And all that would remain would be their brothers to mourn them, inconsolable.

The anxiety expressed by this poem is acutely felt and accurately represents the norms of the era. During this era, if someone was killed by someone else, the family of the slain person would have to kill the murderers in order to avenge the death of their beloved. Thus, it makes perfect sense that the poem goes exactly along this route. However, by doing so it again expresses both the anxiety of the era and the dichotomous views of good and evil. For Grendel's mother comes to avenge his death and she is described as "Devil-shaped woman, her woe ever minded,/Who was held to inhabit the horrible waters…His mother moreover/Eager and gloomy was anxious to go on/Her mournful mission, mindful of vengeance/for the death of her son." In this instance, one can see that the anxiety and...
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