A Jungian reading of Beowulf The epic poem, Beowulf, depicts the battles and victories of the Anglo-Saxon warrior Beowulf against man-eating monsters. The noble defender, Beowulf, constantly fought monsters and beasts to rid the land of evil. The most important of these monsters, Grendel, represents the shadow of Beowulf, the Jungian archetype explored in the essay collection Meeting the Shadow. The character of Grendel depicts the fallen self, which will assert itself violently if neglected and must be overcome throughout life. The monster Grendel reflects the part of our fallen state. Grendel's ancestry leads to the biblical character Cain, to whom all evils can be traced. Grendel represents Beowulf's hidden evil. Rollo May describes this in his metaphor: “the dragon or Sphinx in me will often cry out and sometimes speak out” (174). Grendel represents Beowulf's Sphinx, who preys on others. The name Grendel can be roughly translated as “crusher” and “storm” (Raffel Burton 152). These terms come to life when he invades Mead Hall. Grendel "rushed angrily across the inlaid floor, snarling and fierce: his eyes glowed in the darkness, burning with a horrible light. Then he stopped, seeing the hall filled with sleeping warriors, filled with rows of young soldiers resting together. And his heart he laughed, he savored the spectacle, destined to take the life from these bodies in the morning" (46). Grendel and the other monsters who represent Beowulf's shadow “project their own evil onto the world” (Peck 178). Grendel the “Shepherd of Evil, Keeper of Crime” represents the inherent evil that the shadow embodies (Burton 46). Beowulf fought Grendel as we must fight...... middle of paper ...... being transformed into anger towards others and denial of his evil. The neglected shadow, if not cast in the direction of another, will surface within oneself to restore the imbalance of the personality. Evil presents us with a daily struggle between temptations and justice. Like Beowulf, we must fight the evils of our shadow until it is recognized and defeated. Works Cited Bly, Robert. “The long bag we drag behind us.” Meeting the shadow. Ed Connie Zwieg and Jeremiah Abrams. Los Angeles: Jeremy Teacher, Inc. 1991. May, Rollo. “The dangers of innocence.” Meeting with the Shadow. Ed Connie Zwieg and Jeremiah Abrams. Los Angeles: Jeremy Teacher, Inc. 1991. Peck, Scott, M. “Healing Human Evil.” Meeting with the Shadow. Ed Connie Zwieg and Jeremiah Abrams. Los Angeles: Jeremy Teacher, Inc. 1991. Raffel, Burton, trns. Beowulf. New York: Penguin, 1963