Q 01/05

How many alliterative lines does the poem Beowulf contain?

A) 3,182

B) 2,500

C) 1,066

D) 1,850

Answer · why

A) 3,182

Nobody knows the poet's name and the manuscript carries no title; the poem is simply called after its hero.

Q 02/05

Beowulf is a hero of which people?

A) The Swedes

B) The Geats

C) The Danes

D) The Frisians

Answer · why

B) The Geats

Their homeland is usually placed in what is now Götaland in southern Sweden. He sails from there to help the Danish king.

Q 03/05

For how many years had Grendel been attacking Hrothgar's mead hall before Beowulf arrived?

A) Seven

B) Twenty

C) Three

D) Twelve

Answer · why

D) Twelve

The Danes had abandoned the hall at night. Grendel is said to be tormented by the sound of singing and joy coming from it.

Q 04/05

What is the name of the great mead hall King Hrothgar built for himself and his warriors?

A) Valhalla

B) Lejre

C) Heorot

D) Gladsheim

Answer · why

C) Heorot

The Old English name means 'hart' or 'stag'. Excavations at Lejre, where tradition placed the hall, turned up a real mid-6th-century hall about 50 met...

Q 05/05

Grendel is described in the poem as a descendant of which biblical figure?

A) Esau

B) Goliath

C) Cain

D) Nimrod

Answer · why

C) Cain

That lineage puts him among the exiled monsters and giants of the Cain tradition. Whether he is a giant, a troll or something else is never spelled ou...