Marvel revealed that the poem Beowulf holds more truth than many readers may realize as it chronicled one of Thor’s most legendary battles.
The epic of Beowulf, one of the world’s oldest and most famous stories, chronicles the exploits of the titular warrior hero. Mighty of strength and unwavering bravery, Beowulf, a Geatish warrior, saved Heorot (a mead-hall) from the murderous beast known as Grendel. Beowulf’s quest became even more fraught with danger as Grendel’s foul mother crept up from darkened waters to exact her revenge. Beowulf has been read and enjoyed for countless years, though a recent Marvel comic shed new light on the classic poem.
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2020’s Scream: Curse of Carnage (by Clay McLeod Chapman, Garry Brown, Chris Mooneyham, and Rain Beredo) featured Andi Benton, a young woman fighting for her life. The alien symbiote known as Scream chose Andi as its next host, putting her directly in the sights of the lethal symbiote, Carnage. To make matters worse, a host of shambling undead symbiotes took to hunting Andi down, making her life a living nightmare. With Scream, Carnage, and symbiote zombies trailing her, it seemed as if her life couldn’t get any worse until an ancient monster set its sights on her, too.
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Thor Became the Foundation for Beowulf
The force behind the symbiote revenants was a creature red of flesh and white of face named Big Mother. It called to Andi, crooning to her that they could be a family once more, that love is all she wanted to bestow upon her. But as Andi fought against Big Mother visions came to her, visions of a battle countless centuries past. Andi began to learn that the vision was of a battle the entire world knew of, but one that was believed to be a mere fantasy.
Andi’s vision featured Thor, the mighty Avenger and son of Odin, battling an enormous black dragon. Fierce and terrible was their battle until Thor brought lightning down upon the beast’s head. A celebration was held within a large mead-hall and safety was believed to have been restored to the land. However, a creature more grotesque still rose from the nearby waters and slaughtered the inhabitants of Heorot.
The ensuing battle between Thor and Grendel’s mother would become a legend. The original tale of Beowulf continued past the battles against Grendel and his mother, culminating with the warrior’s death against a massive dragon at a time much later in his life. The vision Andi had did not include these portions of the tale, but it sheds light on how ancient Thor actually is and how long he has been defending Earth.
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Grendel and Big Mother are Venom Symbiotes in the Marvel Universe
In the Marvel Universe, Grendel and Big Mother were spawned from Knull, the primordial god of the symbiotes during a period known as the Pre-Creation. Older than time itself, Grendel and Big Mother are horrific monsters from the darkest and deepest corners of space. Their presence on Earth was one of horror and disaster, and it was only by the power of the mighty Asgardian that they were repelled.
It was later revealed that Big Mother survived her encounter with Thor in 2001’s Captain Marvel #20 (by Peter David, ChrissCross, and Anibal Rodriguez.) A rather convoluted plot concocted by the villain Merlin brought Grendel’s mother back to the realm of the living, effectively undoing all that Thor had achieved. Her presence in Scream: Curse of Carnage was far more terrifying as she used her powers to control humans, killing them in the process, thus creating her army of undead thralls.
While Andi was able to bond further with Scream and unlock enough power to defeat Big Mother, it was a battle that nearly took her life. Even with the powers of Scream Andi was still far below the awesome power of Thor. While she may never meet the Asgardian Avenger face to face and tell him the visions she witnessed, it’s still interesting that at least one living person in modern times knows the truth about Beowulf. It begs the question of how many other famous myths and tales across the world have origins rooted in the exploits of superheroes, especially ones who still walk the Earth today.
