What Role Does Grendel And His Mother Play In Beowulf

Beowulf, translated by Raffel, show how two monsters, Grendel and his mother terrorize the Danish people of Herot. The poem itself demonstrates the role that monsters’ play in a story, and how they are seen by the human society. Gender, religion, and societal expectations are the main types of commentary the poet focuses on to demonstrate the role that Grendel and his mother play in the story. At the beginning of the poem, Grendel continuously terrorizes the Danish people due to his desire for killing. Once Beowulf finally kills Grendel, Grendel’s mother discovers this and begins to fume with anger, just like any mother with a son would do. Due to the environmental associations with the two monsters, them being descendants of Cain, and the

The poem describes the monsters’ environment so detailed that their habitat receives more attention, making Grendel and his mother different from human society. In “Monstrous Landscape in Beowulf” by Paul S. Langeslag, the poet “associates his monsters with their habitats to such degree that landscape becomes part of their identity” (Langeslag 120). Grendel and his mother’s habitat is described so monstrously that the reader knows they are monsters before the poet even confirms their identity. The poet describes how Grendel “stirred, that demon, that fiend, Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild marshes, and made his home in hell, not hell but earth” (Beowulf 101-104). The poet describes how frightening Grendel’s environment is, and how his home is hell, but his home is on earth with the humans. This environmental combination makes Grendel’s environment counter in with mankind’s environment. The poet describes Grendel’s mother’s environment by calling it “the shadowy wasteland” (Beowulf 1405). On account of this environmental description, this reveals what a savage beast Grendel’s mother is. The two monsters’ habitat are described so monstrously, it creates ample amount of attention, making Grendel and his mother set apart from human society (Langeslag 120). Furthermore, their landscape becomes part of their identities, which leads to the isolation the humans give to Grendel and his mother because of who they