The clearest example of biblical lore occurs in an early passage (lines 100–114) that describes the origins of Grendel and his mother. According to the narrator, Grendel and his mother are both descendants of Cain, the firstborn son of Adam and Eve. After murdering his brother, Abel, in a fit of rage, Cain is cursed by God and fated to wander the earth. The allusion relates Grendel and his mother to the first human to commit violence, marking the pair of monsters as inherently wicked.
After Beowulf slays Grendel’s mother, Hrothgar delivers a speech to the victorious hero. Before his speech begins, the narrator delivers a discourse on the hilt of Hrothgar’s sword. The engravings on the hilt depict the world’s first wars, which were followed by a great flood that killed the primordial race of giants. This is an allusion to the story of the flood from the Old Testament, in which God sends an enormous flood to destroy mankind. He spares only Noah and his family, who beget a new line of humans.
Norse Mythology: There are several allusions to Norse mythology in Beowulf. In some cases, these allusions fill in the background of the pagan world in which the poem unfolds. In other cases, the mythological allusions offer stories that echo the story of Beowulf.
The flood myth depicted on Hrothgar’s hilt, mentioned in the previous section on biblical allusions, is also an allusion to Norse mythology. Both the Norse and Christian traditions contain myths of primordial floods. Norse mythology tells of an ancient race of giants known as the jötnar. In a vie for power, the gods Odin, Vili, and Vé murder Ymir, the greatest of the jötnar. Ymir’s wounds bleed so profusely that the blood floods the world, killing the rest of the jötnar. In a fascinating overlap, the pagan and Christian layers of the poem connect in this diluvian allusion.
After Beowulf kills Grendel, Hrothgar’s minstrel honors the victorious guest with the story of Sigemund, a Waelsing warrior who slays a dragon and takes its treasure hoard. The minstrel intends Sigemund’s story to mirror Beowulf’s victory over Grendel, but it has the additional effect of foreshadowing Beowulf’s encounter with a dragon in the poem’s last section.
Beowulf’s battle with the dragon echoes another Norse myth. Thor, the god of thunder, battles a dragon known as the “World Serpent.” Thor’s and Beowulf’s dragon fights are similar in two distinct ways.
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