beowulf
Haddon Martin
Mrs. Hess
English IV 4
5 November 2013
Until the Dragon Comes
The unknown bard who wrote Beowulf sang of heroes, calling his hearers to the heroic life, but holding out no false hopes. All must go down in defeat at last: Wyrd will have its way. And though no man can win his final battle with metaphysical death itself, Beowulf shows the people how to transcend the human condition by the willing battle with our own worst fears. Personified in three monstrous enemies, Beowulf faces physical, moral, and metaphysical Evil.
Grendel, a descendant of Cain, personifies an especially frightening image of physical Evil. Living "in a hell not hell but earth," he never actually dawns a clear description, thus becoming the unknown, the thing in the dark all men fear (ll. 103-4). Grendel may as well have been the worst of two natures, half human and half beast. A creature merely known to man by the following description: a lonely misfit, vicious and vengeful, cruel and cannibalistic. Moral choice has no bearing, therefore, the threat remains a purely physical one and a man must fight Grendel in self-defense. Evil takes on the life form of omnipresent and stalking men, "invisibly following them from the edge of the marsh, always there, unseen" (ll. 161-2). Evil can also live insatiably and for Grendel "no crime could ever be enough" (l. 136). As the embodiment of Good, Beowulf must fight the Evil that seeks him out, one-on-one, armed with only his bare hands. He defeats Grendel by simply holding on, by standing firm. It is Grendel who pulls away from Beowulf's mighty embrace and thus destroys himself.
But Evil unfortunately lives on permanently not defeated. Grendel's mother, attacking Heorot the next night, personifies a moral Evil. Wergeld and the Mosaic code of "an eye for an eye" represent the human concepts of moral vengeance, and Grendel’s mother behaves honorably by these standards. Taking only one victim, she flees the hall "to save her life" (l.
Mrs. Hess
English IV 4
5 November 2013
Until the Dragon Comes
The unknown bard who wrote Beowulf sang of heroes, calling his hearers to the heroic life, but holding out no false hopes. All must go down in defeat at last: Wyrd will have its way. And though no man can win his final battle with metaphysical death itself, Beowulf shows the people how to transcend the human condition by the willing battle with our own worst fears. Personified in three monstrous enemies, Beowulf faces physical, moral, and metaphysical Evil.
Grendel, a descendant of Cain, personifies an especially frightening image of physical Evil. Living "in a hell not hell but earth," he never actually dawns a clear description, thus becoming the unknown, the thing in the dark all men fear (ll. 103-4). Grendel may as well have been the worst of two natures, half human and half beast. A creature merely known to man by the following description: a lonely misfit, vicious and vengeful, cruel and cannibalistic. Moral choice has no bearing, therefore, the threat remains a purely physical one and a man must fight Grendel in self-defense. Evil takes on the life form of omnipresent and stalking men, "invisibly following them from the edge of the marsh, always there, unseen" (ll. 161-2). Evil can also live insatiably and for Grendel "no crime could ever be enough" (l. 136). As the embodiment of Good, Beowulf must fight the Evil that seeks him out, one-on-one, armed with only his bare hands. He defeats Grendel by simply holding on, by standing firm. It is Grendel who pulls away from Beowulf's mighty embrace and thus destroys himself.
But Evil unfortunately lives on permanently not defeated. Grendel's mother, attacking Heorot the next night, personifies a moral Evil. Wergeld and the Mosaic code of "an eye for an eye" represent the human concepts of moral vengeance, and Grendel’s mother behaves honorably by these standards. Taking only one victim, she flees the hall "to save her life" (l.