Beowulf

It’s a good thing the men have gone to bed armed, because their monster troubles are not over. Grendel, it transpires, had a mother, and that mother is lurking at the bottom of their swamp, plotting revenge for her murdered son.

Like Grendel before her, she raids Heorot, and carries away both Hrothgar’s close friend Aeschere and Grendel’s severed arm. Beowulf, quartered elsewhere, isn’t around to help. In the morning, Hrothgar summons Beowulf and tells him that there have indeed been tales of two monsters roaming the countryside:

One of these things,

as far as anyone ever can discern,

looks like a woman;

the other, warped

in the shape of a man, moves beyond the pale

bigger than any man, an unnatural birth

called Grendel by the country people

in former days. They are fatherless creatures (95). 

He goes on to explain that, in the dark of night, the waters of the swamp (or “mere”) where the monsters live burn and flicker. Go find that mere and defeat Grendel’s mother, Hrothgar tells Beowulf, and we will give you even more treasure.

Beowulf tells Hrothgar not to grieve, saying that revenge is better than mourning, and vows to kill Grendel’s mother right away. Beowulf, Hrothgar, and “a force of shield-bearers” ride out on her bloody trail (97). It isn’t long before they discover Aeschere’s severed head. Nearby they find the mere, seething with blood and swarming with horrible water-serpents. The monsters flee into the depths at the sound of the men’s battle-horn, though an archer manages to kill one of them and the warriors marvel at its grotesque body.

Beowulf suits up in elaborate armor, and arms himself with a sword lent to him by Unferth, of all people (though this means Unferth loses even more face for not taking on Grendel’s mother himself). This sword is Hrunting, and has its own storied history: It’s never lost a battle. Beowulf reminds Hrothgar of his promise to treat Beowulf like a son, and recites what is essentially his will: If Beowulf dies, Hrothgar should take care of Beowulf’s men, send his treasure-hoard to Hygelac, and give Unferth his own sword in recompense for Hrunting. Then, he dives into the mere.

It takes him a full day to reach the bottom. Grendel’s mother senses his approach and leaps out to seize him. Though his armor protects him from her claws, she manages to drag him into her lair, where a swarm of monsters attacks him all at once. He tries to fight them off with Hrunting, but finds that the sword can’t injure them. So, returning to his old strategy, he flings the sword aside and fights the monsters with his bare hands.

Grendel’s mother has no interest in a fair fight, and pounces on Beowulf with a knife. Again, his armor protects him. Looking around the lair, he spots a gigantic sword:

an ancient heirloom

from the days of the giants, an ideal weapon,

one that any warrior would envy,

but so huge and heavy of itself

only Beowulf could wield it in a battle (107-109). 

This sword works: with one mighty swipe, he decapitates Grendel’s mother. With this foe defeated, Beowulf looks around the lair, spots Grendel’s dead body, and beheads it, too. Back on dry land, Beowulf’s friends see the waters surging and fear he’s been devoured. 

Down in the lair, a strange light gleams, and the blade of Beowulf’s new sword begins to melt. He carries its hilt and Grendel’s head back to the surface, finding along the way that all the other monsters have dissipated at the death of Grendel’s mother. Beowulf’s friends are overjoyed to see him. They hoist Grendel’s head on a spear and take turns carrying it back to Heorot; it’s awfully heavy and unwieldy.

Beowulf and his companions haul Grendel’s head into Heorot, shocking the queen and the court. Beowulf tells Hrothgar of his deeds and presents him with the hilt of the huge sword. Hrothgar examines the hilt, which is engraved with the story of 

how war first came into the world

and the flood destroyed the tribe of giants.

They suffered a terrible severance from the Lord;

the Almighty made the waters rise,

and drowned them in the deluge for retribution” (117).

Hrothgar praises Beowulf, comparing him favorably to King Heremod, a bloodthirsty king who killed his own allies and (worst of all) “gave no more rings/to honour the Danes” (119). He then gives Beowulf an extended piece of advice on power, reminding him that it’s easy for strong men to forget that all their gifts come from God, and can easily be taken away—a fate that especially befalls those who fall victim to their own pride. Hrothgar gives his own successful but monster-troubled reign as an example of the vagaries of life. Beowulf and all of Heorot feast and retire. The next day, Beowulf orders Hrunting to be returned to Unferth, making no mention of the fact that it didn’t do him any good: he was, the poem tells us, “a considerate man” (125).

Beowulf and the Geats prepare to return to their own land. Beowulf makes a speech thanking Hrothgar for his kindness and swearing his ongoing allegiance, as well as offering help with any other monster problems that might pop up. Hrothgar replies that Beowulf is a great man, worthy to be the King of the Geats himself if Hygelac happens to die young. The two men embrace, and Hrothgar bursts into tears under a sudden premonition: “nevermore would they meet each other/face to face” (129). After this affectionate farewell, Beowulf and his men sail their treasure-loaded ship back to Hygelac’s stronghold.

Hygelac and his queen Hygd welcome Beowulf and his men home. The poem’s speaker tells us that Hygd was a particularly good and generous queen, and tells the counter-story of Queen Modthryth, who used to gorily execute any man who looked her in the eye. However, she mellowed out after her marriage to Offa, and later became a good queen through her devotion to him.

Hygelac throws the customary feast to welcome Beowulf, and asks him to tell the story of his adventures. Beowulf talks about the pleasure and friendship he found at Heorot, mentioning Hrothgar’s daughter Freawaru, who’s going to be married to Ingeld, a member of the Heathobard clan. While this is a marriage intended to heal an old feud, Beowulf worries that it won’t be enough to patch up the sense of injury.

He goes on to vividly picture the scene of such a marriage, imagining old warriors reminded of the past stirring up trouble until a fight breaks out and Ingeld’s love for Freawaru sours. He does not totally trust the Heathobards’ intentions towards the Danes.

Returning to his own story, he retells his victories over Grendel and Grendel’s mother, adding a few vivid details we haven’t heard before, like that Grendel kept “a roomy pouch,/a strange accoutrement, intricately strung/and hung at the ready, a rare patchwork/of devilishly fitted dragon-skins” in which to carry away his prey (143). He then presents Hygelac and Hygd with all the treasure Hrothgar gave him. The armor is especially meaningful: It had belonged to Hrothgar’s older brother. 

The poet praises Beowulf’s correct behavior, and delivers the surprising information that the Geats had previously not esteemed Beowulf much, considering him a bit of a weakling. Now, this mistaken impression has been rectified. Hygelac presents Beowulf with more treasure, land, a hall of his own, and a throne.