For nearly two centuries, the Grendel episode has been read as a physical battle in which Beowulf overpowers Grendel with his grip and then rips off his arm. But such approaches override three conundrums embedded in the scene. First, is the prior establishment of perfect physical equivalence: Grendel took 30 men in his first attack, and Beowulf has the strength of 30 men. The second conundrum is Beowulf’s single hand-to-hand grasp—a grip that leaves virtually all of Grendel’s body unconstrained. The third anomaly is the lack of counter-attack. Though Grendel is Beowulf’s physical equivalent, and though he obviously might kick with his lightning-fast legs, bite with his bone-crushing mouth, and swipe with completely unconstrained man-ripping arm, the cannibal colossus shows not a whiff of aggression. Instead, at the instant of contact, he is panics and is seized by one desire only: to leave the hall and seek the company of devils.
Like all the other puzzles in the poem, this twinned conundrum offers the audience an opportunity to see the metaphysical realities beneath the physical surface of events. In this case, the keys to the riddle are plain to see. First is Grendel’s identity as the hate-filled antithesis of covenant-making and kinship loyalty, for he is a projection of the treacherous Hell spirit that will one day destroy Heorot. Second is the peculiar hand-to-hand grip. As depicted on the 7th-century English coin, this gesture was an ancient promissory of trust and covenant-making. Otherwise known as a handshake.
The Anglo-Saxon word was handfaesting. In fact, in a delicious twist of irony, this gesture specifically signified the kinship covenants of marriage. No wonder Grendel freaks out! And no wonder the bardic poet wryly notes that Beowulf holds Grendel fast! Thus, the game unfolds. Though the entire poem sets up expectations for a physical struggle, those in the know recognize a metaphysical struggle: Grendel’s reaction is a metaphysical response. His panic is a demonic frenzy, a register of his radical antithesis to the godly significations of the handfaesting. And the joke has an added twist, too, as the “arm-harmer” will ultimately harm himself in the arm.
Nevertheless, in this mock-heroic exorcism, the warriors are clueless. And that is part of the fun, too. For indeed, Beowulf is the fortunate fool who has unwittingly “seized on” the very gesture a demon cannot endure. What follows is a Dark Ages Pepé le Pew in which the man-eating colossus is transmogrified into a scaredy cat, and fool Beowulf has grasped the proverbial tiger by the tail.
Nevertheless, in this mock-heroic exorcism, the warriors are clueless. And that is part of the fun, too. For indeed, Beowulf is the fortunate fool who has unwittingly “seized on” the very gesture a demon cannot endure. What follows is a Dark Ages Pepé le Pew in which the man-eating colossus is transmogrified into a scaredy cat, and fool Beowulf has grasped the proverbial tiger by the tail.Nevertheless, in this mock-heroic exorcism, the warriors are clueless. And that is part of the fun, too. For indeed, Beowulf is the fortunate fool who has unwittingly “seized on” the very gesture a demon cannot endure. What follows is a Dark Ages Pepé le Pew in which the man-eating colossus is transmogrified into a scaredy cat, and fool Beowulf has grasped the proverbial tiger by the tail.Nevertheless, in this mock-heroic exorcism, the warriors are clueless. And that is part of the fun, too. For indeed, Beowulf is the fortunate fool who has unwittingly “seized on” the very gesture a demon cannot endure. What follows is a Dark Ages Pepé le Pew in which the man-eating colossus is transmogrified into a scaredy cat, and fool Beowulf has grasped the proverbial tiger by the tail.Nevertheless, in this mock-heroic exorcism, the warriors are clueless. And that is part of the fun, too. For indeed, Beowulf is the fortunate fool who has unwittingly “seized on” the very gesture a demon cannot endure. What follows is a Dark Ages Pepé le Pew in which the man-eating colossus is transmogrified into a scaredy cat, and fool Beowulf has grasped the proverbial tiger by the tail.Nevertheless, in this mock-heroic exorcism, the warriors are clueless. And that is part of the fun, too. For indeed, Beowulf is the fortunate fool who has unwittingly “seized on” the very gesture a demon cannot endure. What follows is a Dark Ages Pepé le Pew in which the man-eating colossus is transmogrified into a scaredy cat, and fool Beowulf has grasped the proverbial tiger by the tail.Nevertheless, in this mock-heroic exorcism, the warriors are clueless. And that is part of the fun, too. For indeed, Beowulf is the fortunate fool who has unwittingly “seized on” the very gesture a demon cannot endure. What follows is a Dark Ages Pepé le Pew in which the man-eating colossus is transmogrified into a scaredy cat, and fool Beowulf has grasped the proverbial tiger by the tail.Nevertheless, in this mock-heroic exorcism, the warriors are clueless. And that is part of the fun, too. For indeed, Beowulf is the fortunate fool who has unwittingly “seized on” the very gesture a demon cannot endure. What follows is a Dark Ages Pepé le Pew in which the man-eating colossus is transmogrified into a scaredy cat, and fool Beowulf has grasped the proverbial tiger by the tail.