MM Aug 30

Class Summary Essay: Monday, 30 August 2010

Annie Truslow

Today’s class began with the question of whether or not, as readers, we can justifiably find sympathy for Grendel and his mother. Over the last two class periods we have discussed ways in which sympathy for the creatures can be justified, and ways in which it cannot. Discussion was inspired by a series of interconnected questions regarding Beowulf’s battle with Grendel’s Dam, the roles of women in Germanic society, and contrasts between Germanic women and Grendel’s Dam.

Beginning at line 1383, the scene is set for Beowulf’s battle with Grendel’s Dam. In contrast to Beowulf’s first battle with Grendel where he appears to be confident and boastful, we discussed in small groups ways in which he appears to be nervous concerning his battle with Grendel’s Dam. As a large group, we discussed how Beowulf takes several precautionary measures to ensure his survival in the second battle, including the use of armor and chain mail for his defense. Beowulf seems to have been tested more in his battle with Grendel’s Dam than in his battle with Grendel. Potential reasons for this, as discussed in class, include the possibility that Grendel’s Dam was fighting for a specific purpose and therefore fought with greater intensity and passion. Other reasons might include that Beowulf was caught off-guard by having to fight a second monster, and possibly that he didn’t really know the full extent of the strength of Grendel’s Dam.

Another key topic of discussion concerns ways in which Grendel’s Dam serves as the antithesis to women in Germanic society. Lines 612-630 feature the entrance of Wealhtheow to the banquet hall on the eve of Beowulf’s battle with Grendel. Wealhtheow’s character embodies many of the distinct characteristics associated with women in Germanic society, a society in which women are seen as maternal, dignified, and honorable. They also serve important roles as cupbearers and peace-weavers. The significance of cup bearing is that it serves to solidify kinship and create a sense of community among the warriors. The significance of peace-weaving is that women are given away symbolically in marriage to cement peaceful relations between two warring Germanic tribes.

Lines 1069-1157 feature the “Finnsburg Episode,” told through Hildeburh’s prospective. In the story she loses the majority of her family in a vicious battle between the Danes and the Frisians that was supposed to have been prevented through the offering of Hildeburh as a peace pledge. We discussed how this section of the poem shows the dangers of peace-weaving, particularly the reality of war and its effect on all people. Though Germanic women are rather passive in their significance, they serve important roles. In discussion groups and as a class, we postulated ways in which Grendel’s Dam differs from Germanic women. Grendel’s Dam seeks peace by means of revenge, which is seen as a wholly masculine trait. She owns swords, behaves as a warrior, and acts with purpose. Whereas Germanic women are seen as honorable, Grendel’s Dam is seen as evil and “fatherless.”

The Women’s Role by Hannah Mason

In class today we established that the women in “Beowulf”, particularly the queen figures, are the cup bearers and peace weavers. They serve the wine and still uphold their dignity. As for peace weaving, they sometimes have to make the sacrifice of themselves for their people. They are married into another tribe, cementing an alliance between the two warring tribes. Wealtheow, Hrothgar’s queen, would be a perfect example of a cup bearer, serving wine to the warriors and walking around the hall with her head held high and with dignity.

After we discussed the role of women in “Beowulf”, we did an in class writing of the poem of Hildeburh, who is a women forced to marry the prince of the Finns, who just killed her entire family. This poem is told in a women’s perspective, and so we were asked to write about why we thought the narrator did this. In our class discussion, we decided that the narrator chooses to tell this poem in a women’s point of view to show to what extent and the extreme that they used peace weaving, and how everyone is involved. We decided that peace weaving was not successful and there were many negative repercussions.

In contrast, we also dissected Grendel’s mother, the Dam. We discovered that Grendel’s mother is the exact opposite of the women of the time period. Being enraged by her only son’s death, she makes her way to the great hall of Herot to get revenge. A woman in this time period would never do such a thing. Grendel’s mother engages actively instead of passively. We had a class discussion of weather we could sympathize with Grendel’s mother. At one perspective, some of the class said that they could not because Grendel terrorized the Danes for twelve, straight years and he had it coming. Others said that Grendel’s mother lost her only son, and they understood the extent of her actions and why she took her revenge.

One of the last things we discussed was the differences between Beowulf’s battle with Grendel, and Beowulf’s battle with the Dam. For Grendel, there was no death speech, there were no weapons, and Beowulf was much more confident going in to the battle. The match was also unfair, seeing as Grendel was weaker than Beowulf and surprised by his presence in the hall. On the other-hand, in the battle with the Dam, he is wearing his full armor and carrying a heavy sword. He gives a death speech and tells Hrothgar to send all of his riches back with his people. The match was fair and long and Beowulf just barely survived because he was given the sword of the Dam. Ironically, she is killed by her own weapon, a sword that only the strongest of the strongest warriors could hold, Beowulf.