Tag Archives: Grendel's mother

Finn, Hengest, and Terror in Israel

By Robin Bates | Published: October 10, 2023

The Finn episode in Beowulf applies only to well to the Hamas terror attack on Israel–and to the probable Israeli response.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged 9-11, Beowulf, Grendel's mother, Hamas, Hamas terror attack, Israel, Terrorism, Timothy Snyder | Comments closed

Grendel’s Mother Attacks Israel

By Robin Bates | Published: October 9, 2023

Hamas’s attack on Israel brings to mind Grendel’s Mother, who is the archetype of perpetual blood feuds.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged anti-Semitism, Beowulf, Grendel's mother, Hamas, Israel, Oct. 7 Israel attack, Terrorism | Comments closed

Grendel’s Mother, Archetype of Grief

By Robin Bates | Published: May 8, 2019

Thursday I report today on a memorable encounter I had with an African American alum upon my first post-retirement return to St. Mary’s College of Maryland. I was talking with a former colleague when Candace looked in and began reminiscing. I didn’t recognize her, even after she told me her name, but something clicked when […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Beowulf, Beowulf poet, Grendel's mother, Grief | Comments closed

When Great Souls Die

By Robin Bates | Published: April 29, 2019

Tuesday Today is the 19th anniversary of my oldest son’s death. When Justin died in a freak drowning accident in 2000, our world turned upside down. He was 21 at the time and would have been 40 this year. In “When Great Trees Fall,” Maya Angelou captures much of what I experienced. I’m struck by […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "When Great Trees Fall, Beowulf, death and dying, death of a child, Grendel's mother, grief and grieving, Maya Angelou | Comments closed

Homer’s Warning about Revenge Killings

By Robin Bates | Published: July 10, 2016

What will it take to bring peace between police and black communities? Homer has a vision of such a truce at the end of “The Odyssey” but it may not be realistic.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged "the meeting after the savior gone 4/4/68", Alton Sterling, Beowulf, Black Lives Matter, Ceremony, Dallas police killings, Grendel's mother, Homer, Leslie Marmon Silko, Lucille Clifton, Odyssey, Philando Castille, race war | Comments closed

We Risk Becoming Grendel’s Mother

By Robin Bates | Published: November 16, 2015

In reaction to the horrors of the Paris massacres, we are in danger of becoming consumed by the vengeful grief of Grendel’s Mother. The times call upon us to be Beowulf strong.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Barack Obama, Beowulf, GOP presidential candidates, Grendel's mother, ISIS, Terrorism | Comments closed

If Beowulf Went to War with ISIS

By Robin Bates | Published: February 9, 2015

The Jordanian response to the burning alive of a Jordanian pilot reminds us that Grendel’s Mother is on the loose in the Middle East. Beowulf models how we should respond.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Beowulf, blood feuds, Grendel's mother, grieving, ISIL, ISIS, revenge killings | Comments closed

Destructive Grieving for a Lost America

By Robin Bates | Published: June 13, 2012

Grieving for a lost America reaches deep across the political spectrum, “Beowulf” provides a healthy response.

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged American Dream, Beowulf, Grendel's mother, grieving, Marilynne Robinson, politics, When I Was a Child I Read Books | Comments closed

Befriending, Not Fighting, Grendel’s Mother

By Robin Bates | Published: May 20, 2010

I am still vibrating from the powerful student essays I received last week. I talked about one yesterday and will share another today. This is one from a student whose mother is dying of brain cancer. Erica Rutkai (she is letting me use her name) decided to move from California to the east coast when […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged Beowulf, cancer, death and dying, Erica Rutkai, Grendel's mother, Hero | Comments closed