SparkNotes: Beowulf: Quiz

1. Who is the father of Shield Sheafson?

(A) Beowulf

(B) Hrothgar

(C) Grendel

(D) Sheafson is an orphan

2. 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

3. About how long is the dragon?

(A) 50 feet

(B) 20 feet

(C) 100 feet

(D) 200 feet

4. How long does Beowu¡lf reign as King of the Geats?

(A) 30 years

(B) 40 years

(C) 50 years

(D) 60 years

5. What, according to Beowulf, is better than mourning a death?

(A) Celebrating a birth

(B) Avenging a death

(C) Drinking one’s sorrows away

(D) Making peace with one’s enemies

6. Who helps Beowulf against the dragon?

(A) Wulfgar

(B) Unferth

(C) Hrothgar

(D) Wiglaf

7. Who taunts Beowulf in Heorot?

(A) Unferth

(B) Hrothgar

(C) Wiglaf

(D) Wealhtheow

8. Who is Modthryth?

(A) A Danish thane

(B) King of the Swedes

(C) A wicked queen of legend

(D) A dragon

9. From whom is Grendel descended?

(A) Satan

(B) Cain

(C) Judas

(D) Ecgtheow

10. Who is Queen of the Geats?

(A) Wealhtheow

(B) Modthryth

(C) Unferth

(D) Hygd

11. Whom does Grendel’s mother abduct and decapitate?

(A) Aeschere

(B) Wulfgar

(C) Hrothgar

(D) Beowulf

12. How many Geats does Grendel kill?

(A) Eleven

(B) Eight

(C) One

(D) Four

13. What is Hrunting?

(A) A mead-hall

(B) A sword

(C) A lake

(D) A helmet

14. Where do the Geats place Beowulf’s Barrow?

(A) In Grendel’s swamp

(B) In the dragon’s lair

(C) In the palace temple

(D) On a cliff overlooking the sea

15. Who is Beowulf’s father?

(A) Ecgtheow

(B) Hrothgar

(C) Wulfgar

(D) Wealhtheow

16. What is wyrd?

(A) The Anglo-Saxon concept of “word,” as in word of honor

(B) The Anglo-Saxon term for “worm,” as in dragon

(C) The Anglo-Saxon concept of “fate”

(D) The Anglo-Saxon word that expresses the culture’s valuing of oratorical skill

17. Where do Grendel and his mother live?

(A) In a palace

(B) In a mead-hall

(C) In a barrow

(D) In a lake

18. What is a scop?

(A) A mead-hall

(B) A poet

(C) A god

(D) A ship

19. Who guides Beowulf to the dragon’s barrow?

(A) Wulfgar

(B) The thief

(C) The slave-girl

(D) Hygd

20. Who gives Hygd three horses?

(A) Hygelac

(B) Hrothgar

(C) Beowulf

(D) Finn

21. Which character is descended from Shield Sheafson?

(A) Beowulf

(B) Wiglaf

(C) Ecgtheow

(D) Hrothgar

22. What is the name of Hrothgar’s wife?

(A) Wealhtheow

(B) Hygd

(C) Modthryth

(D) Grendel

23. How did the dragon’s treasure get in the barrow?

(A) The dragon hauled it there with his teeth

(B) Hygelac had it buried there after he died

(C) The boat containing the body of Shield Sheafson landed there

(D) It was buried there by the last survivor of a forgotten race

24. What is Hygelac wearing when he dies?

(A) His grandfather’s armor

(B) Wealhtheow’s torque

(C) An invisibility suit

(D) A tutu

25. From about when does the only existing Beowulf manuscript date?

(A) 700 a.d.

(B) 1000 a.d.

(C) 700 b.c.

(D) 50 a.d.