Beowulf

Prepared by: Vinay S.
Mattihalli 1
Beowulf
1) King Hygelac was_____________.
1. the King of Geats

2. the King of Denmark
3. Nephew of Beowulf
A. 1 & 2 only
B. 1, 2 & 3 only
C. 1 only
D. 3 only
2) Beowulf was the nephew of_________.
A. Hygelac, King of Denmark

B. Hrothgar, King of Geats
C. Hygelac, King of Geats
D. Hrothgar, King of Denmark
3) The Anglo-Saxon invaders came to Britain in____
A. 5th C.AD
B. 8th C. AD
C. 9th C. AD
D. 10th C. AD
Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 2

4) Anglo-Saxon poetry has survived in ____ manuscripts.
A. Two
B. Three
C. Four
D. Five
• MS Cotton Vittelius
• The Junius Manuscript
• The Exeter Book
• The Vercelli Book
5) Bede wrote his Ecclesiastical History in_____________.
A. English
B. Old English
C. Latin
D. French
6) Who is the first Anglo-Saxon poet to sign his work?
A. King Alfred
B. Beowulf
C. Caedmon
D. Cynewulf
E. Bede

7) The Anglo-Saxon invaders of Britain brought with them their own poetry,
but there is no evidence of their having possessed any literary prose
tradition.
A. True
B. False
8) Beowulf is a _____epic.
A. Primary
B. Secondary
C. Tertiary
D. Base
Primary or Folk Epic
• No single author (each is a product of the oral tradition)

• Written down after centuries of oral transmission — e. g., Beowulf and
the Iliad
Secondary or Literary Epic
• A single, gifted poet such as Virgil or Milton composes a work that imitates
a folk epic.
• The Æneid and Paradise Lost, for example, involved considerable research
and have the style of earlier epics (particularly in setting, dignified
speeches, and extended similes.
General Characteristics
1. Primary epics were originally intended to be sung or recited to music: "Sing,

Muse…”

2. In primary epics, deities and other supernatural agencies are often involved in
human affairs: "What god was it . . . ?" asks Homer in the famous epic question
that opens the Iliad.
3. The poem often has national interest and has a national bias: "and brought low
the souls of so many Acheans" (Iliad, Book I).
4. Primary epics seem generated by periods of upheaval, of struggle and

adventure, such as the Trojan War for Homer's epics and the Moslem invasion of
Europe in the Song of Roland.
5. Often, the principal characters are larger-than-life demigods (descendants of

deities) or heroes of immense stature and strength. They represent such cultural
ideals are endurance and cunning (Odysseus), all-round virtue or ar•te
(Achilles), fair play and selflessness (Beowulf), chivalric self-sacrifice (Roland),
or Christian love (Adam).
6. In both kinds of epic, single combat is a common plot device; if the warriors
are equals, such as Achilles and Hector, they fight with sword and spear; if the
adversaries are not equally heroic, as in the case of Odysseus and the suitors, the
protagonist may use lesser weapons such as a bow. The hero often has a special
weapon (e. g., Achilles' Pelian ash spear) or quality (e. g., Odysseus's ability to
adopt disguises).

7. The subject of the poem is announced in the opening lines, in an invocation (in
which the poet calls for divine assistance to tell his tale) and epic question in
classical epics.
8. As opposed to the epyllion (such as the 892-line "Sohrab and Rustum" and
Paradise Regained), the true epic is long (the Iliad and the Odyssey each contain
24 books) and dignified (courtly address and epithet are common).
9. Geographical and temporal settings are wide: the action of the Odyssey, for
example, occurs across all of the known world of the Greeks over a twenty-year
period. However, the action may be compressed into a matter of days (as in the
case of the Iliad) or even hours (as in the case of the Song of Roland). The
Odyssey takes roughly forty days.
10. Such great issues as the founding of the Roman race and the state (the AEneid)
are at stake.
9) British English as a language is often referred to by the name of the tribes

that settled in England around 449. Identify its name:
A. Romance Language
B. Anglo-Saxon Language
C. Germanic Language
D. Latinate language

10) Which one of the following is NOT the characteristics of Old-English
Poetry?
A. Alliterative
B. Without Rhyme
C. Each line containing five stressed syllables
D. Pause between the two halves of each line
✅ Each line contains four stressed syllables
11) How does Beowulf end?
A. His victory over the monster Grendel

B. Beowulf becoming a king of the Geats
C. Grendel's mother taking revenge on Beowulf
D. An account of Beowulf's funeral
12) Which one of the following statements about Beowulf is incorrect?
A. Beowulf was damaged by fire before it was studied

B. Beowulf is the nephew of King Hygelac of the Geats
C. It is divided into two parts
D. It survived in the Exeter Book
✅ It has survived in a single manuscript

1️3) he American poet Ezra Pound translated the Old-English poetry “The
Seafarer” which was first published in his book____
A. Ripostes
B. The Cantos
C. Hugh Selwyn Mauberley
D. Ballad of the Goodly Fere
✅ Ripostes is a book of collection of 25 poems by Ezra Pound, published in

UK in 1912, & in the US in 1913.
14) The following refrain occurs in which poem?

That was surmounted; so, may this be.
A. The Wanderer
B. Beowulf
C. Deor's Lament
D The Seafarer
15) Seamus Heaney was awarded the Nobel Prize in the year ___.
A. 1949
B. 2001
C. 2019
D. 1995
E. 1992

1949 - William Faulkner - American
1992 - Derek Walcott - Saint Lucian
1995 - Seamus Heaney - Irish
2001 - V. S. Naipaul - British (Trinidad and Tobago born)
2019 - Peter Hanke - Austrian
16) About what is the author talking about in these lines?
“Nowhere else is a traditional theme handled in a long narrative poem

against a background which reveals to us the culture and society of the
Germanic peoples.”
A. Beowulf
B. The Seafarer
C. Widsith
D. The Wanderer
✅ Author David Daiches says thus in his book on the history of English
Literature. He writes: "Beowulf holds a special position in Anglo-Saxon
Literature-indeed... because it is the only complete extant epic of its kind in an
ancient Germanic language."
17) In which of the following manuscript does Beowulf survive?
1. MS Cotton Vittelius
2. The Junius Manuscript
3. The Exeter Book
4. The Vercelli Book

18) What is the time-difference between the two parts of Beowulf?
A. 25 years
B. 40 years
C. 50 years
D. 80 years
19) ‘Hrunting' in Beowulf is ___.
A. Grendel's mother's lair

B. Grendel's mother's name
B. The name of Beowulf's sword
C. Name of the lake where the mother was hiding.
✅ Hrunting was the sword given to Beowulf by Unfero, a warrior.
20) How many battles does Beowulf fights in Beowulf?

A. One
B. Two
C. Three
D. Four
21) In which among the following does he eventually die?
A. Battle with Grendel

B. Battle with Grendel's mother.
C. Battle with Grendel's father
D. Battle with the dragon

22) True of False
J. R. R. Tolkien's 'Lord of the Rings' & 'The Hobbit' are translated versions
of the tales from Beowulf, an 8th Century Epic poem.
A. True
B. False
J. R. R. Tolkien, an English writer, was a scholar who gave the world a

translated version of Beowulf; Beowulf - Beowulf - A Translation and
Contemporary
Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary is a prose translation of the early

medieval epic poem Beowulf from Old English to modern English. It was
translated by J. R. R. Tolkien from 1920 to 1926, and was edited by Tolkien's son
Christopher. It was published posthumously in May 2014 by HarperCollins.
23) Grendel (1971) is a novel that retells the story of Beowulf from Grendel's
point of view. Identify its author from the following.
A. J. R. R. Tolkien
B. Seamus Heaney
C. Doris Lessing
D. John Gardner
24) _____, a popular children's writer, who penned the acclaimed book “War
Horse” has adapted Beowulf into a novel for children in 2013.
A. Neil Gaiman
B. Ruskin Bond

C. Michael Morpurgo
D. Margaret Atwood
25) “The Mere Wife” is a____________.
1. A film adaptation of Beowulf

2. A novel adaptation for children
3. A novel that retells the story of Beowulf from Grendel's point of view.
4. It is set in a contemporary American suburb.
5. It is a book by Maria Dahvana Headley
A. All are correct

B. 1 & 4 are correct
C. 2 & 5 are correct
D. 3, 4 & 5 are correct
26) Mark the incorrect statement;
Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead is________________
A. is inspired by Beowulf
B. is inspired by the 10th C Arabic narrative of Ahmad ibn Fadlan
C. is inspired by the Arabian Knights
D. it was published in 1976

27) The old English poem Genesis bears comparison with______________.
A. Paradise Lost
B. Paradise Regained
C. Old Testament
D. New Testament
Have a Happy Reading….!!!

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Prepared by: Vinay S.

1) King Hygelac was_____________.

1. the King of Geats

2) Beowulf was the nephew of_________.

A. Hygelac, King of Denmark

3) The Anglo-Saxon invaders came to Britain in____

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 2

5) Bede wrote his Ecclesiastical History in_____________.

6) Who is the first Anglo-Saxon poet to sign his work?

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 3

Primary or Folk Epic

• No single author (each is a product of the oral tradition)

1. Primary epics were originally intended to be sung or recited to music: "Sing,

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 4

4. Primary epics seem generated by periods of upheaval, of struggle and

5. Often, the principal characters are larger-than-life demigods (descendants of

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 5

9) British English as a language is often referred to by the name of the tribes

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 6

✅ Each line contains four stressed syllables

11) How does Beowulf end?

A. His victory over the monster Grendel

12) Which one of the following statements about Beowulf is incorrect?

A. Beowulf was damaged by fire before it was studied

✅ It has survived in a single manuscript

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 7

✅ Ripostes is a book of collection of 25 poems by Ezra Pound, published in

14) The following refrain occurs in which poem?

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 8

1992 - Derek Walcott - Saint Lucian

1995 - Seamus Heaney - Irish

2001 - V. S. Naipaul - British (Trinidad and Tobago born)

2019 - Peter Hanke - Austrian

16) About what is the author talking about in these lines?

“Nowhere else is a traditional theme handled in a long narrative poem

17) In which of the following manuscript does Beowulf survive?

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 9

19) ‘Hrunting' in Beowulf is ___.

A. Grendel's mother's lair

✅ Hrunting was the sword given to Beowulf by Unfero, a warrior.

20) How many battles does Beowulf fights in Beowulf?

21) In which among the following does he eventually die?

A. Battle with Grendel

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 10

J. R. R. Tolkien, an English writer, was a scholar who gave the world a

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary is a prose translation of the early

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 11

25) “The Mere Wife” is a____________.

1. A film adaptation of Beowulf

A. All are correct

26) Mark the incorrect statement;

Michael Crichton's Eaters of the Dead is________________

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 12

Have a Happy Reading….!!!

Prepared by: Vinay S. Mattihalli 13

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