Notes

Sycld Scefing- Ruler of the Danes sent by "Odin" on the ship (Odin= God). He was a very large man who ate whole bulls for meals. Scyld Secfing left a son and that son had another son named Healfdene (grandson). Healfdene had 3 sons named Hrothgar (great-grandson), Heorogar, and Halga . Hrothgar grew to be the King in the land Sycld ruled over. Healfdene also had a daughter who's name has been forgotten.
Beowulf - a small man who was very strong and powerful in heart. He accomplished many feats, one of which was destroying the Great Monster, Grendel and Grendel's mother,She. He thought that part of being strong was seeing your weaknesses, and no one is all good or all bad. He also thought that those weaknesses, once seen, could be used as strengths.
Hrothgar- was the great-grandson of Scyld Scefing. He had 2 other brothers. Hrothgar was the strongest of the 3, so he became King. Hrothgar built the hall Heorot.
Wealtheow- Hrothgar's wife. She is sweet and caring. She is also very understanding.See pages 26-31 for an example of how Wealhtheow shows her personality (the part where Beowulf doesn't care that an apple is witch work, so he eats it anyway. Wealhtheow is the only person that understands his reasoning for this.). She didn't make a judgment until she listened to everyone's point of view.
Unferth-An old man with a hideous boil on the back of his neck! Unferth admires the monsters and is not a happy person. Unferth makes things negative.
Grendel- a hideous human-eating monster from the fen that attacks the hall of Heorot. He is the son of Cain (see pp 11.-12). Grendel cannot defeat light, as proved during the battle between Beowulf and Grendel (see pp. 40-42). You know where he went from the cold that followed him, and from the sound of bones crunching in his throat, the bones of men he had eaten. He lived in the dark which might have represented evil, whereas Beowulf lived in the light and had the light inside him. The light might have represented good. Good vs. evil. In the book Beowulf (good) won the fight!
Breca- Beowulf's friend when he was a child. Beowulf tells the story about him and Breca swimming in the ocean, and of Breca's will to survive, and of his strength. Unferth had suggested Beowulf killed Breca, but this was not true. Breca drifted to another land, which proved he was the stronger swimmer. Beowulf encountered monsters in the ocean though, monsters that had to be defeated. (For complete story, see pages 31-32)
Grendel's mother (She) - After the marrige (And sudden death) of her husband Cain, she gave birth to the most foul monsters in the land. But the most cruel and frightening was Grendel. She gave birth to the monster Beowulf killed, and seeked revenge by the attempt to murder Beowulf. In the end, Beowulf killed her. She was in the pool of blood that was also once inhabitted by Grendel. He knew where to find her by the trail of breast milk she left behind. Grendel's mother was a jet black snake.
Sigemund and Fitela - two partners (an Uncle and a nephew) who battled a fire breathing dragon with 4 heads and fooled them. Each one of them had a certain skill that would help them to fool the monster. Those skills were strength and wits; together making the perfect combination.
Hygelac - King of the Geats, uncle of Beowulf. He was very proud to find out what Beowulf had done, and was always supportive of him even when others were not because he played with the bees!
Wiglaf - He admired the skills and the knowledge that Beowulf had aquired over the years of fighting monsters in the land of the Danes. An important thing he said near the end of the book, when Beowulf died, was "Beowulf was Beowulf". In other words, Beowulf never tried to fit in, he was always himself; he was the "bee hunter". When he said Beowulf was Beowulf, he might have also meant that Beowulf was like no one else, even though he has weaknesses he is greater than many other men.

Skim the following sets of chapters and list the important events in the order in which they occur.
Chapter 1-2 - Scyld Scefing was sent by "Odin" on a ship to the land of the Danes. He was a huge person, and ruled the land wisely. When he grew old, he had his men construct a ship for him in which a bed with a sheaf of corn was planted. Scyld was put into the bed (which was going to be burned), and the ship sailed off. One of Scyld's descendants, Hrothgar, later became King. Hrothgar was also a physically strong man. Hrothgar had a dream of a hall that was huge and magnificent. It would be shiny and gold. It would be bigger than any other hall. At the hearing of this, his men set off to make the hall. At last, the hall was finished, and indeed was amazing. It was called Heorot. A hideous and terrible monster named Grendel attacked the hall the first night. He left the hall in a bloody, awful condition.
Chapter 3-4- Hrothgar, Wealhtheow, and Unferth came to the conclusion that only one being could have done this terrible deed - Grendel. Hrothgar decided that something needed to be done, so he took action. He gathered 9 brave lords to wait in the hall with him the next night. They were armed with very sharp swords. Grendel came. He attacked all 9 lords, but Hrothgar remained alive because of Wealhtheow. Wealhtheow saw her only chance before Hrothgar was eaten, and thrust herself upon him. This love seemed to be too much for Grendel, so Hrothgar and Wealhtheow were not dead. Poets told stories in many different places about the terrible monster, Grendel. One of these places was the Land of the Geats. Beowulf, who lived there, realized that something more than strength was needed to kill Grendel. He decided he wanted to attempt to defeat Grendel. He arrived in the Land of the Danes with men. He left his sword mounted on a hill, for he thought that the sword would not be useful. Since Grendel was not going to use a sword, he felt he didn't need to either.
Chapter 5-7 - Beowulf showed Hrothgar and Wealhtheow that he was witty and was strong - a true hero. He showed them this by telling off Unferth and explaining how he did not care that the apple he was eating was witchwork. Night came, and Beowulf was ready for Grendel. He was not going to use his sword- but instead, his hands.Grendel arrived, and all Beowulf had to do was hold on to him with his ten fingers. He spoke to Grendel of the light in himself and of the evil that Grendel had. This was way too much for Grendel! He couldn't defeat this amount of warmth and goodness.Beowulf pulled Grendel's arm out of its socket! Grendel died later that night. Grendel's arm was hung like a trophy in the Great Hall. Everyone was rejoicing except for Unferth. Beowulf received many great gifts. There was a big banquet and poets told many stories of heroes- none of which were as great as the feat Beowulf just accomplished. The story of Sigemund and Fitela was told- which Beowulf had particular interest in.
Chapter 8-9- Grendel's mother came to Hall Heorot. She too, left the hall in bad condition and killed Aeschere. She also took Unferth. Beowulf set out to the fen to find her. He arrived at a murky pool of blood. A tree near this pool had a head hanging from it, which belonged to Unferth. Beowulf dove into this unwelcoming pool in search of Grendel's mother.
Chapter 10-11 - Beowulf traveled down into the murky pool, being able to breathe because of the blood bubbles. At once, he saw Her, Grendel's mother. Her tentacles rapped around him as she pulled him into her den. Grendel's mother felt pure power over Beowulf until he spoke. It was as if he was mesmerizing her with thoughts of goodness, love, and light. She shuddered. He tightened his grip on her and stared into her eyes. He strangled Her, and she did not put up a fight. Finally, She was dead. Beowulf found a sword in her den. As Beowulf held it, Grendel's corpse appeared. He seized it at Grendel, slicing off its head. Beowulf emerged from the bloody pool as he received a lot of appreciation. It was a pandemonium of happiness. He brought Grendel's corpses head with him.
Chapter 12-14 - The next day, Beowulf sailed back to the Land of the Geats with many gifts and treasures, and gold! King Hygelac was very proud of Beowulf. With Beowulf's generosity, he gave the King all of his gifts except for the ring he got from Wealhtheow. Because of the thoughtfulness of Beowulf, King Hygelac gave Beowulf a lot of land. For a few years, The Land of the Geats was a tranquil area. The peace was interrupted by an invasion by the Friesans. Hygelac was killed, and the King's son, Hardered, became the next king. Onela attacked The Land of the Geats also. This time, Hardered was killed, so Beowulf became the next king. Beowulf felt bad for the killing of Eadmund, so he saught revenge by joining with Eadgil in battle with Onela. They won the battle by killing Onela. There was peace in the Land of the Geats, but a slave was unhappy. He set off to a cave where there was gold and jewels. These treasures were gaurded by a lizard.In panic, the slave grabbed a precious cup and rushed out of the cave. The lizard was Firedrake. He became swollen and upset. but could not catch the thief in time.
Chapter 15-16 - Firedrake got revenge by destroying the Land of the Geats. Beowulf was old, but still very wise. He went to Firedrake's cave with Wiglaf, some other men, and a bee hive with many bees. Beowulf and Wiglaf used wit to kill Firedrake, like Sigemund and Fitela. He released the bees into the Firedrake's mouth where they stung the beast to death. Then the heoroic Beowulf died. When someone asked Wiglaf about Beowulf, all he would say was "Beowulf was Beowulf" and nothing more.

At the end of the novel, one of the characters states "Beowulf was Beowulf" and will not elaborate. What do they mean by that?
I think what they mean by "Beowulf was Beouwulf" is that he was able to defeat all of these monsters by accepting the bad and good in himself, which is what the monsters couldn't do. When Beouwolf was fighting Grendel and his mother it seemed as if the the two monsters were trying with all their lives to cover up what they did not want anyone else to know.

Beowulf means bee hunter. I think this has to do with the brightness that the bees put into him when they stung him. Beowulf always looks on the positive side of things and discovers a way to find strength.

"Beowulf was Beowulf" means that Beowulf was bee hunter, someone who had been "vaccinated" with brightness. Wiglaf would only say "Beowulf was Beowulf" because you had to know him to understand him. He had great powers that one would only be able to believe if they met him. His brightness was so incredible that even the most terrible of all the monsters in the fen could not defeat Beowulf. Beowulf perservered even in the worst of times. He was truly a strong person.

Beowulf always followed what his heart wanted to do. He never tried to be someone he wasn't. At a point of the book, some of the characters thought he was crazy because he wasn't going to use a sword to fight Grendel. Beowulf didn't care, he knew that he is stronger than Grendel. Beowulf also made a point that Grendel wasn't using a sword so why should he. He always believed in himself. Once he made his mind, he's sure. Beowulf was a wise man.

Beowulf is Beowulf, that is who he is. He is like no one else, he is just him!

Is Beowulf a hero in this novel? If so, how?

Beowulf is a strong hero in this novel because he was able to make people realize that not everyone is all good or all bad. He taught people to read behind the lines and think things through. His sword was not helpful when in battle with monsters. The helpful thing was his inner strength. The fact that he knew how to express his goodness was useful because the monsters had not yet realized how they could find the good in themselves. He used his weaknesses as his strengths. He was also a born leader. He found his fame wherever he went.

Beowulf is a great hero because he came to help a King that had a trespasser that he couldn't defeat. Beowulf came to Hall Heorot and defeated Grendel (without a sword!) and once Grendel was dead, there was still more to do and he wouldn't give up. Beowulf risked his life jumping in to a nasty pool so he could kill Grendel's mother, She. Of course he defeated her. Beowulf made it so that every night, the people in Hall Heorot could sleep without worry.