Beowulf Initial Questions
1. Who is Shield Sheafson? What about him makes the poet proclaim “Þæt wæs gōd cyning”? Why do you think that the poem begins here, rather than with Hrothgar and Grendel?
2. What do you make of the whole poem beginning with a funeral? What tone is set in the first 50 or so lines?
3. What is Grendel’s lineage? From his perspective, why does he terrorize Heorot?
4. What seems to be significant about Heorot and mead-halls in general?
5. What do you make of Beowulf as a hero at this point?
6. Who is Unferth? Why is he so hostile toward Beowulf?
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