Beowulf and Grendel\'s Mother Among the Most

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 men, smashed them/unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies" (37-38), the giant ogre who descends from the biblical villain Cain meets his equal in the hero Beowulf. 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 retribution, stalking the celebratory Danes and launching a hideous counterattack while they slumber. The fact that "no female, no matter/How fierce, could have come with a man's strength/Fought with the power and courage men fight with" (400-403) illustrates the immense depth of her maternal motivation to avenge Grendel's death. After rampaging through Herot seeking her rightful revenge, Grendel's mother "took a single victim and fled from the hall & #8230; she'd taken Hrothgar's closest friend/The man he loved most of all men on earth/She'd killed a glorious soldier, cut/A noble life short" (411-417), and it is this act of malice which, for many literary critics, actually serves to show her as the story's sympathetic figure. Grendel was the one that she loved most of all on earth, and in his mother's eyes he was a glorious soldier who had his noble life cut short by the collaborative efforts of Beowulf and Hrothgar, so her specific acts of personal vengeance are seemingly justified. Further confirmation of her loyalty and devotion to Grendel comes when "all Herot burst into shouts:/She had carried off Grendel's claw" (420-421), because this act of preserving her fallen child's broken and battered body is indicative of the grieving process across all cultures, showing Grendel's monstrous mother to share many of the human emotions that have motivated local kings and heroes to attack her and her offspring. Although she eventually succumbs to the overwhelming strength of Beowulf in their own battle, Grendel's mother proves through her actions that despite being a monstrous ogre who is the enemy of mankind, her own sense of humanity can still be expressed through the love that only a mother can know for her son.