Beowulf: A New Telling: Chapters 6-10

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. stifle
    smother or suppress
    Then there was a hissing, gasping, panting noise outside the door, swiftly stifled, as though someone—or some Thing—was holding his breath in the dark, waiting to pounce.
  2. cower
    crouch or curl up
    Unferth's blood ran cold. He cowered into shadow.
  3. talon
    a sharp hooked claw especially on a bird of prey
    He tore it down with his talons.
  4. malignant
    dangerous to health
    It hit him like a great wave of rotting matter: rank, malignant, bringing tears to his eyes and making him cough.
  5. putrid
    in an advanced state of decomposition and having a foul odor
    Then Beowulf saw coil after coil of slimy skin, mucid, spongy, dripping with the filth of the swamps, smeared thick with blood and scum, maggoty, putrid, and a pair of eyes glaring green, and slobbering lips, and huge claws reaching.
  6. inkling
    a slight suggestion or vague understanding
    The hall was left completely in darkness save for some inklings of dawn at the smashed door and where the windows were.
  7. shun
    avoid and stay away from deliberately
    You, who have shunned the sun, meet me, once stung by bees that drank the sun.
  8. abashed
    feeling or caused to feel uneasy and self-conscious
    Something to do with light and another of these children of day—one who had flung herself between him and his food, and by her love had thwarted him, so that he had felt powerless to approach and had slunk away, abashed by mystery.
  9. relinquish
    release, as from one's grip
    Beowulf, badly bruised, refused to relinquish his hold.
  10. pandemonium
    a state of extreme confusion and disorder
    It was a pandemonium of pain, as though all the men he had eaten cried out too.
  11. skulk
    lie in wait or behave in a sneaky and secretive manner
    Unferth, alone, ignored, skulked under the great throne.
  12. wretch
    someone you feel sorry for
    But Beowulf told them to leave the wretch to himself.
  13. prophesy
    predict or reveal, as if through divine inspiration
    Only Unferth held apart from it, sitting in a dark corner, twisting his cloak in his hands, muttering of Grendel's “beauty," and prophesying doom.
  14. timorous
    shy and fearful by nature
    He was small in stature, timorous and shy by nature.
  15. askance
    with suspicion or disapproval
    You never saw huge Sigemund but you saw little Fitela, taking six strides to keep up with his uncle's one, peering askance at murky places, tugging at the giant's sleeves and offering him all sorts of useless advice in a high, squeaky voice.
  16. prosperity
    the condition of having good fortune
    The Dragon was guardian of a treasure hoard so vast and valuable that they knew it would bring prosperity to their land for generations to come.
  17. emerge
    come up to the surface of or rise
    As soon as he saw big telltale bubbles indicating that his uncle was about to emerge from the sea, he grabbed the tail boldly in both hands—and twisted it as hard as he could!
  18. impudent
    improperly forward or bold
    It turned its terrible fourth head to see and destroy whatever the impudent thing was that dared to tweak its tail.
  19. writhe
    move in a twisting or contorted motion
    It writhed and coughed.
  20. plunder
    goods or money obtained illegally
    They loaded ten ships with their plunder, and sailed happily home.
  21. slither
    pass or move unobtrusively or smoothly
    The wind in the grasses, which had whispered at Grendel's coming, held its breath icily as this new horror slithered on toward hall Heorot.
  22. loathsome
    highly offensive; arousing aversion or disgust
    The fen shook then with unnatural storms as it witnessed their loathsome embracings.
  23. grisly
    shockingly repellent; inspiring horror
    A cloud of white vampire moths hovered above her grisly head.
  24. fester
    generate pus
    He could feel its festering sap in every fiber of him.
  25. frailty
    the state of being weak in health or body
    All at once he hated his fear—the sweat on his cheeks that proved him weak and human, the trembling of his hands that measured the distance between him and Grendel, all the frailties of his humble mortal state.
  26. treacherous
    tending to betray
    Find the vile, treacherous coward Unferth in whatever dark corner he is hiding, and bring him straight to me!
  27. bugaboo
    an imaginary monster used to frighten children
    She had remembered the stories of her childhood, the most loathly and ancient bugaboo her nurse had ever frightened her with.
  28. sere
    having lost all moisture
    The sun was bleak and sere. It was a dead land.
  29. subtle
    difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
    He knew that for Grendel's Mother, as for Grendel, more subtle and essential weapons were necessary.
  30. wanton
    unprovoked or without motive or justification
    Hrothgar had wanted to come too, he was so incensed by the wanton slaying of Aeschere.
  31. desolation
    the state of being decayed or destroyed
    Yet this was not sufficient to account for the stench hanging over the miles and miles of desolation.
  32. succumb
    give in, as to overwhelming force, influence, or pressure
    For a moment he succumbed, seduced by gentleness.
  33. intangible
    incapable of being perceived by the senses, especially touch
    There was no escaping, none, from these spongy intangible fingers that pulled him on, on, on, irresistibly insistent, coaxing, maternal.
  34. lichen
    a plant occurring in crusty patches on tree trunks or rocks
    Her arms stretched all along it, alive, like lichen.
  35. malevolent
    wishing or appearing to wish evil to others
    He could hear her laughter, soft, malevolent, bloodthirsty.
  36. sinewy
    stringy and difficult to chew
    She kept on drawing him down into the dark, sucking at his skin, making kissing and swallowing noises, her arms winding and unwinding about him like sinewy, swollen snakes.
  37. blanch
    turn pale, as if in fear
    Listen, She-evil, and I will tell you why this heart does not blush or blanch at the wicked worst you can do.
  38. fetid
    offensively malodorous
    A fetid breath of air passed through the chamber.
  39. overwhelm
    overcome by superior force
    But he refused to be overwhelmed.
  40. incantation
    a ritual reciting of words believed to have a magical effect
    When he spoke again he put an equal emphasis on each word, so that it sounded like an incantation.
Created on Tue Jun 23 17:31:11 EDT 2015 (updated Mon Aug 06 15:32:24 EDT 2018)

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