Drinking horn in the Cluny Museum, 2005.

Implications

Translating the fight precisely is important. It adds to the drama. Instead of the fight being completely one-sided, Grendel's ability to break this pin, especially when it is applied by the strongest man in the world, is terrifying to anyone who has felt this pin. As the focus pulls back to the Danes listening outside the walls, there is a sense that Beowulf may have met his match. The stress on the shoulder this pin relies on foreshadows Grendel's loss of an arm.

The sequence of events also heightens the parallels between the fight with Grendel and the fight with Grendel's mother. In both, the intruder into the hall (first Grendel, then Beowulf) is invulnerable to the weapons of the allies (the Geats' swords, the sea-monsters' tusks). The one lying in wait gets an initial pin (Beowulf, 745; Grendel's mother, 1545 -- the word is "ofsaet"), which the intruder then breaks. This, in turn, casts light on how we interpret Grendel's mother's role in the poem (Grendel is much stronger than Beowulf, it would seem; and Grendel's mother is not, but she can perform in ways parallel to Beowulf), and on the question of whether the poem unproblematically celebrates violence (since Grendel's mother reprises Beowulf's role, the answer is probably not).

Finally, this tells us something about the audience. They were expected to recognize what "wið earm gesaet" meant -- even if it is not the technique I suggest -- which means it was a martially sophisticated audience. If the poem was preserved in a monastery, the monks knew their wrestling.

In Beowulf, there is a line at the start of the fight between Grendel and Beowulf that has proven difficult to translate. As Beowulf pretends to be asleep, Grendel reaches for him, and Beowulf "sat against his arm" (wi[th] earm gesaet). Grendel, frightened, immediately tries to flee. What has Beowulf done that gives him such an advantage in the fight, and how does "wi[th] earm gesaet" describe it?

In "Wið Earm Gesæt and Beowulf's Shoulder Pin." [English Language Notes 34.3 (March 1997): 4-10] I suggest a translation based on a common pin in aikido. Since it is hard to describe action precisely, here are some pictures to show what Beowulf might have done. The text is from Howell Chicerking, Jr. Beowulf: A Dual-Language Edition (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1977). In the pictures, I am Grendel and Steve Kenton is Beowulf -- he studies judo, not aikido, and the pictures are taken as he learns the pin, which shows that the pin is not incredibly esoteric. Germanic warriors could easily have developed it independently.

	Forð near aetstop, / nam ða mid handa hige-þihtigne / rinc on raeste, raehte ongean / feond mid folme; he onfeng hraþe / inwit-þancum (745-749). [He stepped nearer, reached against the high-thoughted warrior at rest, reached against the enemy with his hand; he received him with hostile thoughts]. Here, Grendel approaches and reaches down with his right hand; Beowulf receives the attack by grabbing Grendel's hand with his right hand -- "raehte ongean / feond mid folme" could apply to either Grendel or Beowulf..
	Detail: Beowulf grabs the thumb-side of Grendel's hand, with the thumb to the palm and the fingers on the back of the hand.
	The throw commences. Beowulf, as he starts to roll over, twists Grendel's hand forward, causing Grendel's elbow to come up. Beowulf places his left hand on Grendel's elbow.
	The finish of the take-down. As Beowulf rolls over, he takes Grendel's arm in a circular arc forward and away from Grendel's body. This brings Grendel to the ground with his elbow and shoulder to the floor. (Pushing the elbow straight out will cause Grendel to step forward without going down; pushing the elbow straight down will bring Grendel to his knees, where he is still on balance and dangerous).
	wið earm gesaet (749). [He sat against his arm]. Beowulf pushes Grendel a little forward, to make sure he is flat on the ground and not on his knees, then raises Grendel's arm straight up into the air and sits against it. The primary pressure is downward, to make sure Grendel's right shoulder is firmly on the ground (novices in the Grendel role will tighten their shoulder before this happens, and then it hurts to have the shoulder pushed all the way down; veterans relax). Beowulf can lean across the body to cause pain, but if this is done without sufficient downward pressure, Grendel can just roll over).

Aftermath

A small woman can pin a large man this way. If someone does manage to fight out of it (often because the shoulder isn't firmly on the ground), then what often happens is the person pinned can begin to push upward, gaining room to get his knees under him, and then surges upward with the force of his body. the person pinning may rise too, trying for greater leverage. Once the person is well off the ground, then he can swing his arm in a great arc, breaking the grip. Notice that the combatants stand before the grip breaks. This seems to be what is described in Beowulf, especially if "fingras burston" describes a grip breaking, not crushed bones:

Sone þaet onfunde fyrena hyrde,
Þaet he ne mette middan-geardes,
Eorþan sceatta, on elran men
Mund-gripe maran; he on mode wearð
Forth on ferhðe; no þy aer fram meahte.
Hyge waes him hin-fus, wolde on heolster fleon,
Secan deofla gedraeg; ne waeshis drohtoð þaer
swylce he on ealder-dagum aer gemette.
Gemunde þa se goda maeg Higelaces,
aefen-spraece, uplang astod
ond him faeste wiðfeng; fingras burston;
eoten waes utweard, eorl furþur stop.

Translation, mainly Chickering's:

The shepherd of sins then instantly knew he had never encountered in any region of this middle-earth, in any other man, a stronger hand-grip; at heart he feared for his wretched life, but he could not move. He wanted escape, to flee to the fen, join the devils' rout. Such greeting in hall he had never met before in his life. Then the brave man remembered, kinsman of Hygelac, his speeches that evening, rose to his feet [and grappled against him; the grip broke]. The giant pulled away, the noble moved with him.