Scylding

Beowulf is most certainly a writing of the epic style. Firstly, as is common with epics, the story is usually begun by relaying a sort family lineage of extremely great and powerful men. Indeed the poem Beowulf mirrors this by the telling of the Scyldings (Danes) and their namesake Scyld Scefing, a great mythological character who reaches this area of the world as a castaway on a ship while a young child. Scefing

What was Grendel's mother's name? What is the reference of the author's name for her? In the anonymous poem entitled Beowulf, Grendel’s mother was never given a name. She was however described as “Grendles mōðor” or Grendel’s Mother. Although Grendel’s mother was not named, she was described and characterized thoroughly. One, Grendel’s mother lived in peace in her kingdom for years. Although her son was a problem to most, she on the other hand lived in peace and silence. She was also drawing strength

The Character That Redefines Gender Roles Translated by Seamus Heaney in 2000, “Beowulf” is an epic poem that utilizes its characters to present the theme of gender roles through the idea of masculinity and feminism. Grendel’s mother is a descendant of Cain and is filled with rage and desire to revenge his son’s defeat. She is one of the monsters in the heroic epic of Beowulf. Unlike her son, she is less powerful and non-problematic and can be described as a woman on a human mission rather than monstrous

The idea of good versus evil is something that is present in many stories. Beowulf is no different and the notion that good always defeats evil is present throughout the story, with the titular character Beowulf representing the good that defeats the evils forces in Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. Christianity is ever present in Beowulf and one could say that the poem is just a reflection of God and the devil, and the fight against one another, the moral versus the immoral. Not only

There are at least two sides to every story. In most literature, one side is the one that is told, and it leaves the antagonist never able to defend himself, and most often the protagonist comes out all bright and shiny and perfect. In Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney and Grendel by John Gardner, there is an exception to this normal literature convention. Beowulf, like most literature from its era, is written in third person, and simply tells the story in a broad sense. Grendel on the other hand

The classic poem Beowulf presents the concept of the perfect king/leader/ruler. This is presented in two modes: the ideal Germanic king and the ideal Christian king. Literary scholar Levin L. Schucking in “Ideal of Kingship” states: “I have already tried to prove that the author of Beowulf designed it as a kind of Furstenspiegel (“mirror of a prince”) – perhaps for the young son of a prince, a thought with which Heusler later agreed” (36). So the author of Beowulf had in mind a human ideal of

An Analysis of the Arguably Unified Poem, Beowulf Beowulf as a less than unified work, more important for its historical and philological content than its literary merit, and critics after him regard Beowulf as a unified work of art. For example, of the critics who discuss the poem as a whole in An Anthology of Beowulf Criticism, most agree pace Tolkien that Beowulf is a unified poem, even if they argue so on different grounds. Burton Raffel's introduction to his own translation offers a

She is offered as a wife to King Hrothgar to promote peace between two tribes, the Helmings and the Scylding. Part of Wealtheow duty is to serve necklaces and mead cups to the men at the court, and to offer words of courage and honor to the warriors. Queen Wealtheow is shown as a good queen. She passes the cup at the mead-hall to serve her husband and his

"The incitement to violence depends on the total transvaluation of the ordinary values. By a single stroke, the most criminal acts must be converted to heroic and meritorious deeds" (Gardner 117). Red Horse, Hrothulf’s adviser, describes perfectly the black and white Anglo-Saxon culture that leaves Grendel confused and alone. John Gardner’s novel, Grendel, pushes the idea of a world of gray where neither hero nor villain exists, everyone a combination of damning and redeeming traits. Although Gardner

of great importance. In modern English Herot is translated to heart, this also contributes to the fact that most main events happen in Herot: The battle with Grendel, Hrothgar celebrations, and the fact that it represents the achievements of the Scyldings. The second major symbolism is the cave which Grendel and his mother live in is isolated in a swamp. The fact that the swamp isolated