Guidelines This past week we have read and written about the Anglo-Saxon epic po
ID: 3525917 • Letter: G
Question
Guidelines This past week we have read and written about the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, translated from Old English into Modern English by Irish poet Seamus Heaney. Consider Grendel's Mother. She may portray the role (or multiple roles) of woman, mother, evil avenger, avenger and/or Germanic warrior. Which of these role(s) -if any - does Grendel's Mother inhabiti? How do the Beowulfs poet's descriptions of her (physical and emotional) support your claims? What might her symbolic function be in the text? Craft an original thesis and close reading around this character's significance.Explanation / Answer
Answer.
Grendel’s mother is one of three antagonists in the English poem Beowulf. Throughout the poem, She is never mentioned by her own name which resonates with her status as a non-human entity. She along with Grendel are portrayed as monster woman who is a descendant of Cain. While Her exact appearance is never directly described, her action of challenging Beowulf in combat in order to defend the honour of her dead son, leads one to interpret her persona as a Germanic warrior, an avenger and a vindictive mother who follows the mores and customs of the time and proceeds in an honourable way and adhered to the heroic ethic of seeking retribution for the death of her own by Beowulf. This analysis is however partly reflected in the text when Seamus Heaney builds a characterisation of Grendel’s mother as ‘ monstrous hell bride’. However, it is seen that the translation loses out on the subtle ambiguity that underlies monstrous and human, evil and just as even the protagonist, Beowulf is seen to repeatedly engage in violence and while Grendel’s mother may emerge as standing true to Heaney’s textual interpretation/ translation, the translation may blindfold the reader to the presence of any moral lens in Grendel’s mother and she may actually have acted out as a morally vindictive warrior mother.
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