![]() Johansen argues that hildedeor ‘brave in battle’ (l. Johansen proposes reading these lines with lines 850b–852a: Johansen (1982), for example, has demonstrated that this section most likely refers to Grendel as laying down his arm, rather than Beowulf hanging Grendel’s arm somewhere, as Klaeber and those who follow him have it. There are some significant difficulties with this understanding of the phrase hond alegde. Klaeber (1950: 158) sums it up well: “The victor places Grendel’s right arm above the door outside the hall (on some projection perhaps) as high as he can reach”. Typically this passage has been thought to refer to actions taken by Beowulf. The first passage in question is lines 833b–836, cited above. In addition to these passages one must examine Grendel’s dam’s hurried departure from Heorot and where the hand could logically be situated for her to grab it in her hasty exit (l. This section introduces the problem that if the hand is inside, how it can be described as “over” the roof. Following this, in lines 982–984a, the thanes are described as seeing the hand over the high roof. Next are lines 925–927, where Hrothgar comes to Heorot the morning after the great battle with Grendel, looks up, and sees the hand and the steep roof before beginning his speech. But if the subject is Grendel, then that means that there is no support for Beowulf hanging the trophy up. The lines would then mean that Beowulf hung up the hand somewhere inside the hall. Traditionally the subject of this sentence has been understood as Beowulf. First is the already mentioned section in lines 833b–836, the departure of Grendel from Heorot. Interpretation necessitates understanding several passages in the poem. The purpose of this paper is to reexamine the issue from linguistic, archaeological, and literary perspectives, gathering all of the pertinent evidence, and then rereading all of the appropriate lines in Beowulf in order to readdress the question of where Hrothgar stands when he sees Grendel’s hand. This question has provoked a surprising amount of commentary. Thus, the final disposition of the hand is in some way outside the hall (Klaeber 1950: 157 Bremmer 1996: 128). The grip of Grendel – under the broad roof’Īfter a study in 1889 by Thomas Miller that addressed the question of the meaning and intent of stapol in line 926, most commentators have now accepted that when Hrothgar looks up and sees the hand and the steapne hrof and is said to have stood on stapole (l. The text reads:Īfter the one brave in battle laid down hand,Īrm and shoulder – there all together was The problem involves how the construction of Heorot is to be understood, and perhaps more importantly to the interpretation of the poem, where and how a hero declares his victory over his enemies.Įarly commentators of the problem understood lines 833b–836 as referring to Beowulf, and therefore, to Beowulf as doing something inside the hall with Grendel’s hand, arm, and shoulder. There are some tantalizing references to the hand, but the reader is left uncertain as to whether the hand is displayed inside or outside the hall, and thus the poet leaves the reader wondering where Hrothgar stood when he sees the hand in lines 925–927 and makes his speech. ![]() Grendel suffers a mortal wound, leaving behind his arm and shoulder as he quits Heorot and heads in haste back to the fens. One of the most exciting moments in Beowulf is the battle scene between Grendel and Beowulf.
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