The Role of the Great Mother in Beowulf Essay - 1990 Words

The Role of the Great Mother in Beowulf Grendels dam is not simply a wandering fiend (1621), a swamp thing from hell (1518), or a troll-dam (1391). She is an example of what Erich Neuhmann in his book, The Great Mother, calls an embodiment of the Great Mother in her negative elementary character (147). Her realms are the underworld, a cave below a lake, both symbols of the unconscious. She is begetter and child bearer, creator and destroyer of life; she nourishes and ensures the fertility of the land and people through her thirst for blood and sacrifice as a ritual for rebirth. As a pre-Christian goddess, she is not categorized as evil, but rather as a necessary power to balance light and dark, life and death.†¦show more content†¦She is the tiger, the vulture, the wolf, voraciously licking up the blood seed of men and beasts, and, once fecundated and sated, casting it out again in new birth (Neuhmann 149-150). In Beowulf, her domain is the underworld, the cave below the mere, a hellish turn-hole (1513), her womb of death (Neuhmann 172), where she attracts and draws in all living things (Neuhmann 172). In the text, it is clear that Grendels dam falls into the negative classification of the Great Mother: she is a monstrous hell bride (1258), a hell-dam (1292), a force for evil (1339). Here, we can clearly see that the Christian labeling of the Great Mothers negative aspect has been applied to Grendels dam and she is not viewed as the balancing and necessary opposite of the positive, but has become evil, kin to the devil. As a devil/demon she has been forced down into fearful waters (1292), suppressed and denied, by the Christian usurpers of her domain, yet she lives on and e xtends a presence in the land of Hrothgar. Indeed, his subjects continue to pay homage to the pagan gods despite the influence of Christianity as the narrator suggests: sometimes at pagan shrines they vowed offerings to idols, swore oaths that the killer of souls might come to their aid and save the people (175-178). Christianity has failed to protect against the wergild demanded by the Great Mother; incensed at the desertion of her worshipers, the Great Mother and her son seekShow MoreRelatedThe Epic Of Beowulf, Grendel s Mother, And The Fire Dragon782 Words   |  4 PagesThroughout the epic of Beowulf there are three main battles; the battle with Grendel, Grendel s Mother, and the Fire Dragon. While there are notable differences be- tween the battles, common motivations and themes exist. The epic s protagonist King of Geats Beowulf, is a great warrior who fights with courage and honor to fulfill his role as a hero. The sense of duty associated with being a hero inspires him to fight, but ultimately leads him to his demise. 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