I hope that I am correct in assuming that man vs
nature and man vs the environment are the same
thing.
In Beowulf, it is hard to know
whether Grendel and his dam (mother) are considered people or deviations of nature, as
they are usually referred to as monsters. However, there are at least two clear examples
of this kind of conflict after Grendel's mother takes Hrothgar's most-loved "councillor
and friend," Æschere, from the mead hall and kills him. In Chapter Twenty-one, Beowulf
assures the Danish king that he will go after Hrothgar's lost man; as Hrothgar
accompanies Beowulf, they find Æschere's head along the way, and the waters of the swamp
are bloody.
In Chapter Twenty-two, Beowulf pursues
Grendel's dam to an underground cavern, out of the water—a place like an open cave. Note
the href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alliteration">alliteration
used to describe Grendel's mother; she is called...
That grim and
greedy
goblin...
When
she realizes that a human has ventured into the "realm" that she has ruled for "a
hundred winters," she tries to stab him and fails; then she tries to reach with her
claws into his flesh, but his armor stops the creature both times. At this point, the
monster decides to pull Beowulf underwater to her lair.
We
see two examples of man vs the environment here: first, Beowulf must battle the water as
first enters the "eddying floods." The translation notes that it is a long way to the
cavern:
It
took most of the day before he could reach the land at the
bottom.
Once Grendel's dam
realizes she cannot kill Beowulf in the cavern, she pulls him into the body of water
again, where he is attacked by violent monsters and dangerous "sea-beasts"—forms of
nature:
Though
his valor held, he struggled in vain to wield weapons against the terrifying monsters
that set upon him while he swam. Many sea-beasts tried to tear his mail with fierce
tusks when they swarmed upon this
stranger.
These are two
examples of man vs the environment in the epic poem,
Beowulf.
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