This week we continued our study of Beowulf, moving from overview to close reading of the text itself. Here’s what we covered.

Grendel: More Than Just a Monster

We examined Grendel’s introduction in the poem, focusing on one crucial detail: his descent from Cain.

• As a descendant of Cain (who committed the first murder in the Bible), Grendel is a spiritual threat (obviously in addition to him killing people [physically])
• He represents everything bad in Christianity, the first murder, exile, sin, etc.
• The biblical allusion (we have not learned this word yet) would add deeper meaning for the poem’s original audience.

The Hero Interview

We did a mock job interview where Beowulf applied to work for King Hrothgar. This exercise helped us analyze:

• How Beowulf presents his qualifications (past victories over monsters)
• His motivation for helping Hrothgar (heroic duty)
• His confidence in his abilities (vowing to fight Grendel unarmed)

The activity also gave us practice on using textual evidence to do character analysis.

Connecting to Historical Context

We read Peter Mancall’s article on Columbus and discussed how cultures use monsters to try to define what they fear or reject, even, in Europe’s case, when the monsters were debunked. We also saw in that article the tone difference between the sort-of playful beginning (“Oh, those silly Europeans”) and the somber ending (“Oh… genocide… Who is really the monster?”)

Why This Matters

Understanding Grendel’s religious backstory is necessary because:

• It explains why the original audience from this poem might have had powerful feelings about the showdown between Beowulf and Grendel; and
• It sets up the theme of paganism and Christian morality that through the poem.

Looking Ahead

• We will finish reading Beowulf in the coming week (I hope)