Beowulf: A New Telling: Chapters 1-5

by Robert Nye
This adaptation of an Old English epic describes the feats of the warrior Beowulf, who arrives in the great hall of Heorot to defeat a bloodthirsty monster.
Here is a link to our lists for John Gardner's Grendel, another modernization of the Beowulf story.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–5, Chapters 6–10, Chapters 11–16
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sheaf
    a package of several things tied together
    The child was curled asleep on a sheaf of ripe corn, with gold and swords heaped round about him.
  2. clench
    squeeze together tightly
    Look at his clenched fists and the way he smiles in his dreams.
  3. fen
    low-lying wet land with grassy vegetation
    It stood tall and firm on the edge of the misty fen.
  4. sentinel
    a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event
    By night, the torchlight blazing from its high windows, it was like a huge sentinel who did not sleep.
  5. conscience
    motivation deriving from ethical or moral principles
    They satisfied their consciences with the thought that Hrothgar was now so strong a ruler that no one would dare to attack him.
  6. loom
    come into view indistinctly, often threateningly
    Horses with no heads and with hands instead of hooves loomed out of the fog.
  7. fiend
    an evil supernatural being
    Grendel is the wickedest fiend who ever crawled in darkness.
  8. vicious
    having the nature of evildoing
    The happiness of the harp, the songs of the poets, the laughter of your warriors—all this must bruise his vicious heart.
  9. sneer
    express through a scornful smile
    "That's right," sneered Unferth. "Grendel will be back. And next time it will be worse."
  10. vengeance
    harming someone in retaliation for something they have done
    They swore vengeance when they learned what had happened to the thirty warriors of the king's bodyguard.
  11. hone
    sharpen with a whetstone
    Swords were honed, shields polished, helmets daubed with grease so that the monster should not seize them easily to bite off their heads.
  12. sparse
    not dense or plentiful
    There was no moon, and the stars looked sparse and adrift in the punished sky.
  13. wring
    twist and compress, as if in pain or anguish
    Queen Wealhtheow paced the corridors, wringing her white hands until the knucklebones nearly pierced the delicate flesh.
  14. murky
    dark or gloomy
    Unferth, drunk, his buckle-belt undone, leaned from a turret to scan the murky marsh.
  15. bolt
    in a rigid manner
    He sat bolt upright, sword in hand, a broad axe at his side.
  16. glaring
    shining intensely
    Man after man went into those terrible jaws, and still Grendel came on, unsatisfied, his green eyes glaring, his slimy skin not even scratched by the hacking axes.
  17. prostrate
    stretched out and lying at full length along the ground
    The brand missed Grendel, but it crashed to the floor beside the prostrate figure of Hrothgar, singeing his red hair where the great horned helmet had been knocked off.
  18. baleful
    threatening or foreshadowing evil or tragic developments
    Even the baleful green of the monster's eyes seemed to dim before it.
  19. unwavering
    marked by firm determination or resolution
    He had a way of looking straight at the person he was talking to, his shoulders set square, his hands on his knees, his eyes unwavering, that always struck others as honest and open.
  20. daunt
    cause to lose courage
    A setback like this did not daunt him.
  21. cultivate
    foster the growth of
    He did this by cultivating habits of quickness and concentration that enabled him to be truly seeing where others were only looking.
  22. integrity
    moral soundness
    Beowulf had made the best of all he had, putting each imperfection to work in the service of his integrity.
  23. indomitable
    impossible to subdue
    They were brave indomitable fellows, well tested in battle and willing to follow their hero wherever he went.
  24. brazen
    face with defiance or impudence
    Who are you who dare to land so brazenly on Hrothgar's coast?
  25. hinder
    prevent the progress or accomplishment of
    If you love your country—as I'm sure you do—then you'll help, not hinder us.
  26. escort
    accompany
    I will escort you to Hrothgar himself.
  27. inquisitive
    given to questioning
    His head moved on his shoulders like a bird's: alert, inquisitive, shrewd.
  28. shroud
    cover as if with a burial garment
    Beyond it, shrouded in mist even on a day like this, lay the fen.
  29. livid
    discolored by coagulation of blood beneath the skin
    He shuddered and touched the scars on his own face—livid marks made by Grendel's claws—as he thought what the monster would do to that simplicity.
  30. insinuate
    suggest in an indirect or covert way; give to understand
    "Only someone wicked could eat witch's apples and come to no harm," he insinuated darkly.
  31. guffaw
    laugh boisterously
    Some of the Geats guffawed, delighted by their leader's quick wit.
  32. scoff
    laugh at with contempt and derision
    "Strength?" scoffed Unferth. "Bat's eyes and rat's teeth!"
  33. admit
    declare to be true or accept the reality of
    "He admits to his weaknesses and in the admitting they become strengths. This is no usual kind of hero."
  34. malice
    the desire to see others suffer
    Unferth's thin lips were wry and ugly with malice.
  35. incomprehensible
    incapable of being explained or accounted for
    I just remembered the story while you and the queen were busy heaping incomprehensible praises on him. Not a pretty story, is it, Beowulf?
  36. throttle
    kill by squeezing the throat of so as to cut off the air
    After Unferth's outburst some of the Geats wanted to throttle him, they were so furious at this insult to their leader.
  37. conceited
    having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
    "If you ask me why we took swords," he went on, “I can only say that we had some conceited idea of fighting whales with them.
  38. agape
    with the mouth wide open as in wonder or awe
    Nine of them, one after another, sliding slick with jaws agape through the heaving sea.
  39. apprehensive
    in fear or dread of possible evil or harm
    Some of the Danes grew restless and apprehensive.
  40. sustenance
    a source of food or nourishment
    He handed the cup back to her and smiled as though he had taken sustenance from the deepest well in the world.
Created on Tue Jun 23 17:23:10 EDT 2015 (updated Mon Aug 06 15:32:01 EDT 2018)

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