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Kennings and Battle With Dragon

The document discusses kennings, which are metaphorical phrases used in Anglo-Saxon poetry like Beowulf to indirectly name people, places, or things. It provides examples of kennings from Beowulf like "whale-road" for the sea and "shepherd of evil" for Grendel. The document asks readers to find kennings in the first five sections of Beowulf and provide the line number, kenning, and what it refers to. It then splits the readers into groups to summarize a section, identify kennings, and answer questions related to the final battle section.

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2K views2 pages

Kennings and Battle With Dragon

The document discusses kennings, which are metaphorical phrases used in Anglo-Saxon poetry like Beowulf to indirectly name people, places, or things. It provides examples of kennings from Beowulf like "whale-road" for the sea and "shepherd of evil" for Grendel. The document asks readers to find kennings in the first five sections of Beowulf and provide the line number, kenning, and what it refers to. It then splits the readers into groups to summarize a section, identify kennings, and answer questions related to the final battle section.

Uploaded by

Von Russel Saring
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Kennings in Beowulf

A kenning is a metaphorical phrase, or compound word used to name a person, place or thing indirectly.
Used primarily in Anglo-Saxon poetry, the epic poem "Beowulf" is full of kennings. For example, the
words whale-road is used for the sea and "shepherd of evil" is used for Grendel. Other well known
kennings include "battle sweat" for blood; "raven harvest" for corpse; and "sleep of the sword" for death.

Find kennings from the first five sections of Beowulf. Provide the line number and identify what it refers
to or what it is naming.

The Monster Grendel


Line# Kenning What does it name or refer to?

The Arrival of the Hero


Line# Kenning What does it name or refer to?

Unferth’s Challenge
Line# Kenning What does it name or refer to?

The Battle with Grendel


Line# Kenning What does it name or refer to?

The Monster’s Mother


Line# Kenning What does it name or refer to?
As your group reads The Final Battle, summarize your section, identify kennings in your section, and
answer the questions that relate to your section. Be prepared to read, summarize, answer the questions,
and share the kennings when you present.

Group 1: Lines 666-710


 What is different about how Beowulf will fight this battle as compared to how he fought Grendel?
What heroic characteristics does he show going into the battle? What hints do we see that
Beowulf may not be successful against the dragon?
Group 2: Lines 710-751
 What fails Beowulf in his fight against the dragon? What heroic characteristics does he show
during the fight? Why do his men leave?
Group 3: Lines 752-790
 What noble traits does Wiglaf symbolize? Why does Wiglaf scold the other men? What is his
point?
Group 4 – Lines 791-828
 Why is the treasure so important to Bewoulf? Why is Wiglaf quick to return with the treasure?
Why does Bewoulf plan the tower so carefully? What is the “far-flung family” Beowulf is talking
about (line 821)?

Your Group’s Summary: ________________________________________________________________


_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Kennings in The Final Battle:


Line# Kenning What does it name or refer to?

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