2 A royal teenager s Grendel s Death troubled years Chapter BEFORE READING 1 The story so far. Fill in the blanks using the following words. attack companions completed entertain monster stop strength warrior welcomed went on Hrothgar, king of the Danes, was a great (1).................................. to build a wonderful hall where he could When it was (3)...................................., . He decided (2).................................... his nobles. there were banquets and music every night, until the monster Grendel decided to (4).................................... the king s men who were sleeping there. Grendel s attacks for twelve years and nobody was able to Beowulf, a Geat of extraordinary (6).................................... (7)................................... and kill (5)..................... him. Finally, and courage, heard about the monster and decided to help. He arrived on a ship with fourteen (8)............................................. and told the king that he would kill Grendel. The hero and his companions were (9).................................... and, after a banquet in their honour, were left in the hall to wait for the (10).................................... 2 . Making predictions.The following sentences are adapted from Chapter 2. Try and guess in what order these events will appear in the story. The first one has already been done for you. a. I will face him with my bare hands, he said. That is madness, my Lord, said his men. b. But now the monster s mother was mad with sorrow and anger and wanted revenge. c. The monster drank the man s blood and left him lifeless on the floor. d. He felt terribly weak and knew he was going to die. e. This man alone was able to do what all of us together couldn t do, said King Hrothgar. f. He took off the arm completely. g. After the banquet, the king gave Beowulf splendid gifts. h. They fought for a long time and Grendel started to lose his strength. 22 1