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Part 2

Hrothgar and his host celebrate Beowulf's victory over the monster Grendel. That night, however, Grendel's mother kidnaps and kills Hrothgar's closest friend and carries off the claw that Beowulf tore from-her child. The next day the horrified king tells Beowulf about the two monsters and their underwater lair.

The Monster’s Lair

"I've heard that my people, peasants working

In the fields, have seen a pair of such fiends

Wandering in the moors and marshes, giant

Monsters living in those desert lands.

And they've said to my wise men that, as well as they could see,

One of the devils was a female creature.

The other, they say, walked through the wilderness

Like a man—but mightier than any man.

They were frightened, and they fled, hoping to find help

In Herot. They named the huge one Grendel:

If he had a father no one knew him,

Or whether there'd been others before these two,

Hidden evil before hidden evil.

They live in secret places, windy

Cliffs, wolf-dens where water pours

From the rocks, then runs underground, where mist

Steams like black clouds, and the groves of trees

Growing out over their lake are all covered

With frozen spray, and wind down snakelike

Roots that reach as far as the water

And help keep it dark. At night that lake

Burns like a torch. No one knows its bottom,

No wisdom reaches such depths. A deer,

Hunted through the woods by packs of hounds,

A stag with great horns, though driven through the forest

From faraway places, prefers to die

On those shores, refuses to save its life

In that water. It isn't far, nor is it

A pleasant spot! When the wind stirs

And storms, waves splash toward the sky,

As dark as the air, as black as the rain

That the heavens weep. Our only help,

Again, lies with you. Grendel's mother

Is hidden in her terrible home, in a place

You've not seen. Seek it, if you dare! Save us,

Once more, and again twisted gold,

Heaped-up ancient treasure, will reward you

For the battle you win!"

The Battle with Grendel’s Mother

Beowulf resolves to kill the "lady monster." Arriving at the lake under which she lives, Beowulf and his companions see serpents in the water and sea beasts on the rocks. The young hero kills one of the beasts with an arrow and then prepares to fight with Grendel's mother.

Then Edgetho's brave son' spoke:

"Remember, Hrothgar,

Oh knowing king, now

When my danger is near, the warm words we uttered,

And if your enemy should end my life

Then be, oh generous prince, forever

The father and protector of all whom I leave

Behind me, here in your hands, my beloved

Comrades left with no leader, their leader

Dead. And the precious gifts you gave me,

My friend, send them to Higlac. May he see

In their golden brightness, the Geats' great lord

Gazing at your treasure, that here in Denmark

I found a noble protector, a giver

Of rings whose rewards I won and briefly

Relished. And you, Unferth, let

My famous old sword stay in your hands:

I shall shape glory with Hrunting, or death

Will hurry me from this earth!"

As his words ended

He leaped into the lake, would not wait for anyone's

Answer; the heaving water covered him

Over. For hours he sank through the waves;

At last he saw the mud of the bottom.

And all at once the greedy she-wolf

Who'd ruled those waters for half a hundred

Years discovered him, saw that a creature

From above had come to explore the bottom

Of her wet world. She welcomed him in her claws,

Clutched at him savagely but could not harm him,

Tried to work her fingers through the tight

Ring-woven mail on his breast, but tore

And scratched in vain. Then she carried him, armor

And sword and all, to her home; he struggled

To free his weapon, and failed. The fight

Brought other monsters swimming to see

Her catch, a host of sea beasts Who beat at

His mail shirt, stabbing with tusks and teeth

As they followed along. Then he realized, suddenly,

That she'd brought him into someone's battle-hall,

And there the water's heat could not hurt him,

Nor anything in the lake attack him through

The building's high-arching roof. A brilliant

Light burned all around him, the lake

Itself like a fiery flame.

Then he saw

The mighty water witch and swung his sword,

His ring-marked blade, straight at her head;

The iron sang its fierce song,

Sang Beowulf's strength. But her guest

Discovered that no sword could slice her evil

Skin, that Hrunting could not hurt her, was useless

Now when he needed it. They wrestled, she ripped

And tore and clawed at him, bit holes in his helmet,

And that too failed him; for the first time in years

Of being worn to war it would earn no glory;

It was the last time anyone would wear it. But Beowulf

Longed only for fame, leaped back

Into battle. He tossed his sword aside,

Angry; the steel-edged blade lay where

He'd dropped it. If weapons were useless he'd use

His hands, the strength in his fingers. So fame

Comes to the men who mean to win it

And care about nothing else! He raised

His arms and seized her by the shoulder; anger

Doubled his strength, he threw her to the floor.

She fell, Grendel's fierce mother, and the Geats'

Proud prince was ready to leap on her. But she rose

At once and repaid him with her clutching claws,

Wildly tearing at him. He was weary, that best

And strongest of soldiers; his feet stumbled

And in an instant she had him down, held helpless.

Squatting with her weight on his stomach, she drew

A dagger, brown with dried blood, and prepared

To avenge her only son. But he was stretched

On his back, and her stabbing blade was blunted

By the woven mail shirt he wore on his chest.

The hammered links held; the point

Could not touch him. He'd have traveled to the bottom of the earth,

Edgetho's son, and died there, if that shining

Woven metal had not helped—and Holy

God, who sent him victory, gave judgment

For truth and right, Ruler of the Heavens,

Once Beowulf was back on his feet and fighting.

Then he saw, hanging on the wall, a heavy

Sword, hammered by giants, strong

And blessed with their magic, the best of all weapons

But so massive that no ordinary man could lift

Its carved and decorated length. He drew it

From its scabbard, broke the chain on its hilt,

And then, savage, now, angry

And desperate, lifted it high over his head

And struck with all the strength he had left,

Caught her in the neck and cut it through,

Broke bones and all. Her body fell

To the floor, lifeless, the sword was wet

With her blood, and Beowulf rejoiced at the sight.

The brilliant light shone, suddenly,

As though burning in that hall, and as bright as Heaven's

Own candle, lit in the sky. He looked

At her home, then following along the wall

Went walking, his hands tight on the sword,

His heart still angry. He was hunting another

Dead monster, and took his weapon with him

For final revenge against Grendel's vicious

Attacks, his nighttime raids, over

And over, coming to Herot when Hrothgar's

Men slept, killing them in their beds,

Eating some on the spot, fifteen

Or more, and running to his loathsome moor

With another such sickening meal waiting

In his pouch. But Beowulf repaid him for those visits,

Found him lying dead in his corner,

Armless, exactly as that fierce fighter

Had sent him out from Herot, then struck off

His head with a single swift blow. The body

Jerked for the last time, then lay still.

The wise old warriors who surrounded Hrothgar,

Like him staring into the monsters' lake,

Saw the waves surging and blood

Spurting through. They spoke about Beowulf,

All the graybeards, whispered together

And said that hope was gone, that the hero

Had lost fame and his life at once, and would never

Return to the living, come back as triumphant

As he had left; almost all agreed that Grendel's

Mighty mother, the she-wolf, had killed him.

The sun slid over past noon, went further

Down. The Danes gave up, left

The lake and went home, Hrothgar with them.

The Geats stayed, sat sadly, watching,

Imagining they saw their lord but not believing

They would ever see him again.

—Then the sword

Melted, blood-soaked, dripping down

Like water, disappearing like ice when the world's

Eternal Lord loosens invisible

Fetters and unwinds icicles and frost

As only He can, He who rules

Time and seasons, He who is truly

God. The monsters' hall was full of

Rich treasures, but all that Beowulf took

Was Grendel's head and the hilt of the giants'

Jeweled sword; the rest of that ring-marked

Blade had dissolved in Grendel's steaming

Blood, boiling even after his death.

And then the battle's only survivor

Swam up and away from those silent corpses;

The water was calm and clean, the whole

Huge lake peaceful once the demons who'd lived in it

Were dead.

Then that noble protector of all seamen

Swam to land, rejoicing in the heavy

Burdens he was bringing with him. He

And all his glorious band of Geats

Thanked God that their leader had come back unharmed;

They left the lake together. The Geats

Carried Beowulf's helmet, and his mail shirt.

Behind them the water slowly thickened

As the monsters' blood came seeping up.

They walked quickly, happily, across

Roads all of them remembered, left

The lake and the cliffs alongside it, brave men

Staggering under the weight of Grendel's skull,

Too heavy for fewer than four of them to handle—

Two on each side of the spear jammed through it—

Yet proud of their ugly load and determined

That the Danes, seated in Herot, should see it.

Soon, fourteen Geats arrived

At the hall, bold and warlike, and with Beowulf,

Their lord and leader, they walked on the mead-hall

Green. Then the Geats' brave prince entered

Herot, covered with glory for the daring

Battles he had fought; he sought Hrothgar

To salute him and show Grendel's head.

He carried that terrible trophy by the hair,

Brought it straight to where the Danes sat,

Drinking, the queen among them. It was a weird

And wonderful sight, and the warriors stared.