Early in the poem, the narrator introduces Grendel as:<\/p>\n
W\u00e6s se grimma g\u00e6st\u00a0\u00a0 Grendel haten,<\/em> \u201cThe grim spirit was called Grendel, the famous mark-stepper, he who held the marshes, fens and strongholds, the unlucky man guarded the realm of monsterkind a while.\u201d<\/p>\n The narrator names Grendel a\u00a0mearcstapa<\/em>, a compound generally understood to mean \u201cborder-walker,\u201d in reference to his wandering in the wild.\u00a0And later in the poem, Hro\u00f0gar characterizes both Grendel and his mother in virtually identical terms:<\/p>\n Ic \u00fe\u00e6t londbuend,\u00a0\u00a0 leode mine,<\/em> \u201cI have heard that the land-dwellers, my people, and hall-counselors say that they saw two such foreign-spirits, great mark-steppers holding the marshes.\u201d<\/p>\n In this passage, the Danish king describes his monstrous neighbors as mearcstapan<\/em> \u201cmark-steppers\u201d and as ellorg\u00e6stas<\/em> \u201cforeign-spirits\u201d (a compound that highlights their status as other). Although Manish Sharma makes a compelling argument for \u201cmarked wanderer\u201d as a possible translation of mearcstapa\u2014<\/em>referring to the mark of Cain and corresponding to descriptions of the Grendelkin as Cain\u2019s progeny, in Caines cynne<\/em> \u201cin Cain\u2019s kin\u201d (107)\u2014nevertheless, \u201cborder-walkers\u201d remains the preferred interpretation of the Old English compound.<\/p>\n However, a third available translation of mearcstapa <\/em>is \u201cborder-crosser\u201d and this interpretation of the Old English compound focuses on the Grendelkin\u2019s liminality and sorrowful journeying between the Danish kingdom and realm of monsters. Interpreting mearcstapan <\/em>as \u201cborder-crossers\u201d aligns the monstrous Grendelkin with immigrants, migrants, exiles and foreigners\u2014the very groups actively demonized and discriminated against by the current administration, as demonstrated by executive orders and enforcement practices, including (but by no means limited to) President Trump\u2019s Muslim Travel Ban<\/a> and Zero Tolerance Policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n In Allison Meier<\/a>\u2019s recent blog \u201cHow Medieval Artists Used Monsters as Propaganda,\u201d<\/a> discussing the Morgan Library and Museum in New York<\/a>\u2019s exhibit,\u00a0Medieval Monsters: Terrors, Aliens, Wonders<\/em><\/a>, she draws modern-medieval parallels regarding the monstrous characterization of marginalized groups. She notes how Trump\u2019s rhetorical strategies often rely on this sort of stereotyping and fear-mongering, as demonstrated by statements during his announcement of his\u00a0presidential candidacy in 2015<\/span><\/a>\u00a0that those crossing the US-Mexican border were “people that have lots of problems, and they\u2019re bringing those problems with us. They\u2019re bringing drugs. They\u2019re bringing crime. They\u2019re rapists.” <\/span><\/p>\n Meier\u2019s point that Trump’s rhetoric on immigration appropriates the language of monstrosity in order to demonize undocumented immigrants and asylum-seeking refugees resonates with the sentiments of the exhibit’s curators, Asa Simon Mittman and Sherry Lindquist, who argue in their <\/span>accompanying catalogue<\/a>, \u201cMonstrous imagery was often associated with members of socially disadvantaged groups in order to suggest that they were less than human; such a strategy rationalized repression and could even be used to instigate violence.\u201d I can only add my voice in harmony with those calling for resistance against recent nationalistic and xenophobic (especially anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim) rhetoric<\/a>, which targets and dehumanizes specific groups of marginalized peoples by characterizing them as monstrous and other.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span>The effects of this normalized rhetoric are manifesting<\/a> and have paved the way for ongoing atrocities and crimes against humanity<\/a> perpetrated by the United States government. The current administration\u2019s dehumanizing policies on immigration\u2014including separating families<\/a>, concentrating people in detention centers<\/a> and holding children in cages<\/a>\u2014will undoubtedly have lasting social ramifications and could result in future blowback and retaliatory violence.<\/a><\/p>\n Cyclical violence is a frequent occurrence in the martial world of Beowulf<\/em>. Yet, Grendel\u2019s mother, who comes to avenge the death of her son, surprises Beowulf when she appears in the form of blowback <\/span>resulting from Grendel\u2019s defeat at the hands of the Geatish champion. Hro\u00f0gar, however, is not at all shocked by the monster\u2019s reciprocal violence, and even goes so far as to implicate Beowulf<\/a> in perpetuating the feud between the Danes and Grendelkin. The Danish king explains that:<\/p>\n Heo\u00a0\u00fea\u00a0f\u00e6h\u00f0e\u00a0wr\u00e6c<\/em> \u201cShe (Grendel\u2019s mother) then avenged the feud because you (Beowulf) killed Grendel yesternight, through violent nature, with hard grips, since he too long wasted and destroyed my people. He fell at war, guilty of life, and now another mighty criminal-slayer comes, she wished to avenge her kinsman, and has carried on the feud from afar.\u201d<\/p>\n In this passage, Hro\u00f0gar seems to sympathize with Grendel\u2019s mother\u2019s plight, twice described as a sorhful si\u00f0<\/em>\u00a0“sorrowful journey” (1278, 2119), and frames her vengeful response to the death of her son in terms of his own feuding culture and revenge obligations. Nevertheless, the Danish king appears able to empathize with his enemy\u2014a mother who has lost her child\u2014perhaps because her situation is all too familiar to the human experience, then as now.<\/a><\/p>\n Richard Fahey Baird,\u00a0Joseph L.\u00a0“Grendel the Exile,” Neuphilologische Mitteilungen<\/em> 67 (1966): 375-81.<\/p>\n Higley, Sara Lynn. \u201cAldor on Ofre<\/em>, or the Reluctant Hart: a Study of Liminality in Beowulf<\/em>,\u201d\u00a0Neuphilologische Mitteilungen 87 (1986): 342-53.<\/p>\n
\nm\u00e6re mearcstapa,\u00a0\u00a0 se \u00fee moras heold,<\/em>
\nfen ond f\u00e6sten;\u00a0\u00a0 fifelcynnes eard<\/em>
\nwons\u00e6li wer\u00a0\u00a0 weardode hwile<\/em> (102-05).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/files\/2018\/07\/Fahey-beowulf_grendel04.jpg\")
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\nseler\u00e6dende,\u00a0\u00a0 secgan hyrde<\/em>
\n\u00fe\u00e6t hie gesawon\u00a0\u00a0 swylce twegen<\/em>
\nmicle mearcstapan\u00a0\u00a0 moras healdan,<\/em>
\nellorg\u00e6stas<\/em> (1345-49).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/files\/2018\/07\/Fahey-Trump-Border-Patrol-Family-Separation.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/files\/2018\/07\/Fahey-Trump-Rally.jpg\")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/files\/2018\/07\/Fahey-KBorder-1200x857-1024x731.jpg\")
<\/a>
\n\u00fee\u00a0\u00feu\u00a0gystran\u00a0niht\u00a0\u00a0Grendel\u00a0cwealdest<\/em>
\n\u00feurh\u00a0h\u00e6stne\u00a0had\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0heardum\u00a0clammum,<\/em>
\nfor\u00fean\u00a0he\u00a0to\u00a0lange\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0leode\u00a0mine<\/em>
\nwanode\u00a0ond\u00a0wyrde.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He\u00a0\u00e6t\u00a0wige\u00a0gecrang<\/em>
\nealdres\u00a0scyldig,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0ond\u00a0nu\u00a0o\u00feer\u00a0cwom<\/em>
\nmihtig\u00a0mansca\u00f0a,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0wolde\u00a0hyre\u00a0m\u00e6g\u00a0wrecan,<\/em>
\nge\u00a0feor\u00a0hafa\u00f0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0f\u00e6h\u00f0e\u00a0gest\u00e6led<\/em> (1333-1340).<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/files\/2018\/07\/Fahey-beowulf-and-grendel.jpg\")
<\/a>
\nPhD Candidate in English
\nUniversity of Notre Dame<\/p>\n
\nFurther Reading:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n