Chapters 16-31 of Beowulf take us from the halls of Herot through the depths of a stinking swamp of slithering sea monsters to the land of the Geats. Time passes quickly as we move from the present to a distant future with Beowulf as King of the Geats. My last post detailed the monstrous (pun intended) coup of Beowulf over Grendel, saving the Danes from imminent death as Grendel's sushi dinner. As expected, King Hrothgar throws a lavish feast in Beowulf's honor, complete with Grendel's bloody appendage hanging from the rafters of Herot.
Herot hall lay silent that night, party-goers under the lull of an excess of wine--that is--until a second monster, Grendel's mother, decides to enact revenge upon Herot: "she brooded on her loss, misery had brewed in her heart...a mother's sad heart, and her greed, drove her on a dangerous pathway of revenge." The she-wolf terrorizes the drunken, peaceful Danes and takes a single victim, the closest friend of King Hrothgar back to her lair in a stinking lake of festering blood and guts.
As you might expect, Hrothgar is stricken with immense sadness that his close friend has now become Momma Monster's sushi. Beowulf then declares (essentially he tells the king not to cry over spilled milk): "Let your sorrow end! It is better for us all to avenge our friends, not mourn them forever. He who can earn it should fight for the glory of his name; fame after death is the noblest of goals." Beowulf agrees to fight her as well, on her territory. He uses his new Hrothgar-given gifts of a chain mail shirt, sword and helmet to prepare for battle with her.
Beowulf delivers a beautiful speech before he jumps into the lake "its waters bloody and bubbling, crawling with snakes." I love how he doesn't drown in this lake as it takes hours to reach the muddy bottom; perhaps he was also born with gills to go with the courage! After a bloody battle, fraught with clawing, ripping, tearing, bleeding and finally, decapitation of the she-wolf, he returns with the head of Grendel as a talisman against future terrors. Hrothgar praises his strength, courage and God-given protection; he heaps booty upon Beowulf, filling his ship with gold, armor, horses and jewels.
Beowulf again makes a great speech on the shores of Denmark, as he prepares to embark on his journey homeward. Unferth (remember him? the jealous Dane?) gifts Beowulf a great Danish sword as a token of his esteem and then the Geats sail home. Awaiting in the homeland is Higlac, the King of the Geats; he is so grateful to the Lord God that Beowulf returned from his journey that once again, a feast was thrown in Beowulf's honor, complete with mead wine, meat and storytelling. Higlac was proud of Beowulf and listened intently to the gory details of the trials and triumphs against the monsters of Denmark.
Our story fast-forwards from this feast and we end chapter 31 fifty years into the future, with Beowulf as King of the Geats, Higlac having long since passed away. What's better than a slimy sea monster to fight? A dragon, of course...and an angry dragon who has been awakened by some errant man who "stumbled upon the dragon's entrance...discovered the ancient treasure and stole a gem-studded cup."
I tried to find an image of Grendel's mother to spice up my posts (because everyone likes pictures). For some reason I feel the first image is a better representation of her than the second (no offense to Angie Jolie, but she's there to sell tickets to the movie).
]
No comments:
Post a Comment