Beowulf: Key Quotes

Quotation One:

And a young prince must be prudent like that,

giving freely while his father lives

so that afterwards in age when fighting starts

steadfast companions will stand by him

and hold the line. Behavior that’s admired

is the path to power among people everywhere.

These lines convey the importance of rewarding loyal warriors and retaining their loyalty in accordance with comitatus. The code also ensures mentorship and paternal guidance for young warriors. Beowulf builds a strong reputation for himself at an early age, which stands him in good stead when he ascends the throne, an outcome he had not imagined. In Denmark, Hrothgar’s reputation keeps his relationship with his subjects intact even though they were plagued by Grendel’s attacks during his reign.

Quotation Two:

Nor have I ever seen,

Out of all the men on earth, one greater

Than has come with you; no commoner carries

Such weapons, unless his appearance, and his beauty

Are both lies.

This quotation describes Beowulf’s favorable first impression on the people of Denmark. Struck by his strong physique, they assume Beowulf must be an extraordinary person. In other words, the people believe that in addition to being physically strong, Beowulf is also likely noble and supremely confident.

Quotation Three:

Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend

Grendel who haunted the moors, the wild

Marshes, and made his home in a hell.

Not hell but hell on earth. He was spawned in that slime

Of Cain, murderous creatures banished

By God, punished forever for the crime

Of Abel’s death

These lines describe Grendel’s essential nature. His demonic traits are believed to be a result of him being a descendant of Cain. The poem gives importance to the lineage of most of its characters, hinting that their conduct is a direct result of their heritage. Though Grendel has similarities with humans, he is superhuman in his strength and monstrous in his behavior.

Quotation Four:

Twelve winters of grief for Hrothgar, king

Of the Danes, sorrow heaped at his door

By hell-forged hands, His misery leaped

The seas, was told and sung in all

Men’s ears.

The quotation refers to the terror that Hrothgar faced from Grendel. It also states that Grendel’s attacks were so severe that news of the Danes’ suffering traveled far and wide.

Quotation Five:

The monster relished his savage war

On the Danes, keeping the bloody feud

Alive, seeking no peace, offering

No truce, accepting no settlement, no price

In gold or land, and paying the living

For one crime only with another.

These lines refer to Grendel’s relentless violence. Combats were common in the Middle Ages, and one way to bring them to an end was to offer gold or land to one of the parties, or to both. In the case of Grendel, the offer of a suitable price did not deter him from attacking Heorot.

Additional Quotes

1. They have seen my strength for themselves, Have watched me rise from the darkness of war, Dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove Five great giants into chains, chased All that race from the earth. I swam In the blackness of night, hunting monsters Out of the ocean, and killing them one By one; death was my errand and the fate They had earned. Now Grendel and I are called Together, and I’ve come.

2. And if death does take me, send the hammered Mail of my armor to Higlac, return The inheritance I had from Hrethel, and he From Wayland. Fate will unwind as it must!Hrethel, and he/From Wayland. Fate will unwind as it must!

3. Beowulf, you’ve come to us in friendship, and because Of the reception your father found at court. Edgetho had begun a bitter feud, Killing Hathlaf, a Wulfing warrior: Your father’s countrymen were afraid of war, If he returned to his home, and they turned him away.

4. Hanging high From the rafters where Beowulf had hung it, was the monster’s Arm, claw, and shoulder and all.