How we cite our quotes: (Page) Vintage Books, 1989
Quote #4
She would gladly have given her life to end my suffering—horrible, humpbacked, carp-toothed creature, eyes on fire with useless, mindless love. Who could miss the grim parallel? So the lady below would give, had given, her life for those she loved. So would any simpering, eyelash-batting female at court, given the proper setup, the minimal conditions. (102)
Love—maternal or otherwise—is way out of Grendel's comfort zone. He can recognize it in others, as he does here with his own mum and Wealtheow, but it doesn't lift him up or help him to show love to others. It makes him even more miserable. He classifies love as mindless, just like the hateful behavior of the brute beasts that annoy him so much.
Grendel also realizes something very '80s: love hurts. There is no woman in the story (for it's only the women who show capacity for love here) who isn't brought to her knees by the ties that bind.
Quote #5
When drunken men argued, pitting theory against theory, bludgeoning each other's absurdities, she came between them, wordless, uncondemning, pouring out mead like a mother's love, and they were softened, reminded of their humanness, exactly as they might have been softened by the cry of a child in danger, or an old man's suffering, or spring. (102-103)
That, as Celine Dion tells us, is the power of love. It's something that both humans and monsters in the story don't understand well—which is one reason Wealtheow wields such power when she shows it in the meadhall. How fitting that it should be this character who shows everyone how to work diplomatically rather than through chest-beating and boasts; remember, she's the one who gets traded to Hrothgar to prevent a war. The difficulty comes when we realize how very fragile Wealtheow's web of peace really is. As Grendel observes, anything can happen to end the dream—and it usually does.
Quote #6
"The incitement to violence depends on the total transvaluation of the ordinary values. By a single stroke, the most criminal acts must be converted to heroic and meritorious deeds." (117)
Hrothulf's "adviser" Red Horse uses some big words for a guy who never washes. In this case, it's pretty clear that the old anarchist has been reading Machiavelli in his spare time, since he's giving the young man a primer on how to seize power and look good while doing it. The best way? Show the people that you're doing them a favor when you commit illegal and immoral acts to achieve what you want. Have we seen this in action before? Hmmm...