An Index to Grendel

GR A

Annotated Terms ~ Questions ~ Grendel's Vocabulary

An index is a tool, nothing more, nothing less: whether it is used to revisit a favorite passage, to "cheat" by not reading or by jumping to selected passages, or to locate passages for further study, it is not a moral instrument.

Lisa Mirabile, "Origins and Objectives of
An Index to The English Patient by Michael Ondaatje"

 

Thank You

As a friend has observed, the real power of Learning on the internet is not found in the impressive and overwhelming mass of raw data that exists out here. Real Learning happens on a smaller scale, among the webs of personal connections shaped by common interests and a generous spirit. So I have people to thank.

Many thanks to Suzanne Morine, whose very practical Index to The Catcher in the Rye gave me the big idea - and whose link to the American Society of Indexers gave me a few more. The above-quoted article by Lisa Mirabile has also given me much to think about. Check out her Index to The English Patient.

Thanks to Fr. Bob Carroll for explaining some basic principles of calculus to me. Thanks to Dee Schulten for introducing me to Gardner's letter to Miss West's class. Thanks to the kind members of The John Gardner Discussion List who taught me a lot. Thanks to Tom Fasano for generously sharing his resources. Thanks to The Arch and the Abyss for a very useful Checklist of Secondary Sources. Thanks to Bernd Wahlbrink for pushing me to think about a connection between Grendel and Holden Caulfield. Thanks to Donald Buggert for lending a hand with some philosophical/theological intricacies (any goofs are mine). Thanks to Dannielle Spindler-Swart for steering me toward Norse mythology.

This refreshed & relocated edition is gratefully dedicated to
Hazel K. Bell.

Tom Murphy, O. Carm.
Contact @brtom or @brtomm


Pagination follows the Vintage paperback Grendel. New York, 1989. Subentries are sorted by page number.

Created by Tom Murphy, O. Carm. 2000-2002. Revised & Relocated 2022.

All rights reserved. Teachers, students, and readers at large may use for non-commercial, educational purposes only.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A
accident; see meaninglessness, mechanism

in the oak tree 18
world is pointless 28
easily dismissed 30
as apocalypse 71
in fight with Beowulf 171-74
actual entity 132
anarchistic 22
anarchy 120; see Red Horse
animals; see individual animal name, zodiac signs
wild 11
as art 31
domestic 31
enemies of old 173-74
anger's child 111
ants 14, 39, 71
apples, raining; see Unferth
arrow 125; see zodiac signs
art 42, 43, 47, 49; see illusion, lies, truth
"Ashes to ashes" 73, 108
Athelgard 7
atoms 68

B
balance; see zodiac signs

is everything 91, 92, 110
is anything 109
rhythm is re-established 135
bats 36, 62
bears 8, 86
Hygmod's 97,105, 106, 107, 109  
Beowulf
Dragon's allusion to 70
old woman's allusion to 142
described 153-54, 155
his speech to coastguard 154
his reply to Unferth 161-62
his murderous tongue 163
fights Grendel 168-72
his wings 169, 172
echoes Dragon's words 170
lets out fire 171
Beowulf, passages from
of Scyld Shefing 41-42
Young Hengest 148
of Breca 160, 161-62
Nowhere on middle-earth 168
bird, birds; see wings
laying eggs 7
falls in Grendel's path 8
as thoughtless clay 11
human described as 25
related to Shaper's art 49
migrants 95
black hole 74
Blake, William, in epigraph
blindness
of prejudice 7
of the Shaper 12-13, 40-41, 49
of Grendel 14, 22
of instinct 21
boars 11
"boobies, hemorrhoids, boils, slaver" 59, 70; see Dragon [allusion to 1 Samuel 6:11]
boys and girls 50
Breca 160, 161
brute existent 73; see Grendel
bull; see zodiac signs
protecting calf 19-22
gone mad 78
top

C
Cain and Abel, allusions to 51, 108, 146
cat and mouse 10
cave; see Grendel, cave

biblical allusions to
"The cave my cave is a jealous cave" 158
"The world is my bone-cave, I shall not want" 170
chained in a cave 122
cause 63
calf 18
Chance 70, 74
charm, charmed; see Grendel, charmed
childhood 28
coastguard 152-53
complexity 69-71
concresence 132
conformity 67
connectedness, essence of everything 64
conservationists 70
cows 6, 8, 31, 33, 35, 99
crabs 8, 46, 48; see zodiac signs
craftsmen 47; see goldworker, see wheelwright
cricket 23, 72
Cut A 94
Cut B 110

D
Danes, Danish

Scyld's influence 42
Hrothgar's 47, 53, 106, 144, 159-63
Finn's, 147, 148
coastguard, 153-53
Dark Ages 67
"Death, transfiguration" 73; see Dragon [allusion to Tod und Verklärung, tone poem by Richard Strauss, 1889]
deer; see Hart
on seeing Grendel 7
never killed by Grendel 8
as art 31
hunted by men 96
showing their ribs 125
tracks of 137
democracy 68, 69
desire 93, 132, 158
Devonian fish 72
dogmatism 14; see religion, theory
dogs; see watchdogs
silent under Grendel's spell 13
with guards 34-35, 96
as simile 40, 52
barking 77
waiting 141
"Dool-dool" 145, see language, Grendel's mother's
doom 53, 75, 165
dragon, a 15, 157
Dragon, the
not a friend 12
on men's theories 13, 64-65
another mind 48
invisible ancient presence 50, 54-55
Grendel falls toward him 56, 137, 152
described 57-58
his greed 60
a mind reader 61
his eye 61, 70
serpent to the core 61; see snakes
advice to Grendel 62, 74, 105; see gold
on the Shaper 62
on the dragon mind 62-63
his syllogism 64
on Time and Space 65-66
on the essence of existence 67-69
alludes to Beowulf 70
on dust and the transience of all things 70-71; see Ork on evil
on apocalypse 71
on the human mind 71; see thinking
on Grendel's effect on men 72-73
his ambition 73
charmed Grendel 75
scent of 77, 81-82, 84, 93, 102, 138, 150
his truths 108
quoted by Grendel 110
whispered syllables of 170
top

E
eagle 12, 21
Ecglaf; [father of Unferth]
Ecgtheow 154 [father of Beowulf]
eel 147
enemies 91, 173
epigraph by William Blake
evil 132-33, 146, 174; see Ork
ewe 6, 44
Expression defined 68, 69
eternity 74, 110, 146
eyes of strangers 16, 17, 21

F
falcons 14; see warfalcons
fate 162
fiddlesticks 61, 72; see Dragon
Finn 147; song of 148
firesnakes 9, 86, 152

described 16
fish; see zodiac signs
Grendel's mother's smell of 29
Devonian 72
"Beware the fish" 145, 149
Beowulf's beard 154
"there will be fish" 170 
Form is function 91;
fox 8, 32, 136
Freawaru 120-21; [Hrothgar's daughter] see Hrothulf
Ingeld's intended 121, 164; see Finn
free will 63
freedom 15,119, 157
frog 23
funeral pyre 14, 149

G
games 15, 64, 114, 163
gannet 152
Geats

Beowulf's introduction 154
as limit to Grendel's desire 158
as saviors 159
Beowulf as beardless leader of 160
united with Danes by the queen 163
as stones 167 
glory 53, 84; see hero, see Unferth
goat 139, 149, 165; see zodiac signs
God, god; see Ork, religion
Grendel as an ugly god 22
made the world 51, 55, 74
gray as geometry 53
"does not exist" 65
as history of Chance 74
Shaper sings of 77
and Hrothgar 77, 81
"has vanquished mine enemies" 79
ghostly Destroyer 127
ground of actuality/rationality 131
His mystery 133
gods
images of 39, 127, 128-29, 165
lifeless sticks 52
greatest of 74
their absence 109
King of 131-33
made this world 138
gold 70, 116,
cups of, in epigraph
thrown onto funeral pyre 14
missing from destroyed meadhall 34
gild his wisdom 42
phrases, magnificent, golden 43
Shaper's product 49
Hrothgar's 53
the Dragon's 57, 62
seek it out and sit on it 74
on Shaper's eyes 145
gold-egg-laying goose 93
gold-friend 49; see Hrothgar
goldworker, the 35; see craftsmen
Grendel
his war with Hrothgar 5, 30, 76, 92
his victims 6-7, 52, 54, 76, 78-79, 142
figurative names
earth-rim-roamer 7, 116
shadow-shooter 7
walker of the world's weird wall 7
Ruiner of Meadhalls 80, 91
world-rim monster 87
Hrothgar-Wrecker 91
truth-teacher, phantasm-tester 110
anger's child 111
old hellroads-runner 116
world-rim-walker 127
The Destroyer 130, 159
his friends 8
his cave; see biblical allusions
first described 8-9
where mother sleeps 11
explored by young Grendel 15-16
large old shapes in 16
eyes of strangers in 17
back in by dawn 18
uses for tree limbs in 22
Grendel in 28, 101, 151, 173
Grendel returns to 55
sounds of 156 
his voice 10
sickness 11
named
by thanes 12
by self 18, 51, 169, 174
by the Dragon 63 
killing humans 12-13, 78-79, 81, 142, 168
his early games 15
his early discoveries 16
charmed 16, 75, 78, 81, 101
his youth 16-29
his brothers, uncles, shapes 16, 17, 21, 28
mother-cave identity 17
his fear of death 18
abandonment in oaktree 18ff., 137, 173
an ugly god 22
his first human encounter 23-27
observing self 29
his decision to destroy Hrothgar 30
watching men
evolution of human society 30-36
among lovers and a corpse 50
Hrothgar's armed camp 95-96
people repairing stone gods 129
Hrothgar's family sleeping 136
the daily life of humans 140-42
mysterious behavior of humans 156-57
poetry's effects on 43-45
defined by Shaper's song 51
his attempt at friendship with men 51-52
his loneliness 53, 76, 77, 80
encounters Dragon 57ff.
as symbol of human mortality ("the brute existent") 72-73, 91
his first raid 79-86
his place in universe 81, 158
his language 83
attacks Unferth with apples 85
his poems and songs
Pity poor Hrothgar 92
Hrothulf 111-15
Wealtheow 116
Hrothgar's dream 123-24 [from T. Kinsella's "Wormwood"]
I am not 149; see monster
The wall will fall 172
his law 93
his second year of raiding 94
as Nature lover 94-95
his first view of Wealtheow 100
observing Wealtheow and Hrothgar 102-08
attacks queen 109-10
quotes Dragon ("long dull fall of eternity")110
creature of two minds 110
shaper of Hrothgar's nobility 122-23
a machine 123; see mechanism
and children 125, 142
on winged creatures in snow 126
on wrecking idols 128-29
his spell 136
addressing the goat 139-40
his laughter 153
impressed by Beowulf 155
bursting doors 167
caught by Beowulf 168
Grendel's Mother
her nightmares 9
sleeping 11
her presence in cave 16, 29
her eyes17, 23
loved Grendel 17; see love
"Mama" 18-19, 80, 146, 158, 170, 172-73
not-my-mother 19
her absence 21
attacks men 27
mute 28-29, 56, 149
her disapproval 36, 147
pitiful 55-56
toward Unferth 86
self-sacrificing 102; see Wealtheow
warns of Beowulf?
"Warovvish" 145
Beware the fish 149
her insanity 145-47
set aside 147-58

top

H
hairless one, the 25-26
Halga the Good 111; see Hrothulf
harper 40-41, see Shaper
harper, the former 43
Hart 105; see Hrothgar, meadhall; [Heorot in Beowulf]
shattered 14
greatest of meadhalls 46
named by Hrothgar 47
antlered hall 96
hart, hunter and 126-27; see zodiac signs
harvest 76, 77
harvest virgin 84, 90; see virgin, zodiac signs
heart-sucking 80
Heathobards 121; see Ingeld
Heaven 65, 91
hedgehogs 11
Hell 53, 64, 91, 162
Helmings 96, 104, 106, 109
Hengest 147; see Finn
herbalist 143
Her-kapf 128
hero; see glory, Unferth
Shaper singing of 34, 77
Unferth acting as 84-85
Unferth on meaning of 88-89 
heroism; see gold
a golden trinket 87
dismissed by Grendel 90
inner 164
Herogar 13 [brother of Hrothgar]
Hildeburh 147; see Finn
Hoc, Hildeburh, Hnaef, Hengest 147; see Finn
holy 92; see God, gods
honor 35
hope 77
horses 23-27, 38-39, 95; colt 35
Hrothgar [king of the Scyldings]
hall of; see meadhall
mentioned by Grendel 10, 12, 42, 48, 158
shattered 14
the greatest 46
sung by the Shaper 47
Hrothgar by the door of 78
location of 155
is alive 169
during a Grendel raid 12
his wife 12; see Wealtheow
first meets her 100-01
mired in sin 13
to be feared 30
as successful war theorist 37
establishes kingdom through tribute 39-40
harper and 41-43
his power and peace 44
lights of his realm 45
first thoughts of a meadhall 47
his goodness 48
gold-friend 49; see gold
may not understand the Shaper 53
his sons 53, 120
God and 77
confronts Hygmod 96-97
as bowl-bearer 106
old 107, 121-22
his brother 111; see Halga the Good
his nephew 111, 120; see Hrothulf
his daughter 120; see Freawaru
as an old king 121
his knowledge and fear 122
ignores religion 128
mentioned by Beowulf 154
speaks of Beowulf 164
Hrothgar-Wrecker 91; see Grendel, figurative names
Hrothulf 111, 157, 164 [nephew of Hrothgar]
his father 111
arrival at Hart 112
as sweet scorpion 113; see zodiac signs
on violence 114
on his own will to power 115
described 116-17
his counselor 117; see Red Horse
on freedom 119
his cousins 120-21; see Freawaru
at Shaper's funeral 148-49
humans; see men, see women
hunter and hart 126-27; see zodiac signs
Hygilac 154 [uncle of Beowulf]
Hygmod 96, 105 [brother of Wealtheow]
his alliance with Hrothgar 100
in hall with Wealtheow and bear 106
his song 107
his hatred of Hrothgar 107
top

I
illusion; see art, lies, truth
Shaper's song as 48, 62, 65
Unferth stripped naked of 104 
killing the queen as an 110
Grendel tries to drive out 169
imagination 54; see Shaper
importance 68
Ingeld 121 [king of the Heathobards]; see Freawaru

J
jangler 85; see Unferth
justice 35
Jutes 147

K
kennings; see Grendel, figurative names
king and queen; see Hrothgar, Wealtheow

at Shaper's deathbed 143
King of the Gods 131
king; see Hrothgar
linked to ram 5
without men 147
king, young; see Hygmod
"Know thyself" 74
knowledge, knowing 63, 75; see Dragon

L
lake; see mere
lamb 44
language; see talking/telling, poetry, words, whispering

spinning a web of words 8, 15
creates the world 28-29
Grendel's mother's 28, 145, 149
making speeches 36
relates Grendel to humans 36
hills brought low by 42
Grendel's 83
noble 84
words for raging 52, 54
religious 127-28
Grendel whispering 168, 169, 174
Beowulf whispering syllables 169-72
law 115, 118
lie, lies, lying; see art, illusion, truth
Shaper's phrases 43, 108
about a loving creator 55; see God
Grendel of the Dragon 72-73
speeches of Hrothgar's and Hygmod's sides 101
of the watchful mind 157
lion 123; see zodiac signs
lizards 10
lizard tongues 14
logic 24; see syllogism
love
Grendel's mother's parallel to the queen's 102
rhetoric of 115
the queen's endearment to Hrothulf 116
Grendel's mother's is history 173

 
top

M
mead

effects of 32
as if drunk on 78
poured by the queen 103
meadbowl joy 136
crazy meadboast 160
meadhalls; see Hrothgar, hall of
entered by Grendel 12, 91
reinforced 14
one in ruins 33-34
fight in the clearing of 35-36
human behavior when one burned 36-37
and tribute 40
Scyld Shefing attacks 42
greatest of 46
site of destruction 91
meaning , meaninglessness ; see nothing, space
of undifferentiated existence 19, 23
of the world 28
of human blood 81
as quality of life 109-10
related terms
stupidity 5, 28, 77, 89, 100, 139
mindless(ly) 6, 7, 54, 138, 139, 156, 173
pointless 6, 28; see accident
ridiculous 6, 44, 48, 55, 74, 100, 157
indifferent 14, 173
insanity 81
absurdity 82, 91, 103, 135
ultimate irrationality 131
mechanism; see accident
deadly progression of earth and stars 8; see zodiac signs
as mechanical as anything else 9
cold mechanics of the stars 9; see zodiac signs
dusty mechanical bits 11
blind mechanism 21
mechanical chaos 21-22
mechanical bull 27
mechanical bruteness 54
a machine 123
hunter's movement 126; see zodiac signs
mindless, mechanical 139
mechanical as a goat 142; see zodiac signs
mechanical, terrible 152
huge, strange machine 155
mindless mechanics 156
obeying its mechanics 165
blind, mindlesss, mechanical 173
men 8, 40
their theories; see theory
first described 23-24
describing Grendel 24
on horses 24, 93
pattern makers 27
their violence 27
and animals 38
results of their drinking 32-33
at war 33-37
gone mad on art 43
Dragon comments on 64
define selves around Grendel 72-73, 91
how they enrage Grendel 77
mere 9, 16, 45, 55, 86, 87, 140
middle-earth 168
monistic 68
monster 72, 85, 123, 173
pointless, ridiculous 6
governments 120; see Red Horse
bloodlust stifled 136
an old woman 149
seamonsters 162
moon/moonlight 7, 16, 34, 44, 51, 55, 126
mor(t)ality 47
mother; see Grendel's mother, woman
murder 49
mysteries 130, 172
top


N
Nature 65, 94
laws of 68
Grendel cursing it 101
Nihil ex nihilo 150
nihilism 93
nonce-rules 71; see Devonian fish
nothing 21-22, 74, 123; see meaninglessness

O
Old Snaggle 64; see syllogism
order 67-68, 157
Ork [the old priest]

discusses King of Gods with Grendel 130-33
on God 131-33
on ultimate evil 132-33; see Dragon on dust
dialogue with priests 133-36
responding to the Geat boasts 159
owls 10
ox 13, 37-38, 95

P
pain 20, 22
pastness of the past 146; see time
philosophical terminology

actual entity 132
anarchistic 22
a thinking animal 104
atoms 68
brute existent 73
cause 63
complexity 69-71
concresence 132
exist 28, 158
Expression defined 68, 69
fate 162
free will 63
freedom 15,119, 157
God ; see God
importance 68
"Know thyself" 74
knowledge, knowing 63, 75; see Dragon
language 8, 15, 42; see talking/telling, poetry, words
logic 24; see syllogism
mechanism
monistic 68
Nihil ex nihilo 150
nihilism 93
objectness 28
order 67-68, 157
pastness of the past 146; see time
process 68, 74
rationalism 135
reality 9, 88
reason 67, 100
sine qua non 64
syllogism 64; see Dragon, theory 157; see dogmatism, men
thereness 68
time and space 42, 63, 65-66, 93-94, 137
truth 43-44, 45, 52, 55, 88, 90, 108 157, 173; see art, illusion, lies, words 168, 169; see language, talking/telling
pigs
wild 8, 29
domestic 13, 26, 31, 35, 64
playing; see games
poetic 101
poetry 44, 87-88, 167; see art
praying 13, 39, 72, 127, 149, 165
priest, the young 135-36, 138
priests 72, 127-29, 159, 165; see Ork, gods
dialogue with Ork 133-36
at Shaper's funeral 149
puppy 16
pyre; see funeral pyre
top

Q
queen; see Wealtheow

not yet killed 93
the idea of 108

R
rabbits 8, 59-60
ram 5-6, 165; see zodiac signs
rationalism 135
rats 9, 24, 32, 45, 86
ravens 36
reality 9, 88
reason 67, 100
bloodless rationalism 135
goat and reason 139
Red Horse; see Hrothulf, will to power
old peasant 116, 157
described 117
on violence 117
on revolution and the state 117-18
on systems 120
on religion 128
relativity 66; see Time and Space
religion 10, 125, 127-29; see dogmatism, God, gods, praying, priests, Ork
reputation 83; see glory
revenge 35, 148, 157
Revolution 117
riddle 127
roads 13, 39-40
roosters 12

S
scale 67; see Time and Space, zodiac signs
Scanian lands 97
scorpion 113; see Hrothulf, zodiac signs
Scyld Shefing 13, 42, 44, 146
Scyldings 77, 82, 86, 94, 96, 97, 101, 105, 106, 109, 140, 158
Shaper, old; see harper; [scop], lies, truth

admired by Grendel 12
blind 13
his craft 34
figurative names
harpstring scratchers 42
old heart-string scratcher 46
memory scraper 46
blind selector 49
his function and effect 42-43
attachment to Hart 46-47
effect on Grendel, thanes, and world 48-53
his secret lady 49, 142, 144
sings of Cain and Abel 51, 108
may improve men's minds 53
his lure and lies 54-55
Dragon's critique of 62, 65
on God 76-77
conjuring tricks 80
sings songs 95, 105, 112
linked to queen's effect on Hrothgar 100, 102-03
his sickness 129, 139
his death 142-145
Grendel's regrets about 146
his funeral 147-49
Shaper, young 143, 165
sings of Finn, Hoc, Hildeburh, Hnaef, and Hengest 147
sings "Frost shall freeze..." 165
Shaper's theorum 113
shark-toothed 15, 52
sin 13
sine qua non 64
sky 7, 14, 18, 34, 132, 137, 153
fist-shaking at 5
personified as indifferent 6
Snaggle, Old 64; see syllogism
snakes 22, 30, 31, 50, 54, 78, 97, 136; see venom, watersnakes, firesnakes
serpent to the core; see Dragon, the
song 42, 49, 76-77, 91, 171
at a funeral 14
Pity Poor Hrothgar 92
Hygmod's 107
priests' 128
Young Hengest still 148
Frost shall freeze 165
The wall will fall 172 
sorrow 105
space; see Time and Space
hurtling coldly out 18
universe leaping forward 19
blasted outward 80
sparrows 24
Speardanes; see Danes
spider 71, 103, 137
spiderwebs 64
spring, springtime 6-9, 31, 44
stags 11, 19; see Hart
stars 9, 11, 37, 44, 102, 126, 130, 173; see zodiac signs
state and violence; see Red Horse
strangers
beware of 74
arrival of 151-52
summer 31, 37, 76, 112
sun
spins mindlessly 7
blinds Grendel 14
and sky 19
like a crab 46; see zodiac signs
sign of God's victory 51
set by a god 55
black 61, 137
in Hrothulf poem 114-15
walks mindlessly 138
climbing mechanical 142
hurts Grendel 156
syllogism 64; see Dragon, the
top

T
talking/telling; see language, poetry, Shaper, words

"talking, talking" 8, 15, 80
Grendel trying to tell his mother 28-29 
human talking 31-32, 34, 36
Grendel speaking to Unferth 83
tedium 138, 157
thanes
reacting to Grendel 12
their stories of Grendel 30
scattered bones of 46
hearing the harper 48
Hrothgar's 76, 106, 159-60
pompous fools 80
attack Grendel 81
Unferth's fellows 87
rewarded by the System 118; see Red Horse
without lords 147
theology 159
theory; see dogmatism, men
Dragon comments on 13, 64-65
Hrothgar's 13, 37
lunatic 14, 172
humans cracked with 55
in drunken arguments 102-03
another wrecked by Grendel 110
all order as theoretical 157
Beowulf's lunatic theory of matter and mind 172
thereness 68
thinking; see Dragon, the
thinking animal 27,104; see Unferth, men
Grendel's mother 11
time
slowed down 20
time's flow illusory 102
within hunter and hart 126
ultimate evil 132; see Ork
the past as an allusion of language 146
grows 165
is the mind 170
time and space; see philosophical terminology
toads 31
torus 93 [a mathematical figure used to describe the queen]; see Cut A
treasure-hoard 121-22
the Dragon's 57, 60
tribute 39, 99
gathering 37
givers 94
truce 98
truth; see philosophical terminology, art, illusion, lies
twelve 5, 12, 92; see zodiac signs
twins 33, 44; see zodiac signs
top

U
Unferth, son of Ecglaf

confronts Grendel 82-83
like an outraged priest 82
attacked with apples 85
poor Jangler 85
a new kind of Scylding 86
at the cave 86-87
his pretensions 87
on heroism 89
his bitterness 90, 96-97
ugly as a spider 103
brother-killer 104, 162
a thinking animal 104
slapped aside 109
ignores religion 128
at Shaper's funeral 149
taunting Beowulf 160-61
universe
leaping forward 19
created blink by blink 22
refuses conformity 67
in general 69
expanding 70
silent 71
slowed down 130
not-my-mother 158
chewed down to words 168; see language

V
vassals' army 95-96
vengeance 15 [allusion to Romans 12.19]
venom 35, 52, 64; see snakes
violence 117-18, 157
definition of state 119; see Red Horse
for its own sake 120
virgin 77, 85, 100, 128; see harvest virgin; zodiac signs
void 61; see nothing
vultures 13, 23

W
waiting at night 129, 165
wall/walls 9, 28, 29, 141

world's weird wall 7
words 8
cliffwall 9, 39, 45, 55, 56, 102, 105, 139, 149
wall-hung beds 12, 136
and Grendel's mother 17, 23, 28
meadhall walls 31, 34, 136, 167, 171
of Dragon's cave 57
Queen's head against wall 109
coffin walls of the world 123
rocky sea-wall 152
reaming out walls 156
"sing walls"171
Grendel's song of walls 172
warfalcons 32; see falcons
"Warovvish" 145, see language, Grendel's mother's
wars 34-37, 39, 44, 150; see Grendel
watchdogs 33, 41
watchmen 141
watersnakes, baby 7
Wealtheow 12, 164; see Hrothgar
observed by Grendel 93-94
a treasure 99
meets Hrothgar 101
bowl-bearer 102, 163
self-sacrificing 102, 103; see Grendel's mother
effect on men 102-103
effect on Unferth 104
sleeping with Hrothgar 104-05, 108, 122
gem-woman 105
observed by Grendel in hall 107
attacked by Grendel 109-10
welcomes Hrothulf 112
speaks to Beowulf 163
web of words 8, 15; see language
weird 7
whale 152, 161
whalecocks 9
wheelwright 141
whispering; see language
Grendel 168, 169, 174
Beowulf 169-72 

will to power 115, 128
winged creatures 126
wings 12, 96, 126, 169; see birds
winter 31, 92, 101, 105, 115, 125, 137, 148, 160
wolf/wolves 10, 11, 14, 16, 17, 32, 40, 95, 125, 136
woman/women; see Grendel's mother, Wealtheow
Old, in epigraph
old, taste of 7
keening after attack 13
and men at a funeral 14
cooking 32
female getting hurt 33
praise of 49
Shaper's secret lady 49, 142, 144
old womanish [of the Dragon] 60
Unferth as sickly old 90
Wealtheow in a silver robe100
a mother's love 103
girl who brings food 141
old, telling lies 141-42
putting gold coins on Shaper's eyes 145
old, as wild as the wind 149
words 168, 169; see language, talking/telling
compared to spinning/pale skin 8, 15, 29
of men 23
for raging 52, 54
Grendel aswirl in 72
filling world with 80
omnipotence of 146
Beowulf's 162-63
world, divided 158

X

Y

Z
zodiac signs; see twelve

Aries (Ram) 5-6, 165
Taurus (Bull) 19-22, 23, 78
Gemini (Twins) 33, 44
Cancer (Crab) 8, 46, 48
Leo (Lion) 123
Virgo (Virgin) 77, 85, 100, 128; see harvest virgin
Libra (Balance) 91, 92, 109, 110
Scorpius (Scorpion) 113; see Hrothulf
Sagittarius (Archer) 125 (arrow), 126-27 (bowmen)
Capricornus (Goat) 139-140, 149, 165
Aquarius (Water-Bearer) 151, 169, 170 (water), 156 (underground river; see cave), 160 (swimming; see Breca)
Pisces (Fish) 29, 72, 149, 154, 170
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Created by Tom Murphy, O. Carm. 2000-2002. Revised & Relocated 2022. All rights reserved. Teachers, students, and readers at large may use for non-commercial, educational purposes only.