I picked up this book because it is one of the required reading books for my son and school starts next week. On the positive side, it is a very readable retelling of the epic poem Beowulf. The story of Beowulf is one of those things that everyone should be familiar with since Beowulf and Grendel are mentioned so often in other books. However, I found this an odd choice for required reading. As an epic poem the plot wanders a bit and the story is all plot. The characters are one dimensional and the conflict seems pretty simple - good vs. evil. Beowulf is a likeable hero and he has some unusual attributes for a hero, being short and near-sighted. What made this book more fun is that my son and I are also reading Nancy Farmer's Sea of Trolls which includes Grendel's mother as one of the main villains. ( )

There are many copies of this book and most of them are alike but i like this one the best. This is a very enjoyable book but the copies do not match up with the ones on the AR list. ( )

Andrea Tuttle
EDCI 4120/5120

Nye, R., (1982). Beowulf. New York: Dell.

Grade Levels: 9th – 11th grade
Category: Fantasy
Read- Alouds: pages 1-3 (finding the child), pages 10-17 (introduction of the demon Grendel), pages 43- 44 (Beowulf killing the monster), pages 72-73 (Beowulf slaying Grendel), pages 82-83 (Beowulf becomes king), pages 102-103 (Beowulf’s burial)

Summary:
Grendel is a demon that lives in the swampland of Hrothgar’s kingdom. The Danes suffer for many years at the hands of Grendel because he terrorizes them everynight by killing them. Beowulf is a young Geatish warrior that sails to Denmark to defeat Grendel. “Beowulf was below average size; he looked taller sitting down than standing up, because his broad chest and shoulders were out of proportion to his legs, which were short. He had straight brown hair and strong wrists (page19).” Beowulf fought Grendel and after he ripped his arm out of the socket, he slayed him with his sword. Beowulf was the hero of the Danes because he finally releived them of their demon. Beowulf was very respected by the Danes and became king. A slave that ran away from the kingdom because he didn’t like being beaten was brought to Beowulf. Beowulf showed him compassion and let him eat honey, but the old soldiers thought that was a sign the old days were back-war and strife.

Themes:
The main theme of this book is being a hero to the Danes. Beowulf was not a statuesque man, but he was a very brave warrior that dared to stand up to Grendel. Beowulf had to overcome many obstacles in order to gain the respect of the Danes. When he finally killed Grendel, he became their leader.

Discussion Questions:
How would you go about slaying an evil demon?
What obstacles do you think Beowulf would have because of his size? Do you think everyone would look at him and see a hero?
What would you do if you were a Dane?

Reader Response:
I decided to try reading a fantasy book and found it to be a decent book. It was a pretty easy book to read because it seemed to flow right along. The only problem I have with these types of books is following along with all the made up names. I would use a book like this in my class at the high school level.

Robert Nye's version of the legendary tale is quite on the mark for middle school students. It is replete with gore, battle scenes, and heroic action which would be particularly appeal to male students. However, it may be a bit much for those more sensitive, i.e. swimming in a pool of blood. There is a great deal of symbolic and figurative language in this tale for the more sophisticated reader. ( )

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