Examples Of Grendel's Mother In Beowulf

606 Words2 Pages

Grendel’s Mother and the Death Price
Beowulf lives in a society where mercy has no light in a land where justice shines. Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney is a tale of a man who fought three battles winning two and losing one, his last one, along with his life. Beowulf is the nephew to the king of Geatland, he travels to Denmark to kill the monster Grendel for numerous murders that took place in and around the king of the Danes, mead hall. Once Beowulf kills Grendel, Grendel’s mother goes back to the mead hall and kills Aeschere one of Hrothgar’s men. Lastly Beowulf goes to the nameless Grendel’s mother’s underwater cave and avenges Aeschere death by killing her; the death price circle ends because Grendel’s mother has no one to avenger …show more content…

Grendel’s mother was not evil she simply was avenging her only sons death. One might say that she is evil because she killed a man that took no part in her son’s death, but she was not there to witness the battle and no one came forward as guilty. No one paid her for her loss, unless one would say they paid her by taking her own life as well. Throughout this novel Beowulf kills multiple people and monsters, but not once does someone dare to accuse the heroic symbol to be evil. Grendel’s mother kills one man, and only in remorse for her only friend, her only family, her only son but is called “hell-dam” in other words the devil’s wife (1292). Therefore she is not evil, Grendel’s mother did what any mother would do if her son was murdered, especially in a society with a death …show more content…

She had been forced down into fearful waters, the cold depths” (1258-1261). Another reason why Grendel’s mother is without a doubt not evil is the only reason her son even got into the situation is they were both born monsters. Hrothgar explains that Grendel and his mother with no other choice are forced to live at the bottom of a haunted mere; why wouldn’t you want to rebel if society doesn’t except the way that you look. Also the way that your child acts does not reflect your behavior. Someone might say that if you are born a monster than you are born evil, but not all monsters are evil; what makes a person or monster evil is the way they act, Grendel’s mother was as civilized if not more civilized as/than the society that lived around her. Therefore Grendel’s mother is not evil just because she was born into the body of a

Open Document