The Battle with Grendel

Lines 269-420

 Lines 269-308
o Description of the resting place of Grendel:
 Marsh, swampland
 Misty hills and bogs
o Left his home and took the trip to Herot, Hrothgar’s famous mead hall
 Grendel knew the way because this was not his first trip there
o Once he reached Herot, found that the hall had been reinforced with
great protection, something it never had before
 His reaction to this was not positive, in fact he was really mad.
o Went up to the door and ripped it off the iron hinges
o Entered the hall joyless and angry
 Saw all the men and young warriors sleeping contently
 “His heart laughed” – personification
 Grendel was excited to see all the men he was going to kill that
night
 “But fate, that night, intended Grendel to gnaw the broken
bones of his last human supper” – foreshadowing
 Snatched the first man he saw and ripped in half, drank his
blood, then bolted his body down.
 Lines 302-304 – metaphor
 Next man he grabbed was Beowulf.
 Lines 306-325
o Beowulf intimidated Grendel
 Grendel felt the need to retreat or go back to his marsh because
of the sight of Beowulf
 He had never met a warrior like him
 Nothing would allow his body to be taken out of the grip of
Beowulf’s.
o Grendel now thought about this hall had not been the hall he had once
invaded
o Beowulf stopped Grendel in his attempt to leave
 Beowulf clasped Grendel’s claws/talons in his fist and held
them and squeezed them till they cracked
o Beowulf did not want Grendel’s flesh, only for him to retreat
o Beowulf was fighting for freedom
o Grendel’s visit to Herot was unsuccessful
 Lines 326-349
o Beowulf and Grendel start to fight
o Herot’s walls started to shake and all of the town could hear the
screams and cries coming from Herot
o Herot was built to withstand everything except fire.
 The walls were built and fastened with iron
 o Then the sounds changed from the warriors screams and cries to
those of Grendel
 His horrible shrieks of pain and defeat
o He was being defeated by Beowulf
 Lines 350-395
o Beowulf wanted to hold Beowulf and all of his life had left his body
o Beowulf’s men jumped out of their beds with their swords drawn
 The swords would do no harm
 Beowulf could not be harmed by any man’s weapons
 Set spells to protect himself from all of men’s weapons
o Grendel could feel himself slowly dying
 This made him angrier, but he had no power left within
 His tendons connecting to his bones torn and his bones
snapped with his twisting back and forth
 Grendel had then escaped but only to die in his marsh
o Beowulf was granted with the glory of defeating Grendel
o Now all of the Danes were happy and Herot was cleansed of all the
evils that haunted it
o No Danes questioned if Beowulf had actually killed Grendel
 This was because hanging at the top of the hall was Grendel’s
arm, claw and shoulder
 Lines 396-420
o The next morning people from all over came to view the monster’s
arm hanging in the hall
o People stared at the arm, and followed the bloody footsteps all the
way back to the marsh
 The water of the marsh was blood stained and murky
 Grendel had dragged himself there the previous night to die.
 His dying body was covered by the harsh water as he
slowly passed away
 “…as hell opened to receive him.” (411)
o The people then returned to Herot retelling the story of Beowulf
rejoicing in what he had accomplished
o All men decided that there was no other warrior worthier to rule over
the people than Beowulf.