Allusions In Beowulf

Daniel Tong
Professor Michael Call
IHUM 201
20 March 2017
A Study of What the Demon Grendel Denotes in “Beowulf”
The epic poem "Beowulf" is one of the oldest surviving pieces of Old English literature and cited by many scholars and historians to be one of the most important works in the canon of English literature. Though some critics will argue that the late discovery of “Beowulf” and the even later date of the first known publication in the 19th century means that the epic poem’s influence on the development of the English literature was only more prevalent with modern authors and poets (New World Encyclopedia), the significance of the poem is no less important overall. The fabled legend is set in Scandinavia during the Medieval Ages. Beowulf,

Historians have determined through cues within the poem that the events of Beowulf take place sometime historically between 500 and 1000 AD (The British Library). First, the poem refers to Beowulf’s leader in lines 190 to 209, King Hygelac, a real Scandinavian king who died in 521 AD and the Battle of Ravenswood which occurred in 510 AD. Second, it is known that the only manuscript that remains recovered is from around 1000 AD. Regardless of an actual date that “Beowulf” was first orally performed, it can be safely assumed that it took place during the Anglo-Saxon age, one of the bloodiest eras in Northeastern European history. The Scandinavian region at the time was characterized by its endless state of war (BBC). Grendel is representative of that certain air of foreboding. A life had little value, as the average lifespan was thirty years. Disease was the principal reaper of lives, as antibiotics did not exist. The most minor of injuries would mean infection and an early onset of death. Even then, neighboring kingdoms were relentlessly ravaging, sacking, and murdering each other’s populations. With this context in mind, the invasion of Grendel could symbolize two aspects of fear in their lives. The first is the concept of Grendel as a disease silently sweeping through the night. The second is of Grendel as a

Suddenly then
The God-cursed brute was creating havoc:
Greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men
From their resting places and rushed to his lair,
Flushed up and inflamed from the raid,
Blundering back with the butchered corpses.
Then as dawn brightened and the day broke
Grendel’s powers of destruction were plain (Beowulf 108-140) With this passage, it is easy to imagine Grendel as a metaphor or the given name of an irrepressible disease, silent, fatal, and yet effortless. Without an understanding of science, the early Scandinavians may very well have thought of disease as a malevolent spirit that murdered their kin at night. The fear of death was always looming close and for the Scandinavians, they would never feel safe.
One of the universal fears that humans face is the question “when my time comes, will I be strong/good/worthy enough?”. In “Beowulf”, when confronted by the demon Grendel, King Hrothgar and the Danes find that the answer to that question is “no”.
When they joined the struggle
There was something they could have not known at the time,
That not blade on earth, no blacksmith’s art
Could ever damage their demon opponent. (Beowulf