No this is not a thread of "yo momma" jokes on Grendel, though there are alot...
Anyway my real question is, during tonites reading when Beowulf goes into the haunted lake area, it says he gets grabbed under water but then all of a sudden he is in some lair with weapons and he fights Grendel's mom there, so my question is, does anyone know how Beowulf got from the water to this secret underwater cave that is not flooded with water?
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In response to the secret underwater cave question, the text specifies that "At night there, something uncanny happens: the water burns. And the mere bottom has never been sounded by the sons of men." (lines 1365-1367) I interpreted this as an evil, possibly magic lake, that contains some sort of cave in the bottom where Grendel and his mother reside. I'd assume it would have to have some magical powers to not be flooded? But apparently no man has ever been down there to know for sure.
My question is, why does Grendel's mother arrive at Heorot and leave only with Grendel's arm and Aeschere? Though killing Aeschere was really hurtful to Hrothgar, did she only want the retrieval of Grendel's arm? It says that she was out for revenge but it doesn't seem like she wanted to cause a great deal of damage. meg k.
Ah that makes sense, thanks Meg, but as for her going in after his arm, I see it as more of a she wanted what was hers, because you find out she had his corpse there, so I guess that if you look at in the sense that you are this horrid abomination from hell and the only other companion you have is a fellow demon, you want to keep whatever is left of them, even corpses.
That or Grendel's mom is a necrophiliac?
-Doug Z
Oh and sorry, the first post was mine, I forgot to label it
-Doug Z
i was under the impression that the fight took place under water, i may be wrong though. If it is underwater, i wonder how beowulf is able to breath. This brings up two possibilties to my attention. either this evidence to lead us to beleive the beowulf is indeed not human, and or possesing divine powers, or that we must simply suspend reality and assume that perhaps underwqater breathing is possible for a man/ woman in the world of Beowulf.
I thought that Grendel's mom had pulled him underwater and into a lair/cave that had air for the breathing. However im not sure how there could be air if it was an underwater cave unless there was some opening where oxygen could come through.
If the fight was underwater, then i'm not sure how Beowulf could survive and where he could find an armory underwater. He also grabs a large sword that in the text says that only someone with inhumane strength could equip. So, how could a man swing a sword that is extremely heavy, kill Grendel's mother underwater. Seems impossible other than the suspision of Beowulf having divine powers like greg mentioned. Other than this idea, this fight would have to take place on a air filled enviroment where Beowulf coudl properly defeat this foe.
In line 1497-1500, "Quickly the one who haunted those waters, who had scavenged and gone her gluttonous rounds for a hundred seasons, sensed a human observing her outlandish lair from overhead" The definition of "lair" is a resting place for a wild animal. Therefore, I think the fight between Beowulf and Grendel's mother took place in an underwater cave where Grendel and his mother have been living. And maybe the roof of the cave holds out all the water.
My question is what happened to the sword that Unferth gave to Beowulf? lu.l
In line 1512-1516, "The gallant man could see he had entered some hellish turn-hole and yet the water there did not work against him because the hall-roofing held off the force of the current;...". This shows that the fight between Grendel's mother and Beowulf was underwater, but the author describes it as a hellish turn hole so the properties of water might be different and Beowulf might be able to breath.
To answer where the sword that Unferth gave to Beowulf went:
The sword was ineffective versus Grendel's mother so on line 1531 Beowulf "Then, in a fury, he flung the sword away." So it is at the bottom of the lake somewhere.
After Beowulf returned to Heorot with Grendel's head, Hrothgar gave a speech to Beowulf. In the lines 1759-1768, ………." Your piercing eye will dim and darken; and death will arrive, dear warrior, to sweep you away. Does the theme "all things must end" apply to this speech given by Hrothgar to Beowulf? lu.l
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