Grendel has been murdered, and now his mother shall avenge him. Just like Grendel, she creeps up on the thanes and viciously murder Hrothgar's best man. After proving that women have power too by killing the best man, she took back her son's arm as a symbol of who is really winning this ongoing battle. Once this has happen, she will wait for Beowulf's next move in her wolf den.
Since this is ancient times this is the time where women were not as equal with men as they are in the present. This is the reason why this chapter will be my favorite out of the whole poem. This is the chapter where Grendel's Mother shows how powerful we women are and she takes out Hrothgar’s best man. You can already see that they did not really appreciate women because they did not take the time to remember Grendel's mother’s name, and in the poem she is called Grendel's Mother.
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In this chapter Grendel's mother refers to her home as a wolf den, when really it means cave. And of course this poem would not be easily memorized without alliteration which is found on lines 418-420. “Beowulf and his band had been given better/Beds; …” The “B” sound is fairly
Rudd cites various sections of the poem, describing Grendel as a “night-monster of the border lands” (Rudd 3), and the translation of the poem says that Grendel was, “...Conceived by a pair of those monsters born Of Cain, murderous creatures banished By God…” (Raffel 42). Rudd also gives evidence for Grendel being seen as demonic, and reasons that Grendel attacks the Danes out of “...not mere thirst for gore, as we might suspect… but rather… envy of the Danes’ happiness- and envy was a chief characteristic of the medieval devil.” (Ruud 5). He then ties this devilish persona to Grendel’s humanistic aspects, stating Grendel has a heathen soul, and therefore he must be human. Ruud also notes, however, that there are critics who question the validity of portraying Grendel as this three-sided figure, asking questions such as, “How can Grendel be a devil when he has a physical body? How can he be a man when he is so manifestly bestial?” (Ruud 7). Ruud believes that the original poet of Beowulf is doing this for effect rather than consistency, but a more reasonable explanation that encompasses all three characteristics is that Grendel represents the evil in
As a result, he would attack them contiunously. In the movie rendition, Grendel attacks the hall because his ears are inside. His hearing is really sensitive. At first, the poem makes him sound like a despicable monster; however, in the movie he is simply misunderstood. The poem represents Grendel’s mother as a fierce and nasty monster, who Beowulf kills with the sword he discovered in her layer. Their were many other treasures in her layer as well. The movie rendition displays Grendel's mom in a different light. She is a beautiful creature who seduced Hrothgar and Beowulf. By doing this, she made a son with both of them. Grendel, being Hrothgar's son, and the dragon, being Beowulf's son. It is ironic that both of their sons try to kill
as men. She has been sleeping down in her dark and dingy cave below the world
The battle with Grendel’s mother differ from the battle with Grendel because when Beowulf fought with Grendel he used no weapon “my hands alone should fight for me” line 174. On the day of the battle, when Grendel saw Beowulf he was scared for the first time “ Grendel's one thought was to run from Beowulf, flee back to his marsh and hide there.” line 278 But when Beowulf fought with Grendel’s mother, at the beginning Beowulf was fighting for his live “ For the first time in years of being worn to war it would earn no glory” line 484 Beowulf was losing , she was to fast and “no sword could slice her evil skin.” He needed his weapons fight for him, and Grendel’s mother was not scared of his strength as Grendel
Beowulf went to the dark lake where she had been dwelling. He was suited up with a helmet, armor, together with his own sword. However, he then found it to be useless against the mother. While in the battle hall, Beowulf spotted a superior sword on the wall. With this sword, he ended the life of Grendel’s mother. After this battle, Beowulf took Grendel’s head as a “trophie”.
While the monsters of the poem are the antagonists of the poem, the author still manages to make the reader feel traces of sympathy for them. Grendel’s human depiction, exile and misery tugs at the heart of readers and indeed shows a genuine side to the figure, while Grendel’s mother and the dragon are sympathetic mainly because they were provoked into being attacked over things they both had a deep affection for. Their actions make us question whether they are as evil as they seem.
Beowulf is told by the King that Grendel's mother has "avenged the feud" (Abrams, 44). The king, once again, asks Beowulf to help him. Beowulf, upon seeing the king's condition, says:
“A peace-weaver was a woman who would be married to a person from an enemy tribe in the hopes of ending a feud” (Yewdaev). The role of women in Anglo-Saxon culture was simple: to settle arguments through arranged marriage. However, Grendel’s mother did not follow similar principles. Instead of arriving at the mead hall ready to make amends and to settle Grendel’s dispute, she returns bloodthirsty and yearning for revenge. Another part that women in the Anglo-Saxon period undertook was that of a cupbearer. “So the Helming woman went on her rounds, / queenly and dignified, decked out in rings, / offering the goblet to all ranks, / treating the household” (Heaney 620-623). Cupbearers served the purpose of passing around cups of mead around to the men until they were all drunk and merry. Grendel’s mother’s independence and lack of subordination to men in the culture epitomizes the contrast she faces with other women in the era. Her attack is surprisingly more impactful than all of Grendel’s together, even though she only delivers a single fatality. Rather than taking out a random drunk guard, she goes straight for Hrothgar’s favorite advisor. “To Hrothgar, this man was the most beloved/ of the friends he trusted between the two seas” (1296-1297). Evidently, coincidence or not, her attack on his advisor was immensely powerful, and contradicts the passive,
In Beowulf the movie the queen reveals Grendel’s mother seduced Hrothgar and that Grendel is Hrothgar’s son. According to Margaret Reed, “She has seduced Hrothgar and Grendel is their son.” Grendel has a bronze scales on parts of his skin this a symbol of Hrothgar. After Beowulf “slays” Grendel’s mother, he returns to Heorot to tell Hrothgar and his Danes. After announcing that he has slayed her the Danes have a party, but Hrothgar pulls Beowulf aside questioning him about what really happened. Beowulf reveals that he actually didn’t slay her. Hrothgar then proceeds to give Beowulf the kingdom, The Queen before he jumps off of the castle committing suicide. According to Beowulf the movie, “so you brought back the head of Grendel. What about the head of the mother? Hrothgar asks .With her dead and cold in the bog, is it not enough to return one monster’s head? Beowulf responds. Did you kill her? Asks Hrothgar. Would you like to hear the story of my struggle against this monstrous hag? Beowulf says passive aggressively. She is no hag, Beowulf. We both know that. But answer me, did you kill her? Hrothgar says. Would I have been able to escape her, had I not? Beowulf asks. Grendel is dead that’s all that matters to me. He can bother me no more. The mother, the “Hag” she’s not my curse anymore.” Hrothgar then announces to the Danes that since he doesn’t have a son he is giving the throne and
Grendel's mother arrives at the hall when all the warriors are sleeping and kills Aeshere, Hrothgar's chief adviser and good friend. Beowulf, offers to div...
After Beowulf tears off Grendel’s arm, he hangs it from the rafters of Herot. Grendel’s irate mother attacks Herot and takes her son’s arm and retreats back to her lair.
King Hrothgar once again looks toward Beowulf to take care of another monster. To get ready for this battle Beowulf wears armor and uses the Horting sword which has never lost in battle. Once again Beowulf shows his courage by deciding to go to the bottom of the monster filled swamp and fight alone. Fighting off monsters on his way down, Beowulf reached the bottom where he was met by Grendel 's mother. He tried to cut her head off with Horting, but she is too strong. Beowulf takes a sword made for giants off the wall, and uses his super strength to cut the mother 's head off. As a trophy of this battle Beowulf finds the body of Grendel in a corner and decides to take his head back to the mead hall. Hrothgar celebrates another victory by once again throwing a large celebration where they gave more gifts to Beowulf and the Geats. After two battles, Beowulf decides it is time for him and his men to head back to their homeland. Continuing to show courage, honor, and strength Beowulf states that if the Danes ever have anymore problems with monsters he will help protect
Although she isn’t known to be as strong as her son was, revenge motivated her to give it all she had. While in battle, Grendel’s mother managed to rip and claw at him, biting holes in his helmet; that too failed him. In all of his years of being a warrior and wearing that helmet had it neglected to warn him glory. Beowulf, however, longed only for fame among his people so he quickly jumped back in, tossing his weapon aside. After a long drawn out battle between the two of them, he managed to claim victory once again. Beowulf’s men quickly traveled back with him while happily rejoicing in his defeat of Grendel’s mother. Upon their return Hrothgar showed gratitude to him for such bravery and commitment to protecting the king and his people. He is granted the honor for such
Beowulf is an epic tale written over twelve hundred years ago. In the poem, several different female characters are introduced, and each woman possesses detailed and unique characteristics. The women in Beowulf are portrayed as strong individuals, each of whom has a specific role within the poem. Some women are cast as the cup-bearers and gracious hostesses of the mead halls, such as Wealhtheow and Hygd, while others, Grendel's mother, fulfill the role of a monstrous uninvited guest. The woman's role of the time period, author's attitude, and societal expectations for women are evidenced throughout the poem.
Grendel’s mother was fierce, combative, monster that had to seek revenge on Beowulf for her son’s death. Grendel’s mother was never given a name. She was referred as the other one, “and now this powerful other one arrives, this force for evil “, spoken from the mouth of Beowulf. In this character analysis, I will describe to you Grendel’s mother appearance, her personality, as well as how other characters in the work view or interact with her. Her nasty appearance will be described by the other characters. But her personality will be described off of her actions. Finally, the way other characters view and interact with her will be through her reason for being a part of this epic.