Beowulf Commentary

Mai Lee
Ms. Peifer
10IB Hr. 04
13 December 2008

Beowulf Commentary
(Lines 1276-1293)
1276 made for his death-den. But now his mother
had sallied forth on a savage journey,
grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge.
She came to Heorot. There, inside the hall,
1280 Danes lay asleep, earls who would soon endure
a great reversal, once Grendel's mother
attacked and entered. 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
1290 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.

In the story Beowulf, it is obvious that the hero isn't Grendel or Grendel's mother but Beowulf. Grendel is injured by Beowulf and in the lines 1276-1293, you can see Grendel's mother's concern for him. She is "desperate for revenge" (Haney 1278) and has become an angry and mad woman. She is now on the hunt for Beowulf. In this passage of Beowulf, Haney uses many descriptive terms and imagery to describe Grendel's mother's pain. The tone that you get from the passage is fierceness and anger but at the same time fear and desperateness.

There are many descriptive terms used such as "hammered edge" (Haney 1285) and "grief-racked and ravenous" (Haney 1278). Haney is using the term "hammered edge" (Haney 1285) to describe the sword. The sword in the shape of a hammer and also has edges of a hammer. it gives us an image of how the sword looks like and how it would be able to kill or injure a person. Another descriptive term used is "grief-racked and ravenous" (Haney 1278). This describes Grendel's mother's feelings and her emothions she feels towards Beowulf. She is sad for her son but at the same time she has hunger for revenge.

An imagery used in this passage is "savage journey" (Haney 1277). This shows an image of the anger and cruelty she feels inside of her. The emotions she can not control that she has to get revenge to get even and end her part. She feels the need to get back at Beowulf and now all that is on her mind is revenge. Another imagery used is "gleaming blade slathered in blood" (Haney 1286). This imagery shows us an image of a shiny and glowing sword covered in rose red blood. This just goes to show that Grendel's mother is not going to stop her actions for anyone. She is determined to get back at Beowulf.

Like said before, the tone for this passage is fierceness and anger but also fear and desperateness. You can hear the fear coming from the warriors when it says "there was little thought of helmets/ or woven mail when they woke up in terror./ The hell-dam was in panic, desperate to get out" (Haney 1290-1293). They were definitely scared of Grendel's mother and were in a rush to get away as far as possible and as quick as they could. The fierceness and anger comes from Grendel's mother who is ready to hurt anyone and everyone that comes in her way. The tone of desperateness actually comes from both characters, Grendel's mother and the warriors, but one kind is out of anger and the other is out of fear. Like it says in the passage Grendel's mother is "desperate for revenge" (Haney 1278) which shows how bad she wants to kill Beowulf. For the warriors, they are desperate to get away from Grendel's mother, they were "desperate to get out" (Haney 1292).

Overall this whole passage shows mainly the character traits of fear, anger, revenge and desperation. They are either from one character or the other or coming from both characters. This passage is effective because it uses many descriptive terms and imagery. It also sets the tone for the reader and gives us an idea of the characters tone for the future readings. It is a very important passage for the story Beowulf because it gives us a sense of how other beings feel too. They have feelings just like people even if they are different and are not regular human beings like the normal. This passage showed not as much drama as other passages would but it gives us a different point of view of Grendel's mother and shows her love for her son, Grendel.

Works Cited
Beowulf. Trans. Seamus Haney. New York: W.W. Norton and company, 2008.

Beowulf LRJ#01

Mai Lee
Ms. Peifer
10 IB HR. 04
05 Dec. 2008

Beowulf LRJ #01
A value in Beowulf is to celebrate the hero's journeys and the good deeds that they have done in the mead-hall. It is where they drink and talk and even sleep in the night time. An evidence that shows this is found in lines 67-73 "So his mind turned to hall-building: he handed down orders for men to work on a great mead-hall meant to be a wonder of the world forever; it would be his throne-room and there he would dispense his God-given goods to young and old- but not common land or people's lives." This is where they go and talk about what good and victory they have done for themselves and for the world. Even though they know that they can be eaten and killed by Grendel while sleeping there they still do it. This is shown in the lines 192-193, "There was panic after dark, people endured raids in the night, riven by the terror." This just goes to show that to not let others know about their cowardness they are willing to sleep in the mead-hall even if death is part of it. They want to show their heroism so they won't let their cowardness show through.

Some alliterations found in Beowulf are "Greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men" (line 122). This is talking about how Grendel is able to grab about thirty men and one time. He is a very dangerous man which you should not mess with. Another alliteration is "Blundering back with the butchered corpses" (line 125). This quote is talking about Grendal also, it is about how powerful Grendel is and how strong he is. "Head of the high kings" (line 183) is also another alliteration. This is quote describes about how God is the most powerful and is king of the world.

One kenning found in Beowulf is "dark death-shadow" (line 160). This talks about Grendel's appearance how he is like a dark shadow and everyone is scared of him. Another kenning found is in lines 95-97 "to be earth's lamplight, lanterns for men, and filled the broad lap of the world with branches and leaves." This keening is talking about God, how he makes the moon and sun which is the Earth's light to guide the people.