Beowulf Quiz
Questions: 16 · 10 minutes
1. Most of Beowulf’s retainers flee from the dragon, while Wiglaf stays. Which heroic value does this contrast examine most directly?
Skill in formal storytelling
Loyalty between a lord and his warrior
Knowledge of distant kingdoms
Success in negotiating marriage alliances
2. What position does Beowulf eventually hold among the Geats?
Royal messenger
Keeper of the dragon’s barrow
Priest of a Danish shrine
King
3. How do the Geats memorialize Beowulf after his death?
They preserve his body beneath Heorot.
They send his armor to the Danish court.
They build a prominent burial mound by the sea.
They place the dragon’s body on the Geatish throne.
4. What does Beowulf bring back from the monsters’ lair after defeating Grendel’s mother?
The dragon’s stolen cup and a golden banner
Grendel’s entire body and Hrunting
Grendel’s head and the hilt of the giant-made sword
Grendel’s mother’s crown and a Danish shield
5. What is known about the authorship of Beowulf?
Its author is unknown.
It was written by the historical King Hrothgar.
It was composed by the monk Bede.
Its author identifies himself in the final lines.
6. Hrunting fails to defeat Grendel’s mother. What enables Beowulf to overcome her?
Unferth arrives and repairs Hrunting during the fight.
He finds and uses an enormous sword made by giants.
Hrothgar sends a spear through the surface of the mere.
He uses the same arm lock that defeated Grendel.
7. After his victories in Denmark, how does Beowulf demonstrate loyalty when he returns home?
He claims the Geatish throne immediately.
He gives Heorot to Unferth as compensation.
He reports to Hygelac and presents him with treasures.
He abandons court life and settles in Denmark.
8. A warrior receives treasure from his lord and is expected to defend him in return. Which social ideal in Beowulf does this arrangement illustrate?
The reciprocal bond between a lord and his retainers
The separation of rulers from military duties
The rejection of gift-giving as a source of conflict
The transfer of royal authority to traveling poets
9. A slave takes an object from a burial mound, triggering the poem’s final conflict. What happens next?
A dragon wakes and begins burning Geatish settlements.
Grendel returns to reclaim the object.
The Danes accuse Beowulf of breaking a treaty.
Hrothgar sends an army to recover the object.
10. Which people does Hrothgar rule when Beowulf comes to his aid?
The Danes
The Franks
The Geats
The Swedes
11. The narrator describes a pre-Christian heroic world while sometimes making Christian moral references. What is the best interpretation of this combination?
The poem consistently portrays its characters as medieval monks.
The poem removes all traces of older Germanic culture.
The poem reflects a Christian narrator looking back on a pagan heroic past.
The poem presents Christianity and heroic culture as historically identical.
12. The poem emphasizes that Grendel resents the sounds coming from Heorot. What do those sounds represent most clearly?
A secret plan to invade his territory
Human joy, fellowship, and praise of creation
A challenge issued by a rival monster
A funeral rite intended to summon him
13. When Beowulf’s final battle turns against him, who remains and helps him fight the dragon?
Unferth
Wiglaf
Hygelac
Hrothgar
14. Which place is repeatedly attacked by Grendel?
Hygelac’s royal ship
Beowulf’s burial mound
The dragon’s barrow
Heorot, Hrothgar’s great hall
15. A reader follows Beowulf after Grendel’s mother attacks in revenge. Where must the hero go to confront her?
A Swedish battlefield
A tower inside Heorot
A cave beside Beowulf’s future burial mound
An underwater lair beneath a haunted mere
16. Before confronting Grendel, Beowulf learns that the monster does not use weapons. How does Beowulf respond?
He asks Hrothgar’s soldiers to shoot Grendel from a distance.
He traps Grendel beneath Heorot with fire.
He coats his sword with poison.
He chooses to fight Grendel without a weapon.