Grendel's mother


Grendel's mother is one of three antagonists in the anonymous Old English poem Beowulf. The other antagonists are Grendel and the dragon, all aligned in opposition to the hero Beowulf. She is introduced in lines 1258b to 1259a as: "Grendles modor/ides, aglæcwif".
Grendel's mother, who is never given a name in the text, is the subject of ongoing controversy among medieval scholars. This is due to the ambiguity of a few words in Old English which appear in the original Beowulf manuscript. While there is consensus over the word "modor", the phrase "ides, aglæcwif" is the subject of scholarly debate.

Story

The poem, Beowulf, is contained in the Nowell Codex. As noted in lines 106–114 and lines 1260–1267 of Beowulf, monsters are descendants of Cain. After Grendel is killed, Grendel's mother attacks Heorot in revenge. Beowulf then ventures into her cave under a lake, and engages in fierce combat with Grendel's mother. She nearly kills him until he sees an ancient sword, with which he kills her, and beheads the dead Grendel. Beowulf then returns to the surface and to his men at the "ninth hour".

Function in and structure of the poem

Some scholars have argued that the female characters in Beowulf fulfill certain established roles such as hostess and peace-weaver. Grendel's mother and Modthryth, who challenge these roles, represent "monster-women".
Jane Chance argues in "The Structural Unity of Beowulf: The Problem of Grendel's Mother" that there are two standard interpretations of the poem: one view which suggests a two-part structure and the other, a three-part structure. Chance stated that, "this view of the structure as two-part has generally prevailed since its inception in J. R. R. Tolkien's in Proceedings of the British Academy 22. In contrast, she argued that the three-part structure has become "increasingly popular". She later developed this argument in Woman as Hero in Old English Literature.

Debates on Grendel's mother

There is ongoing debate among medieval scholars concerning the ambiguity of a few words in Old English which appear in the original Beowulf manuscript. Because these terms are ambiguous, scholars disagree over aspects of her nature and appearance. Indeed, because her exact appearance is never directly described in Old English by the original Beowulf poet, part of the debate revolves around what is known, namely her descent from the biblical Cain. For some scholars, this descent links her and Grendel to the monsters and giants of the Cain tradition, while others such as Kevin Kiernan in Grendel's Heroic Mother argue that there is "plenty of evidence for defending Grendel's mother as a heroic figure" as she "accepted and adhered to the heroic ethic of the blood-feud, the main difference between Grendel's feckless feud with the noise at Heorot and his mother's purposeful one exacting retribution for the death of her son. In heroic terms, her vengeance for the death of her kinsman Grendel."
This lack of consensus has led to the production of some seminal texts by scholars over the past few decades. One important focus of these articles and books concerns the numerous, and at times opposing, translations of especially the Old English compound "ides aglæcwif".

Monster or demon

Until the late 1970s, all scholarship on Grendel's mother and translations of the phrase "aglæc-wif" were influenced by the edition of noted Beowulf scholar Frederick Klaeber. His edition, Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg, has been considered a standard in Beowulf scholarship since its first publication in 1922. According to Klaeber's glossary, "aglæc-wif" translates as: "wretch, or monster of a woman". Klaeber's glossary also defines "aglæca/æglæca" as "monster, demon, fiend" when referring to Grendel or Grendel's mother and as "warrior, hero" when referring to the character Beowulf.
Klaeber has influenced many translations of Beowulf. Notable interpretations of "aglæc-wif" which follow Klaeber include "monstrous hell-bride", "monster-woman" "woman, monster-wife", "Ugly troll-lady" and "monstrous hag".
Doreen M.E. Gillam's 1961 essay, "The Use of the Term 'Æglæca' in Beowulf at Lines 893 and 2592", explores Klaeber's dual use of the term "aglæca/æglæca" for the heroes Sigemund and Beowulf as well as for Grendel and Grendel's mother. She argues that "aglæca/æglæca" is used in works besides Beowulf to reference both "devils and human beings". She further argues that this term is used to imply "supernatural", "unnatural" or even "inhuman" characteristics, as well as hostility towards other creatures. Gillam suggests: "Beowulf, the champion of men against monsters, is almost inhuman himself. epitomises, in one word, the altogether exceptional nature of the dragon fight. Beowulf, the champion of good, the 'monster' amongst men, challenges the traditional incarnation of evil, the Dragon: æglæca meets æglæcan."

Ides/dis (lady)

The Old English ides, Old High German itis and Old Norse dís are cognates that all mean "lady", and idisi appears as the name of the Valkyries in the only surviving pagan source in Old High German, the Merseburg Incantations. More generally, in Norse mythology, the Dísir are fate goddesses who can be both benevolent and antagonistic towards mortal people.
Consequently, many have pointed out that dís is probably the original term for the valkyries, which in turn would be a kenning for dís.
A few scholars have drawn from the work of Eric Stanley by exploring the term ides as "lady" when discussing Grendel's mother, such as Temple and Taylor In addition, others have suggested that Grendel's mother may be associated with the Norse figures of the valkyries and of the goddess Gefion who may be an extension of Frigg and Freyja. Freyja, the daughter of the sea god Njörðr, was both a fertility goddess and a goddess of war, battle, death, seiðr, prophecy and was also sometimes associated with the valkyries and disir.
Nora Kershaw Chadwick and later Helen Damico in two works argue that Grendel's mother may refer to the myth of the valkyries. Damico states:
Damico later argues in Beowulf's Wealhtheow and the Valkyrie Tradition that Wealtheow and Grendel's mother represent different aspects of the valkyries.
Frank Battaglia also draws on the term "ides" by pairing it with "dis". He notes that the "dis" were "female guardian spirit" with "power over the dead and choosing who would die. In this capacity might be feared." Battaglia thus suggests that Grendel's mother is the Early Germanic goddess Gefion. He also argues that: "in scaldic poetry the word dis means goddess... Freyia herself is called Vanadis, that is, dis of the Vanir, the Scandinavian chthonic, fertility deities." Battaglia then notes that Gefion is referenced five times in the poem: l.49, l.362, l.515, l.1394, and l.1690. In addition, he indicates that "in Old English poetry, geofon is a word for ocean which has been seen since Jakob Grimm as related to the name Gefion of the Danish Earth Goddess... power to divide land and sea is shown by representations of Gefion in Norse literature."

Aglæcwif (warrior)

Contemporary scholars have suggested that the use of the term "aglæcwif" indicates that Grendel's mother is a woman warrior. In 1979, Beowulf scholars Kuhn and Stanley argued against Klaeber's reading of Grendel's mother. In Old English Aglaeca-Middle Irish Olach Sherman Kuhn questioned Klaeber's translations of both "aglæc-wif" and of "aglæca / æglæca" when referring to Grendel and Grendel's mother, stating that there are Thus Kuhn suggested aglæca should be defined as "a fighter, valiant warrior, dangerous opponent, one who struggles fiercely". He supported his argument by also stating that "if there were one clear instance of áglæca referring to an unwarlike monster, a peaceful demon, or the like, this definition would fall apart." Kuhn concluded that
Eric Stanley added to the debate by critiquing both Klaeber and Gillam:
Other scholars have offered varying opinions on this topic. Christine Alfano also questioned standard translations related to Grendel's mother. She states that she found a "noticeable disparity between the Grendel's mother originally created by the Beowulf poet and the one that occupies contemporary Beowulf translations. Instead of being what Sherman Kuhn calls a 'female warrior', the modern Grendel's mother is a monster. This assumption informs almost all areas of Beowulf scholarship, although there is little evidence for this characterization in the original Anglo-Saxon work." Melinda Menzer offered a different approach, suggesting that "aglæcwif denotes a woman, a human female, who is also aglæca".

Dictionary of Old English

The Dictionary of Old English, University of Toronto, made the following updates in 1994:
The 1994 DOE translations were supported by George Jack in his 1997 glossary of Beowulf and Bruce Mitchell in his 1998 glossary of Beowulf.

Depictions in film, literature, and popular culture

Grendel's mother has been adapted in a number of different media, including film, literature, and graphic novels.