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Beowulf and Grendel's Mother
Among the most enduring examples of English literature in existence, the anonymously penned epic poem Beowulf has been translated from Old English to hundreds of languages during the course of the last ten centuries. The heroic tale of Beowulf, the great warrior king of the Geats who comes to the aid of his fellow monarch Hrothgar when their kingdoms come under attack from the feared monster Grendel, represents a masterful work of structured storytelling. While the primary focus of the poem remains of its protagonist Beowulf, many literary critics have become intrigued by its complex depiction of Grendel's mother, the fiercely defensive matriarch of the swamp monsters terrorizing both kingdoms. Having stood unchallenged for 12 years while he menaced Hrothgar's subjects without mercy, depicted in an early scene when Grendel "snatched up thirty...
The tremendous battle that follows is a titanic struggle between the forces of good and evil, and when Beowulf manages to defeat Grendel, "the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder/Snapped, muscle and bone split/And broke" (338-340), the mortally wounded monster retreats to the protection of his mother.
His arm and claw ripped violently from his body and hung from the ceiling of Hrothgar's mead hall, Grendel is left to perish in disgrace, but his mother cannot abide the humiliation and horror visited upon her son by the mere human known as Beowulf. Her subsequent journey of maternal vengeance shows Grendel's mother, despite her wanton disregard for human life, to be a devoted parent who cares about her progeny above all else. After grieving briefly for her defeated and departed son, Grendel's mother immediately embarks on a journey of…
Works Cited
Raffel, Burton. Beowulf. 1st. New York, NY: Penguin Group, 1999. 30-63. Print.
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