How we cite our quotes: (Page) Vintage Books, 1989
Quote #7
When I sleep, she presses close to me, half buries me under her thistly fur and fat. "Dool-dool," she moans. She drools and weeps. "Warovvish," she whimpers, and tears at herself. (145-146)
It might be annoying to Grendel that Mama can't speak, but for her, it's downright torture. As time wears on, she truly has something to say to her son—she's got to warn him about Beowulf. Interestingly enough, although she can't speak and she seems to be lacking in intellect, she has a finely tuned intuitive sense. She not only picks up the "bad vibes" rippling through the earth like Grendel—she can interpret them. Too bad she can't actually communicate with her son.
Quote #8
King Scyld's great deeds do not exist "back there" in Time. "Back there in Time" is an allusion of language. They do not exist at all. My wickedness of five years ago, or six, or twelve, has no existence except as now, mumbling, mumbling, sacrificing the slain world to the omnipotence of words, I strain my memory to regain it. (146)
Gardner plays on the homophones "allusion" and "illusion" here. Yes, the phrase "back there in time" alludes to something that happened in the past, but the sense that those people and incidents still live somewhere is false. The past is gone—unless we recreate it with words.
Quote #9
My mother makes sounds. I strain my wits toward them, clench my mind. Beware the fish. (149)
A bright spot in mother-son communication: Mama reaches out with "language," and Grendel grasps at meaning. What is actually going on here? Does she really say words that he can recognize? It seems more likely that something more intuitive is happening here. Isn't the payoff a little... slim? All those years without speaking, and all Grendel gets is a stinking fish? If you consider that the swimming champ of Geatland is approaching, you might value Mama Grendel's conversation a bit more. What does it mean that the character without language is the one who best seems to understand the reality of the situation?