Compare And Contrast Beowulf And Grendel's Mother

Throughout his story, Beowulf is portrayed as a mighty warrior who has a history of overcoming his adversaries with relative ease. However, when comparing his first battle against Grendel and second battle against Grendel’s Mother, it is evident to the reader that the latter was more challenging. Beowulf struggled much more in his second battle for one simple reason: his foe was far more treacherous. One noteworthy contrast between the two battles is the motive of Beowulf’s opponents. While Grendel simply attacked out of rage, envy, or annoyance with the noisy celebration of the humans in the mead-hall, his mother acted with the mindset of revenge and sheer blood-lust for the man who killed her beloved son. Grendel’s mother was “anxious to go on / Her mournful mission, mindful of vengeance / For the death of her son” (XX, 27-29). She longed to end Beowulf’s life and settle the score. Beowulf goes on to divulge how women have potential to be deadly warriors that could even dismantle male warriors. The “War-strength of women, by warrior is reckoned… / Strikes down the boar-sign that stands on the helmet” (XX, 35-38). Grendel’s motives were nowhere near as sinister as those of his mother, …show more content…
Beowulf’s first battle took place in a familiar setting; a mead-hall with fellow soldiers. This gave him a slight advantage over Grendel, since he felt comfortable on the battle ground. However, he had to travel to the home of the monster in order to fight his second battle. Not only was it foreign ground, but it was not meant to even be welcome to humans, as it was underwater and “a day’s-length elapsed ere / He was able to see the sea at its bottom” (XXIII, 22-23). The battle against Grendel’s mother proved to be more difficult because her dwelling was in a location foreign to Beowulf, giving her the