Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

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seed of monstrosity within themselves. This sentiment is echoed byJames Phillips who observes that “…humanity experiences itself inthe encounter with the monstrous as both familiar and intolerable”(Phillips 47).The characteristics that arguably render Grendel most terrifyingand memorable though, are his wild and uncontrollable murderousrage and his unethically violent and cannibalistic nature. ThroughoutBeowulf, the poet describes how Grendel, provoked by the soundsof human celebration in the Danes’ mead hall, ruthlessly andrepeatedly attacks the Danes under the cover of darkness, drinkinghis victims’ blood and devouring scores of sleeping men, “feet tofingertips” (Liuzza 76). Oswald remarks on the monstrousness ofGrendel’s method of murder, writing, “Grendel is not just here tokill but to consume; this is a hall for feasting, and he does just that.But Grendel’s eating is more than ravenous, and even more thanbestial. He devours every part of this body, as the poet tells us, eventhe hands and feet—such excess reveals indiscriminate consumption”(Oswald 76). There is no indication given in the text that Grendelhas any moral or ethical misgivings about his murderous andcannibalistic rampage. As Jennifer Farrell aptly notes, “Grendel isall action and no reflection” (Farrell 934). To medieval and modernimaginations alike, this is a critical component of Grendel’s characterthat marks him as “other” in relation to humankind, and defineshim as monstrous.The intricate complexity of Grendel’s monstrous identity canbe even more fully illuminated through an examination of thediffering ways in which Grendel is named and described throughoutvarious translations of Beowulf. Due to the fact that the Old EnglishBeowulf manuscript must be translated into modern English inorder to be understood by a broad contemporary audience, theimpression that a reader receives of Grendel can differ in significantways depending upon the translation of Beowulf that he or shemaura whitman 5
is exposed to. Therefore, in order to come to a more nuancedunderstanding of Grendel’s nature and identity, I have comparedthe varying ways in which Grendel is named and described throughan examination of three different Beowulf translations: E. TalbotDonaldson’s, published in 1966, and R.M. Liuzza’s, published in2000, and Seamus Heaney’s, published in 2000. By providing aunique pallet of names with which Grendel is painted throughoutthe text, each translator succeeds in emphasizing a different aspectof Grendel’s human and/or monstrous qualities. For instance, ofthe three translations, E. Talbot Donaldson’s is by far the mostcharitable and empathetic toward Grendel, emphasizing thedarkness, exile, and isolation associated with Grendel’s experienceliving on the outskirts of society. Donaldson identifies Grendel bysuch melancholy and humanizing descriptions as: “he who dwelt indarkness,” “unhappy creature,” “the creature deprived of joy,” “therover of borders,” and “the terrible walker-alone” (Donaldson 3, 3,13, 3, 4). These descriptions can be compared to those found inR.M. Liuzza’s translation which, while continuing to acknowledgesome of Grendel’s more human qualities in referring to him as a“miserable man,” also succeeds in more clearly emphasizing Grendel’simmense strength, power, and formidability through such namesas: “mighty stalker of the marshes,” “the great ravager,” “greatest ofnight-evils,” “warrior…bereft of joys,” and “notorious one” (Liuzza56, 56, 58, 59, 75). Seamus Heaney’s translation, by even starkercontrast, focuses almost exclusively on those aspects of Grendel’scharacter that render him irreconcilably “other,” emphasizing hisbrutality and monstrosity with such descriptions as: “a fiend outof hell,” “malignant by nature,” “merciless Grendel,” “dark deathshadow,”“shadow-stalker,” “terror-monger,” “alien spirit,” “theLord’s outcast,” and “enemy of mankind” (Heaney 9, 11, 11, 13, 47,51, 55, 13, 89). While I would argue that no single translation ofBeowulf can convey a complete and ultimate depiction of Grendel’s6 afternoons of alterity
Page 1 and 2: Afternoons of Alterity A Codex of t
Page 4 and 5: Table of ContentsFrom Medieval Mars
Page 6 and 7: From Medieval Marsh Monsters toFutu
Page 8 and 9: imagination, we must first attempt
Page 12 and 13: essence as a monster, it seems reas
Page 14 and 15: she bore two sons, one from the imp
Page 16 and 17: perhaps, anti-heroes) of the futuri
Page 18 and 19: to watch the murder and mutilation
Page 20 and 21: and modern audiences through their
Page 22 and 23: Works Cited“Bushwhacked.” Firef
Page 24 and 25: Projecting Otherness ontothe Disabl
Page 26 and 27: in any systematic structuration. An
Page 28 and 29: The idea of the monstrous’ vulner
Page 30 and 31: not us and are in the proximity of
Page 32: they want to be treated. The interv
Page 36: Monstrosity and theIrruption of Rea
Page 39 and 40: describing his fears of this place
Page 41 and 42: stained with sin” (Spearing 221).
Page 43: often and at will to show man somet
Page 46 and 47: What’s Love Got To Do With It?The
Page 48 and 49: story than as the beginning? What f
Page 50 and 51: It is textual content like this tha
Page 52 and 53: through the story as the Green Knig
Page 54 and 55: the first advocating voices for end
Page 56 and 57: “capable of seeing things objecti
Page 58 and 59: Darkness: The True Monster ofLitera
Page 60 and 61:
the way they can make us feel, but
Page 62 and 63:
not only closes out, extinguishes,
Page 64 and 65:
and temptation, most especially for
Page 66 and 67:
hours “led to the term ‘night
Page 68 and 69:
specifically his relationship to da
Page 70 and 71:
humanization of Grendel draws the r
Page 72 and 73:
subconscious the message may be. Th
Page 74 and 75:
Serial MonstrosityEmily Mastrobatti
Page 76 and 77:
is clear that they are monsters and
Page 78 and 79:
murderer that he once was. He has b
Page 80 and 81:
of the killing, “When investigato
Page 82 and 83:
ook “contains recipes from the bo
Page 84 and 85:
asks Charles Manson to marry her, t
Page 86 and 87:
Monstrous Mothers andObjectified Da
Page 88 and 89:
and her sisters plot to kill their
Page 90 and 91:
easons for “otherness.” On top
Page 92 and 93:
The original ideas are still intact
Page 94 and 95:
objectified creature. “Cultures o
Page 96 and 97:
Works CitedAcker, P. Horror and the
Page 98 and 99:
Grendel: A Manifestation ofMedieval
Page 100 and 101:
ut never was his physicality hinted
Page 102 and 103:
to wander in the darkness and the c
Page 104 and 105:
Magic could not resurrect Grendel t
Page 106 and 107:
Works CitedBeowulf. Trans. RM Liuzz
Page 108 and 109:
The Monster Under the BedThe Creati
Page 110 and 111:
to procreate but the accepted manif
Page 112 and 113:
Cain had/killed his father’s son
Page 114 and 115:
can, without a doubt, be placed int
Page 116 and 117:
The vagina’s ability to function
Page 118:
Ed. Barbara K. Gold, et all. Albany
Page 121 and 122:
To understand precisely how states
Page 123 and 124:
a strict delineation between each g
Page 125 and 126:
monstrous and societal rules to fol
Page 127 and 128:
Gawain is willing to accept his mis
Page 129 and 130:
survive, challenge, and defeat. Esp
Page 131 and 132:
governmental standards, then are we
Page 134 and 135:
They Walk Among UsOccupational Viol
Page 136 and 137:
sports and regard our members of th
Page 138 and 139:
modern readers are not part of the
Page 140 and 141:
otherness and disdain for humanity.
Page 142 and 143:
are underpaid and for the most part
Page 144 and 145:
Home and Spatial IdentityPhysical t
Page 146 and 147:
closeness among the people that the
Page 148 and 149:
Into the dark gorge I ventured; the
Page 150 and 151:
the treasures that fill up their ho
Page 152 and 153:
threatened by the very existence of
Page 154 and 155:
and draped in damp, shaggy moss, an
Page 156 and 157:
individual. Home resides within the
Page 158:
Works CitedArmitage, Simon. Sir Gaw
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Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

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