Beowulf Test

The following test assesses your knowledge and

5. Which of the following is NOT an example of a
understanding of Beowulf. Read all the questions carefully
kenning?
and select the letter that best answers the question.
a) “helpless people”
b) “the Almighty’s enemy”
Part I: Vocabulary
c) “sin-stained demon”
d) “hell’s captive”
a) valor b) malice c) purge 6. What is the name of the hall built by King Hrothgar?
d) lair e) solace a) Herot
b) Hrunting
c) Higlac
d) Scylding
1. Most foils are characters included in a story so that
7. How are the Danes tortured for 12 years?
their _______________________ can stand out as a lesson on
a) They are at war with the Geats.
how NOT to behave when compared to a hero’s
b) Grendel’s mother is threatening them with revenge.
actions.
c) Grendel continues killing each night keeping them
2. It seems most “superheroes” act to ______________________
out of their hall.
the world of dangerous villains so it can be a safer
d) The warriors are not able to use their weapons
place.
against the monsters.
3. The soldier received the highest award for his
8. What biblical figure is Grendel connected to?
______________________ when he bravely faced terrible
a) David
odds while in battle.
b) Hrothgar
4. It seems odd that _______________________ is a word with a
c) Unferth
negative connotation when it is actually a place where
d) Cain
an animal goes to be alone, to feel safe and
9. Besides the noise of their merrymaking what is
comfortable.
another probable reason Grendel wanted to hurt the
5. Many lonely people find _______________________ in
Danes?
reading a good book that allows their mind to escape
a) They had built their hall on his land.
to another world or adventure, even if just for a little
b) He had been banished by both God and men.
while.
c) Hrothgar was his father.
d) They had attacked his mother.
Part II: Multiple Choice
10. What proof does Beowulf offer that he is up to the
challenge of killing Grendel?
1. Which of the following does NOT describe the time of
a) He tells stories of his previous battles with men
the Anglo-Saxon period?
and monsters.
a) Barbarism
b) He challenges King Hrothgar to a fight.
b) Romanticism
c) He pulls a sword from a stone.
c) Ignorance
d) He offers none, just his help.
d) Violence
11. What is the prior connection between King Hrothgar
2. What civilization claimed Briton and, in doing so,
and Beowulf?
introduced cities, roads, written scholarship, and
a) King Hrothgar paid a debt once for Beowulf’s
Christianity?
father.
a) The Vikings
b) Beowulf is a friend of King Hrothgar’s sons.
b) The Normans
c) King Hrothgar and King Hygelac are brothers.
c) The Romans
d) Beowulf is in love with King Hrothgar’s daughter.
d) The Angles and Saxons
12. Why does Unferth bring up Beowulf’s swimming
3. Which of these is FALSE about an epic?
match with Brecca?
a) An epic celebrates a hero’s deeds.
a) He is trying to convince Hrothgar of Beowulf’s
b) An epic is a short story.
skills.
c) The earliest epic tales survived as oral traditions.
b) He is jealous of Beowulf and trying to make him
d) Many epics were based on historical fact.
look bad.
4. In what language was Beowulf originally written?
c) He was present at the race and thought Beowulf
a) Old English
cheated.
b) Middle English
d) He knows the fight against Grendel’s mother will
c) Victorian English
be underwater.
d) Standard English
13. A character like Unferth is called a ___________?
 a) Protagonist d) Cut off its head and brought it to Hrothgar as a
b) Sidekick trophy.
c) Foil 21. How did Hrothgar reward Beowulf?
d) Stock character.
a) He passed his crown over to him.
14. When used to describe Beowulf, the phrase “the ruler
b) He sang a song in his honor.
of warriors” is called what?
c) He gave him treasures and gold.
a) a symbol c) a simile
d) He offered his daughter’s hand in marriage.
b) a kenning d) a greeting
22. How many years later is it when Beowulf is faced with
15. Why does Beowulf fight Grendel without a sword?
wanting to kill a dragon?
a) He doesn’t want his king to think he’s a coward. a) 20 years
b) Grendel doesn’t use any weapons, so it wouldn’t be b) 50 years
fair. c) 10 years
c) He knew about Grendel’s magical spell making d) 25 years
weapons useless. 23. Why does the dragon attack the Geats?
a) He needs food and desires human blood.
d) Both A and B
b) He is not being worshiped anymore.
e) All of the above c) A thief had stolen a cup from out of his treasure.
16. How does Grendel die? d) He is lonesome like Grendel.
a) Beowulf stabbed him with a sword called 24. In what way does Beowulf’s sword fail him during the
Hrunting. fight?
b) Beowulf uses a giant’s weapon that is enchanted a) It has a spell on it so that it can’t hurt the dragon.
with magic to slice his arm off. b) It breaks apart when striking the dragons scales
c) He is stabbed by Beowulf’s knife. and continues to break a bit more with each strike.
d) As he tears out of Beowulf’s grasp he is severely c) The dragon is able to melt the sword with its fiery
injured and returns to the marsh to bleed to death. breath.
17. Why does Hrothgar ask Beowulf to battle Grendel’s d) Beowulf drops the sword and it stays out of his
mother? reach during the fight.
a) All his soldiers were just killed during her attack. 25. Why does Wiglaf fight the dragon along with Beowulf?
b) He is embarrassed that he allowed the men to a) He didn’t want Beowulf to get all of the glory.
return to the hall to sleep. b) He lost a bet with the other men.
c) He has never expected his own men to be able to c) He respected Beowulf and knew his king needed
kill a monster. help.
d) She murdered someone Hrothgar cared about and d) He had a magical sword that could pierce dragon
carried off Grendel’s clawed arm, so he wants to scales.
be sure she is destroyed. 26. What does Beowulf ask Wiglaf to do for him before he
18. What is so fantastical about Beowulf’s journey to her dies?
lair? a) He wants him to bring him back some of the
a) Beowulf is able to stay alive under water for what treasure kept by the dragon.
seems like hours. b) He wants Wiglaf to be sure the dragon is dead.
b) Other sea monsters join them, biting on Beowulf. c) He asks Wiglaf to take over as king and lecture the
c) Beowulf is able to find and use a giant’s sword cowardly men.
against the monster. d) He wants Wiglaf to remember this story to tell to
d) Both A and B others so they won’t forget.
e) All of the above. 27. What caused Beowulf’s death?
19. How does Grendel’s mother die? a) Grendel’s mother stabs him in the heart.
a) Beowulf kills her with a giant’s sword he found in b) He is betrayed by Unferth.
the lair. c) He doesn’t die; he is taken up to the heavens to
b) Wiglaf helps defeat the monster with his bare live forever.
hands. d) The dragon wounded him in the neck.
c) King Hrothgar shoots an arrow. 28. Why does Wiglaf berate the other warriors saying they
d) Grendel’s mother dies of a broken heart. are “branded with disgrace”?
20. What did Beowulf do to Grendel’s body when he found a) They were trying to strike at the Dragon when
it in his mother’s lair? Beowulf said not to.
a) Gave it a proper burial. b) He was proud of their actions and how they
b) Burned it to ensure it was gone for good. waited in the woods as told.
c) Prayed over it, sending it to hell.
 c) He was disgusted that they did not come to the aid Part III: TRUE or FALSE
of their king when he was suffering.
d) He will most likely be their king so he needed to 1. Alfred The Great was the author of Beowulf.
2. Beowulf’s helmet protects him from Grendel’s mother.
begin to lecture them.
3. A jeweled cup is stolen from the dragon, which makes
29. What does every warrior know is inevitable? him angry.
a) death 4. The dragon’s treasure is given to the people at the end
b) bravery of the poem.
c) marriage 5. Grendel is said to have been “conceived by a pair of
d) treasure monster born of Adam.”
30. Kennings were used in Beowulf partly because of the 6. Grendel is afraid to enter Herot.
poem’s______. 7. After eating the first victim, Grendel tries to kill
a) oral storytelling origins Beowulf.
b) slow-moving storyline 8. Beowulf is king for forty years before he fights the
c) use as an educational tool dragon.
d) requirement to rhyme 9. A good king in Beowulf’s time gave generous rewards
31. The following passage from Beowulf is an example of and treasures to the warriors.
the poem’s heavy use of_______. 10. When Beowulf fights the dragon, his warriors loyalty
In secret sessions, talking of terror aid him.
And wondering what the bravest warriors would do 11. Of Beowulf’s warriors, Wiglaf is the only coward in the
And sometimes they sacrificed to the old stone gods bunch.
And made heathen vows, hoping for hells 12. The story of Beowulf takes place in England.
Support… 13. Grendel can never touch Hrothgar’s throne because it
a) Alliteration is protected by God.
b) Metaphor 14. Beowulf is descended from an angel.
c) Simile 15. Grendel’s mother mortality wounds Beowulf.
d) Rhyme 16. The story Beowulf dates from the Middle Ages period.
32. Which of the following is NOT one of the traits of an 17. Beowulf hangs Grendel’s leg from the top of the mead
epic hero? hall.
a) They are of ordinary birth.
b) They exhibit traits or qualities that the society
looks up to. Part IV: Matching Type
c) They perform courageous, fantastic feats that
reflect values of their society.
d) Their actions affect large groups of people. Builder of Herot Great warrior Monster
33. The story of Beowulf reflects which of the following Great mead hall Mead Epic
traits of an epic story? Kenning Alliteration Caesura
a. The plot and conflict involves courageous,
Would not desert Beowulf
sometimes superhuman beings.
b. The theme reflects timeless values and universal
ideas.
c. The story must include magic spells of some sort. 1. Wiglaf
d. Both A and B 2. Hrothgar
e. All of the above 3. Beowulf
34. Which of following is the best theme of this story? 4. Grendel
a) Great strength makes things right. 5. Herot
b) Intelligence is greater than strength. 6. Poem with battles, heroes, serious subject matter
c) Valor will triumph over evil. 7. Pause within a line of poetry
d) A king must be wealthy. 8. Drink made from honey
35. How was Beowulf honored by his men after his death? 9. Phrase which refers to a person, place or thing
a) They had a feast in his honor. 10. Repeating sounds at the beginning of words
b) They forgave those who were responsible.
c) They divided his newest treasure among
themselves.
d) They rode around his tower praising his heroism.

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