Take delight in this torque, dear Beowulf,
wear it for luck and wear also this mail
from our people’s armory: may you prosper in them!
Be acclaimed for strength, for kindly guidance
to these two boys, and your bounty will be sure.
You have won renown: you are known to all men
far and near, now and forever.
Your sway is wide as the wind’s home,
as the sea around cliffs. And so, my prince,
I wish you a lifetime’s luck and blessings
to enjoy this treasure. Treat my sons
with tender care, be strong and kind.
Here each comrade is true to the other,
loyal to Lord, loving in spirit. (1216-1229)
Wealtheow ‘s responsibility is that of a mediator to make everyone happy and yet ensure that she and her people survive.
In comparing the women and their purpose in society to the events concerning Grendle’s mother, one can see a female does not usually take action but Grendel’s mother does despite her gender. Feeling “grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for revenge” (1278) Grendle’s mother goes on the attack in order to redeem her son who was killed. In doing this she consequently exhibits more masculine traits than other women of the time. She displays quite a different reaction than the one that Hildeburh gave when she lost not only her brother but her son as well. Hildeburh did exactly what was expected of her at the time. She mourned and “Then Hidleburh ordered her own / son’s body be burnt with Hnaef’s, / the flesh of his bones to sputter and blaze / beside his uncle’s. The women wailed / and sang keens” (1115-1119). Comparatively Grendel’s mother does not have a problem in reacting to the wrongs she felt that were done to her: “monstrous hell-bride; brooded on her wrongs” (1259). Unlike the women of the time she fights her own battles: “she has taken up the feud because of last night when you killed Grendel” (1333). This is the main difference between the women of the time and Grendel’s mother since dealing with grudges was typically a job left up to that of the males in the family. Chance also believes that women’s expected place in society at that time was one of non-aggression and they become the ones to make the peace as opposed to men who fight. Chance goes on to explain, “the idea is stressed that a kinwoman or mother must passively accept and not actively avenge the loss of her son” (p.157-158).
Females do not usually take action other than in a peaceful or symbolic sense in this Anglo-Saxon time period. Though Grendel’s mother proceeds like a man by acting out her revenge she is referred to in the poem as a: “ghastly dam” (2120) reflecting that she is still seen as a lady in that time period:
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 lifted and braced; there was little though of helmets or woven mail when they woke in terror. The hell-dam was in a panic, desperate to get out, in mortal terror the moment she was found. She had pounced and taken one of the retainers in a tight hold, then headed for the fen. (1282-1295)
These lines from the poem help to show that even though some of the actions taken by Grendel’s mother are masculine by nature, she does have some female traits. These traits include not being as strong as the men and fleeing or not staying to put up a fight once confronted. Women stereotypically were seen as being fearful of danger once it has been provoked.
The function of Grendel’s mother in the poem seems to be quite different from the function that the monsters of Grendel and the Dragon play. She seems to be a symbol of the blood feuds and displays an unwillingness to act as the peace-pledge, which was the normal female role after an injustice. In her essay Jane Chance states: “As a monstrous mother and queen she perverts a role more important socially and symbolically than that of Grendel” (p. 167). The devoted mother or the feminine side of Grendel’s mother comes out in her anger and her sense of loss at the killing of her son. But Grendel’s mother’s actions are not accepted by the people of this time, as a result there is a conflict between her actions and her purpose. Chance writes about how the poet wishes to “stress this specific inversion of the Anglo-Saxon ideal of women as both monstrous and masculine” (p. 155). As Grendel’s mother changes roles between mother and vengeance seeker through the story one might think that the poet is against women from acting in the same manor as Grendel’s mother. By making Grendel’s mother feminine but also powerful and ruthless she is then referred to as a “swamp thing from hell, the tarn-hag in all her terrible strength” (1518-1519) and “hell-dam”(1292). Grendel’s mother seems to be desiring revenge over peace and her contemporaries viewed this as horrible, since women are the symbols of peace, as explained by Chance.
The essay written by Jane Chance looks at the women and the roles that they played in that time period and then comparing their behavior to Grendel’s mother’s ever changing role as mother to vengeance seeker. It also evaluates the function that Grendel’s mother occupies in the poem. Grendel's mother in the poem seems to have the most challenging role in the poem itself. She does not seem to agree with the view of women in the time period that the poem was written. By exploring the differences of behavior in Beowulf one can see that Grendel’s mother is an important addition to the poem.
Comparing Grendel’s Mother to Other Women’s Roles in Beowulf
Alicia Payne, 1444904
English 101, Dr. November 7, 2002