The epic poem Beowulf describes one man's struggle in the battle of good against evil. Beowulf is a typical epic hero with that he is semi-divine: "There was no one else like him alive...he was the mightiest man on earth" (15). He is on a quest for a legacy, and he faces obstacles that the average man cannot overcome. One such adventure is Beowulf's battle with Grendel's mother. Not only does this battle show Beowulf's decline from a powerful warrior to defeated one, but it also emphasizes the theme of the fight between good and evil.
             Beowulf's clash with Grendel's mother is foreshadowed by a swimming contest when he was younger. He and a friend go to the ocean and try to survive for a few days. Unfortunately, while out there, a sea monster attacks Beowulf. Later on, Beowulf must use this swimming ability in the search for Grendel's mother. After terrorizing the town and taking the life of an innocent person, Grendel's mother heads back to her underwater cave. Soon after, Beowulf accepts the challenge to hunt down Grendel's mother, and his swimming skills come into play because he must swim for hours trying to find her cave. Once there, he starts to combat Grendel's mother, and, in the process, the readers notice his decline. When he battles Grendel, Beowulf refuses to use any weapons and confronts the monster in hand-to-hand combat. Although he is victorious against Grendel he is not able to defeat his mother in the same manner. In the end, Beowulf must slay Grendel's mother with a sword, not just any weapon, but a blade that an average man could not even pick up. As soon as Beowulf procures this weapon, he slays the evil enemy.
             The clash between good and evil is a major theme in Beowulf. The battle in which Grendel's mother and Beowulf fight is the moment at which good and evil are in greatest tension. Being part of Cain's clan, Grendel&...