Journal lines 1320-1905

Lines 1368-1372 "On its bank, the heather-stepper...beneath its surface."
This short passage speaks of deer fleeing from hounds and coming to a stop at the lake which hides the lair of Grendel and his mother. These deer would rather throw themselves to certain death at the jaws of pursuing hounds than take a chance on this lake, suggesting that even deer who do not have the logical and analytical capabilities of humans know that this place is evil. Taking it one step further, if deer are a symbol of the kingdom, and Hrothgar is a symbol of the kingdom, this suggests that he would rather die any other way than do what he probably should and face Grendel's mother, showing a cowardice not often seen in warrior culture.

Lines 1417-1421 "It was a sore blow...Aeschere's head at the foot of the cliff."
Grendel's mother is displaying her kill's head just like the Danes displayed Grendel's arm. After having come to the city for wergild and not being able to get it, she was frustrated. Her instincts, driven by the evil inside her, took over, and she did the only thing she knew how to: kill. She was not in the practice of killing people for sport and food like Grendel was, so I believe she did this for a different reason: not for pure insult, but to extract the only type of wergild she knew.

Lines 1448-1450 "To guard his head he had a glittering helmet that was due to be muddied on the mere bottom and blurred in the upswirl."
This is a foreshadow to Beowulf actually making it to the bottom of the lake, a feat which no man has achieved and lived to tell about.

Line 1491 "With Hrunting I will gain glory or die."
This is irony, because Beowulf does not use Hrunting to kill Grendel's mother, to gain his glory. Perhaps this suggests that he should have died in the battle. I also wonder if Unferth gave Beowulf the sword because he knew it wouldn't work, or if Hrunting was fated to not work. Maybe the sword that Beowulf ended up using, found in Grendel's lair, could only work because it was a sword owned by the descendants of Cain, by a legacy of evil. Since Grendel's mother was evil, maybe it took a weapon of evil to kill her.

Lines 1509-1512 "...and a bewildering horde came at him from the depths...in a ghastly onslaught."
Theoretically, this should pose no problem for Beowulf. As he has boasted about his adventures before, he swam for seven days with all his armor and weapons and still managed to kill a multitude of sea creatures, making the oceans safe again. That boast was a foreshadow of this moment, suggesting that these beasts will pose no threat to him.

Line 1543 "The sure -footed fighter felt daunted"
This line, along with the rest of the battle scene, proves that this fight is not nearly as easy for Beowulf as the one with Grendel, lending evidence to the analytical view that the three monsters are the centerpieces of the story. This is showing how each battle is escalating in danger and difficulty, suggesting that his next battle might result in fatal injury or immediate death which, in fact, it does.