Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 9, 2023 June 2, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
Most—perhaps all—of
From the beginning,
The poem clearly announces that Beowulf will defeat Grendel: “[Grendel’s] fate that night / was due to change, his days of ravening / had come to an end” (ll.733-5). Beowulf’s victory is also foreshadowed by his rhetorical defeat of Unferth in the mead-hall, and by the story of his defeat of the sea-monsters. By removing all doubt about the outcome of the fight, this foreshadowing creates a sense that in this moment Beowulf is invincible. Although fate ultimately destroys every man, fate also brings victories and successes which are all the sweeter because they are short-lived. By removing any worries we might have about Beowulf, the foreshadowing of Grendel’s defeat helps us to sympathize with the monster during the fight, which is described largely from Grendel’s point of view. As a result, even this heroic combat against a “God-cursed” (l.711) opponent is tinged with an understanding that violence is cruel and dangerous. This effect underlines a central theme of the poem: that the warrior ethic of pre-Christian Northern Europe was responsible for an unending cycle of violence and feuding.
Like most of the poem’s central events, the appearance of Grendel’s mother is announced outright before it happens: “an avenger lurked and was still alive / grimly biding time” (ll.1257-8). Her appearance is also foreshadowed more subtly in the story of Hildeburh, which Hrothgar’s poet tells on the night that Grendel’s mother is due to attack. Hildeburh is a princess who loses her son, her husband, and her brother in battle. Her story foreshadows the attack of Grendel’s mother, who is avenging the death of her son. By tying Grendel’s mother to Hildeburh, this instance of foreshadowing also suggests one way to understand what Grendel’s mother represents. Thanks to the warrior code, the women in Beowulf’s world are frequently left defenseless and grieving. Above all, women are unable to avenge themselves, so they cannot take refuge in the warrior’s response to the loss of a loved one in battle: “It is always better / to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning” (ll.1384-5). Grendel’s mother embodies the grief and pain of the poem’s women, which cannot find expression or solace within the warrior code.
Please wait while we process your payment