Grief In Beowulf

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After reading section one: 1. What role does Hrothgar play in the epic? a. Hrothgar plays the role of the loving and admired Danish King of the land who is deeply saddened by Grendel’s doings. We can assume this for the text implies his sadness by describing him as “the old king” who “sat sadly, crying for his men” along with other similar acts that depict his sorrow. 2. Who/what is causing so much grief in Hrothgar’s kingdom? How many years has this battle with Grendel been going on? a. Grendel, the “evil creature, grim and hungry,” is the cause of all of the grief in Hrothgar’s kingdom. His killing and torture of the people saddens both the king and all of the people; “Bloody footprints were found. That was bad enough, but the following…show more content…
Essentially, Beowulf knows that he is “the strongest of men alive in that day, mighty and noble,” and when he hears of Hrothgar’s trouble, he believes it is his duty to help the king and his people of Danes. At the time, chivalry and heroics were common and valued morals; we see Beowulf putting these principles into practice when he “called for a ship, said he would cross the ocean and help the king who needed help.” After choosing fourteen of his bravest warriors, Hrothgar and his men prepared the ship and “shoved the well-braced ship out on the journey they'd dreamed of.” 2. Why does Hrothgar’s soldier question Beowulf about his lineage? Why is this important to that time period? a. When Hrothgar’s soldier asks, “I wish to know your lineage now so I know you are not spies going into the land of the Danes,” he is basically trying to find out the purpose of Beowulf and his men coming to Danes and why in such on attire. He is suspicious that they are spies and might raise trouble; therefore he wants to know where they stand. This is important to the time period since, being in the Dark Ages, fights and blood-shedding amongst different people was common. Additionally, the issue of Grendel in the Danish kingdom was already creating enough

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