Examples Of Vengeance In Beowulf

Aaron Leszczynski

Mr. Fisher-English Lit

Period 2

8 September 2014

Vengeance

Anglo-Saxon, it is the culture that the protagonist in the epic Beowulf lives in. (The protagonist in the novel is Beowulf.) Anglo-Saxon culture was very aggressive. The BBC took a look at their culture and they said, “The new conception of royal justice was aggressive. The Anglo-Saxons had a brutal corporal and capital punishments at their disposal, including ‘the ordeal’ and grisly mutilations.” (Wood 1-6). In order for their culture to attempt to stop having so much blood shed they had wergild. According to thefreedicitonary.com, wergild is defined as, “a price set upon a person’s life on the basis of rank and paid as compensation by the family of a slayer to the kindred of lord of a slain person to free the culprit of further punishment or obligation to prevent blood feud.” (Dictionary 3-4). It is portrayed that the concept of vengeance is important. According to dictionary.com, the word vengeance means, “the desire for revenge.” The epic portrays vengeance as it is enacted and it appears to be making a connection with what it means to be human in the Anglo-Saxon culture. Throughout the epic Beowulf, vengeance is shown in multiple parts, however, it is strongly portrayed when; Grendel’s Mother avenges Grendel as well as the part in the epic when Beowulf attacks Grendel’s Mother to avenge the companion.

In the

epic Beowulf, it is portrayed that Grendel’s Mother avenges Grendel after his death. It is shown she avenges him, by the author writing, “Her onslaught was less only by as much as an amazon warrior’s strength is less than an armed man’s when the hefted sword, its hammered edge and gleaming blade slathered in blood razes the sturdy boar-ridge off a helmet. Then in the hall, hard-honed swords were grabbed from the bench, many a broad shield lifted and braced; there was little thought of helmets or woven mail when they woke in terror. The hell-dam was in panic, desperate to get out in mortal terror the moment she was found. She had pounced and taken one of the retainers in a tight hold, then headed for the fen. To Hrothgar, this man was the most beloved of the friends he trusted between the two seas.” (Heaney 1282-1297). This portrays vengeance because; Grendel’s mother tries and completes her overall goal of attack the city, and getting Grendel’s arm back as well as taking the dearest companion of the grey-harried warrior. This shows vengeance due to the fact that she did it just out of the idea of getting even. In fact, the book even states that Grendel’s mother went there to get revenge. “But now his mother had sallied forth on a savage journey, grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge.” (Heaney 1276-1278). This part of the epic Beowulf, portrays a lot about human behavior. First of all, Beowulf and his men, and the men in the city all know where Grendel comes from; he is a descendant of cane. They obviously know that he has a mother, or how else could they tell she haunted the waters her lair was in for a hundred seasons. “Quickly the one who haunted those waters, who had scavenged and gone her gluttonous rounds for a hundred seasons, sensed a human…” (Heaney 1497-1499). The people of Herot also most likely knew that she was just as evil as Grendel due to the fact that they are both descendants of Cane. Therefore, the people could have assumed she was coming and should have been more well prepared for her arrival, however, since Beowulf killed Grendel, the kingdom thought they were at peace, naturally allowing them to want to celebrate which eventually turns out to be the best time for Grendel’s mother to strike.
In the epic, Beowulf portrays vengeance by, trying to get even with the grey-bearded warriors companion, by attacking Grendel’s mother at her lair. “…he dived into the heaving depths of the lake. It was the best part of the day before he could see the solid bottom. Quickly the one who haunted those waters, who had scavenged a gone her gluttonous rounds observing her outlandish lair from above.” (Heaney 1494-1500). Eventually, Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother, “The sure-footed fighter felt daunted, the strongest of warriors stumbled and fell. So she pounced upon him and pulled out a broad, whetted knife: now she would avenge her only child. But the mesh of chain-mail on Beowulf’s shoulder shielded his life, turned the edge and tip of the blade…once Beowulf got back up on his feet. Then he saw a blade that boded well. A sword in her amour, an ancient heirloom from the days of the giants, an ideal weapon, one that any warrior would envy, but so huge and heavy of itself only Beowulf could wield it in a battle. So the Shielding’s’ hero, hard-pressed and enraged, took a firm hold of the hilt and swung the blade in an arc, a resolute blow that bit deep into her neck-bone.” (Heaney 1543-1566). This shows that Beowulf was successfully able to avenge the companion and show vengeance on Grendel’s mother for attacking. It is also shown that Beowulf is avenging the companion earlier in the epic. “Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, spoke: ‘Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning.” (Heaney 1383-1385) In this scene of the epic, it is showing that vengeance is okay. According to Beowulf it is better than mourning, however, only the good side of vengeance is being shown here due to the book being bias towards Beowulf. Since Beowulf is the protagonist, it is his job to seem good, even if he is doing wrong. This part of the epic however, shows a lot about human nature. It shows that getting even solves everything, if you are deemed a hero, or good, or even an actual human in society. It also says it is okay to do if you are deemed good by society because the other party was in the wrong, when the actual truth is, both parties are in the wrong. Gandhi once said, “An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind” which, if it was applied to here, it would leave the whole world dead, so overall, vengeance is bad, no matter if you are right or wrong, because if you were truly an actual Christ like figure, you would be the bigger person and not fight to get even.
In conclusion, vengeance was a role in Anglo-Saxon culture, and is heavily portrayed in Beowulf.

However, the so called culture that claimed to be ‘Christians’ evidently turned out to be pretty poor ones if the epic Beowulf accurately portrays what Anglo-Saxon culture was like, then they were fairly poor Christians. During the epic Beowulf, vengeance is shown in many different scenes of the epic, however, it is strongly portrayed when; Grendel’s Mother avenges Grendel as well as the part in the epic when Beowulf attacks Grendel’s Mother to avenge the

companion.

Works Cited
Beowulf: A New Translation. Trans. Seamus Heaney. New York : Norton, 2000. Print.
"Vengance." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
"Wergild." The Free Dictionary. Farlex, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.
Wood, Michael D. "Law and Order." BBC News. BBC, n.d. Web. 11 Sept. 2014.