause in a line of poetry

___ 4. Hrothgar
d. a descriptive device common in Anglo-Saxon
poetry
____5. Danish watchman e. Brings Beowulf to King Hrothgar when he first
arrives in Denmark

f. The repetition of consonants at the beginning of

words
___6. Geatland

II. Literary Analysis (1 point each): Read the passage and choose the correct answer.

1 With surfeit of slaughter sallying homeward

2 In dusk of the dawning, as the day was just breaking,
3 Was Grendel’s prowess revealed to the warriors:
4 Then, his meal-taking finished, a moan was uplifted,
5 Morning-cry mighty. The man-ruler famous
6 The long-worthy atheling, sat very woeful,
7 Suffered great sorrow, sighed for his liegemen,

7. The literary device evident in line 1 is

a. simile

b. kenning

c. alliteration

d. understatement

8. In line 5 the man-ruler famous refers to

a. Hrothgar

b. Breca

c. Higlac
 d. Wulfgar

9. In line 5 the man-ruler is an example of

a. kenning

b. alliteration

c. caesura

d. litotes

10. In line 3 the word prowess most closely means

a. skulking

b. murder

c. Strength

d. bravery

11. The Danes in the above passage can best be described as

a. remorseful

b. mournful

c. defiant

d. revengeful

III. Reading comprehension (1 point each): Choose the correct answer for each of the
following.

12. Grendel raids Hrothgar’s hall for

a. three years

b. six years

c. twelve years

d. eighteen years
13. Hrothgar’s great hall is called

a. Freaware

b. Weders

c. Herot

d. Wayland

14. Grendel is

a. a fire-breathing dragon

b. a descendent of Cain

c. an ogre

d. an outlawed Dane

15. Beowulf is

a. a Viking

b. a Dane

c. a Geat

d. a Saxon

16. How does Hrothgar know of Beowulf?

(A) Beowulf once proposed to his daughter

(B) Hrothgar was friends with Beowulf's father
(C) Beowulf had gained a widespread reputation after slaying a dragon
(D) He read about him on the internet

17. How long does Beowulf reign as King of the Geats?

(A) 30 years
(B) 40 years
 (C) 50 years
(D) 60 years

18. Who helps Beowulf against the dragon?

(A) Wulfgar
(B) Unferth
(C) Hrothgar
(D) Wiglaf

19. What is Hrunting?

(A) A mead-hall
(B) A sword
(C) A lake
(D) A helmet
20. Who is Beowulf's father?

(A) Edgetho
(B) Hrothgar
(C) Wulfgar
(D) Welthow
21. Where do Grendel and his mother live?

(A) In a palace
(B) In a mead-hall
(C) In a barrow
(D) In a lake
22. What is a scop?

(A) A mead-hall
(B) A poet
(C) A god
(D) A ship
IV. Reading comprehension (1 point each): For the following statements, mark “A” for
true and “B” for false.

23. Grendel is an evil monster who devours the Danes.

24. Hrothgar personally tries to fight Grendel.
25. The Danes endure Grendel’s torture for five years before they ask for help.
26. Beowulf goes to Denmark because he hopes to settle the feud between the Geats
and the Danes.
27. When he lands in Denmark, Beowulf is greeted cautiously, then warmly
welcomed.
28. As he did with Grendel, Beowulf insists on meeting the monster’s mother
unarmed.
29. Beowulf curses the dragon’s treasure because it costs him his life.

V. Anglo-Saxon background (1 point each). Choose the correct answer for each of the
following.

30. Which of the following groups did NOT invade Britain?

a. Angles
b. Saxons
c. Jutes
d. Swedes

31. By the year 550 ce. the native Britain’s had been converted to what religion?
a. Islam
b. Christianity
c. Buddhism
d. Atheism

VI. Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

32. In what ways is Beowulf an epic hero? (15 points)