FREE ESSAY ON ECHOES OF MONSTRSITIES-BEOWULF

ECHOES OF MONSTRSITIES-BEOWULF

Echoes of Monstrosities
Every society has demons and monsters that the members of that society are fearful of.
Those fears are only reflections of the society that are seen in that monster. In the
long epic poem, Beowulf, there are three monsters that reflect aspects of Germanic
warrior society. Grendel is portrayed as a vicious flesh-eating monster, yet the Germanic
warrior fear of loneliness resides within him. Grendel's mother harshly revenges the
death of her son, which exactly relates to the code of blood revenge in the warrior
culture. The last of the monsters in the poem is the fire-breathing dragon that is an
echo of the ultimate hlaford and symbolizes the circle of life. All three of the monsters
symbolically represent aspects of the Germanic culture.
Grendel is characterized as the embodiment of evil, and his narrative function is to
parallel Cain or Satan. Throughout the introduction of Grendel's character, there are
countless references to the devil and hell to illustrate him. "...A fiend out of hell,
began to work his evil on the world (ll 100-101)." " Cain's clan, whom the Creator had
outlawed and condemned as outcasts (ll 106-107)." He is also described as a "God-cursed
brute (l 121)", and "the Lord's outcast (l 169)". The author even goes on to compare
Grendel to a vampire: "Then as dawn brightened and the day broke, Grendel's powers of
destruction were plain (ll 126-127)." This metaphor depicts Grendel as a blood-sucking
vampire whose powers are greater in the time of darkness and night. 
Why, then, is Grendel so malevolent? Why would he want to cause so much harm to Herot?
Throughout the descriptions of Grendel, the narrator portrays him as a man on a lonely
mission. "So Grendel ruled out in defiance of right, one against all...(ll 144-145)"
Grendel has been exiled because of his monstrous appearance. "He had dwelt for a time in
misery among the banished monsters (ll104-105)." Grendel is symbolic of a Germanic
warrior who has been banished from his kin and because of this Grendel is envious of
Herot. "Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark, nursed a hard grievance. It
harrowed him to hear the din of the loud banquet every day in the hall (ll 86-89)."
Grendel wants so much to be part of the warrior society. Since he has been exiled,
Grendel "wages his lonely war (l 164)."
In Germanic warrior society it is necessary to have kin and an hfalord, someone to
provide treasure and wergild. Without kin there would be no one to revenge the deaths,
and the ultimate purpose in warrior culture is nonexistent. This is the fear that is
represented in the character of Grendel. Not having any kin to relate to, to protect you,
and being banished from the only society one has every known. Those are the fears that
symbolically shape the character of Grendel.
The narrator portrays Grendel's mother as sadistic monster from the depths of hell, yet
the parallels between Grendel's mother and Germanic culture are astounding. The code of
blood revenge is one obsession that keeps the fight inside the warriors of Herot.
Revenging the death of ones kin is the greatest honor in their society. "But now his
mother had sallied forth on a savage journey, grief-racked and ravenous, desperate for
revenge (ll1276-1278)." Beowulf came to Herot to revenge the havoc that Grendel had
spread, and now Grendel's mother will revenge the slaying of her son. "She had snatched
their trophy, Grendel's bloodied hand. It was a fresh blow to the afflicted dawn. The
bargain was hard, both parties having to pay with the lives of friends (ll1302-1306)."
The symbolic nature of Grendel's mother is to show the monstrosities that lay in the
hearts of Germanic warriors as well as Grendel and his mother. Both Grendel's mother and
the warriors of Herot revenge the death of their kin, which not only shows the
monstrosity of the warrior society but also the humanity in Grendel and his mother. The
last monster that Beowulf must defeat is truly not a monster at all. The Dragon is the
most honorable of all the monsters, and there are many parallels between the Dragon and
Germanic warrior culture.
The Dragons soul purposes in life is to guard the riches of the past therefore he possess
all the treasure. In that sense, the dragon is the ultimate hlaford. He has accumulated
all of the treasure and ultimately ends up with that treasure. 
"There were many other heirlooms heaped inside the earth-house, because long ago, with
deliberate care, somebody now forgotten had buried the riches of a highborn race in this
ancient cache. Death had come and taken them all in times gone by and the only one left
to tell their tale, the last of their line, could look forward to nothing but the same
fate for himself (ll 2231-2240)." 
The last line also mentions another one of the Dragons representations of Germanic
society. The Dragon not only represents the ultimate hlaford, but also the cycle of their
culture. 
The treasure that everyone is fighting for will eventually be buried, and the Dragon will
make his claim on it. He will guard the treasure for the rest of his life. It is a
vicious cycle that the warriors play into. Beowulf spends his life fighting for treasure,
which he is buried with. That treasure will eventually become earth and be guarded by the
Dragon. Ultimately, Beowulf is fighting his own death. The fear that the Dragon
represents is the warrior's mortality. Beowulf's achievement is honorable, yet it is just
part of the cycle of diminishment that eventually leads to the victory of the Dragon, who
ultimately ends up with the treasure.
The monsters are unconscious fears that cannot be expressed in Germanic society. Grendel
represents the fear of becoming the wanderer, the lonely warrior. The fear that is
expressed in Grendel's mother is the fear of the monstrosities that linger on the inside.
The Dragon is the fear of the warrior's destiny and mortality. These monsters are
scapegoats that the society creates. Without the monsters, Germanic warriors would have
nothing to fight against; therefore, the code of blood revenge would be non-existent.