Mama Grendel Timeline and Summary

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• Grendel's earliest memories are of his mother's fat monster body. 
• Lovely. 
• We learn early on that Mama is a sad, restless creature—perhaps guilty for some unknown crime. 
• Mama doesn't seem to have reached the same level of thought and language as her son. He kind of hates her for it. 
• Most frustrating: Mama can't tell Grendel why things are so bad for them. 
• Grendel tells a little bit more about his childhood days. There are other creatures in the cave with them, but they don't seem aware of him. Only his mother really looks at him. 
• But the whole thing is unhealthy. Mama's stare is hard for Grendel to interpret, but it makes him feel wicked and dirty and horrid. 
• This feeling drives Grendel further out of his cave. One day, he gets his foot caught between two tree trunks. He calls for his mother, but she doesn't come. It's a real psychological crisis for him. 
• The long absence of his mother shifts Grendel's whole worldview. By the time she arrives to save him, he's learned about the cruelty of the universe, and he's met his first pack of humans. 
• When he gets home, he declares: "The world is all pointless accident... I exist, nothing else" (28). 
• Needless to say, Mama's upset. She can't seem to bridge the gap between their worlds. 
• Mama tries to crush Grendel to her breast to comfort him, like she used to, but it's too late. 
• It's not easy for Mama to deal with Grendel's movements outside the cave; he brings lots of killed animals back to the cave and stinks things up. 
• Grendel mostly feels contempt for Mama, even when he recognizes something admirable about her. 
• When Wealtheow comes to Hart, Grendel makes the connection between the beautiful lady's sacrifice for her people and his ugly mother's willingness to give up everything for him. It doesn't comfort him. 
• As time wears on, Mama descends into insanity. She paces like an animal and makes terrible noises. 
• However, she does manage one piece of communication: "Beware the fish" (149). Grendel's not overly impressed. 
• There's a quick allusion to the moment in Beowulf after Grendel has been killed and Beowulf realizes there's another monster looking for revenge (that's Mama). Grendel foresees that moment right before Beowulf shows up. 
• After that, Mama makes no more moves to prevent Grendel from doing any foolish thing he wants. 
• As he is dying, Grendel remembers his mother's love as a thing past—as dead as he is about to be.