“Don’t get mad, get even.” In other words, get revenge. The word ‘revenge’ has many negative connotations. How much can be accomplished by achieving it? In the epic poem, Beowulf, revenge seemed to be the driving force behind every major event. It seemed ironic to me that ‘Revenge’ seemed to be the leading role in this poem, and God seemed to play the supporting actor. In a poem that seemed set on bringing forth God and religion, the plot was composed of situations and characters that were overwhelmed with the need for revenge.
After reading the introduction to the poem, I became very interested with the idea of Christianity within the poem. I paid close attention to any mentioning of God I came across. God was brought up countless times within the poem, leading me to believe that it was intended to reflect Christian beliefs. For example, line 92 says, “how the Almighty had made the earth.” This line almost directly correlates to the Nicene Creed which says, “We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.” In line 927 and 928, Hrothgar says, “First and foremost, let the Almighty Father/ be thanked for this sight.” This is relevant because within the Christian religion, God is also referred to as Father. The characters within the poem referred to God often, which made the theme of revenge ironic for this poem.
Almost all of Beowulf’s events were stemmed by a character’s need for revenge. Right from the beginning, Grendel was described as “Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark/ nursed a hard grievance” (86-87). Grendel killed the Danes to seek revenge for being condemned. Once Grendel was killed, his mother wanted to avenge her son. She sought after and killed more Danes including Aeshere, Hrothgar’s advisor and friend.
It wasn’t only Grendel and his mother who acted out of revenge. Beowulf was the hero in the poem who was a great believer in revenge. In like 1384 and 1385, Beowulf said, “Wise sir, do not grieve. It is always better/ to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning.” It seems almost hypocritical with the views of Christianity. When he actually killed Grendel’s mother the poem talked about Beowulf saying, “Beowulf in his fury now settled that score… Beowulf cut the corpse’s head off” (1584-1585, 1590). Beowulf had agreed to avenge the death of Aeshere, Hrothgar’s advisor and friend, however he took it to an extreme next level. The only need to cut off Grendel’s mother’s head was as a clear symbol of revenge.
In the end, for a poem that talks so much about God and by the seemingly monotheistic practices of the characters, it seems ironic how everything is triggered by revenge. Even our epic hero, Beowulf, is thirsty for revenge, which I thought to be a very interesting controversy within the poem.
