The people of early medieval England (the period from around the mid 400s until the Norman invasion in 1066) did not celebrate Halloween as a festival for encountering spirits. But they certainly had their monsters, even if it can be difficult for us to understand fully why particular monsters were interpreted by their early English audience as \u201cmonstrous\u201d.<\/p>\n
Characters who operate outside expected gender roles, such as Grendel\u2019s mother in Beowulf, might have seemed particularly unsettling. Some monsters looked human, like the general Holofernes in the poem Judith<\/a>; he is distinguished as monstrous through his drunkenness and violence.<\/p>\n And yet, there are characters in early medieval English literature that still seem monstrous and grotesque even by today\u2019s cultural standards. <\/p>\n Despite being culturally shaped, many characteristics of monstrosity have remained consistent over the years: bodily difference, hybridity and acting outside of expected norms can all contribute to something being a monster. <\/p>\n For those needing a last-minute costume for Halloween, or wanting to try something different this year, here are three unusual medieval ideas.<\/p>\n Grendel from Beowulf<\/p>\n The Old English poem Beowulf is probably the best-known piece of literature surviving from this period. It exists in one copy, a manuscript from about the year 1000<\/a>. <\/p>\n It features three characters \u2013 Grendel, Grendel\u2019s mother and the dragon \u2013 who each threaten human society and are defeated by the hero Beowulf. Each would make a great costume, but Grendel might be the most striking. <\/p>\n The Beowulf-poet generates fear in the poem partly through not describing Grendel\u2019s physical appearance. <\/p>\n The Old English calls him as a grimma g\u00e6st (grim spirit) and a wiht unh\u00e6lo (unholy creature), and we learn that at his first attack he takes 30 men \u2013 suggesting he must be very large. <\/p>\n Limited physical details mean those dressing as Grendel have scope for their own interpretation \u2013 ambiguity fuels the fear that Grendel creates.<\/p>\n But one feature that is crucial for an accurate Grendel costume is his fingers<\/a>; he seems a rather extreme version of Edward Scissorhands:<\/p>\n at the end of each nail Women with boars\u2019 tusks<\/p>\n The Wonders of the East<\/a> is a series of descriptions of marvellous creatures. <\/p>\n There is a clear sense of us and them in their depiction. The creatures live in geographically distant places; their bodies often have a mix of human and other characteristics; and their actions can be strange. All of this contributes to their monstrosity. <\/p>\n Creatures in The Wonders of the East often have a mix of features from humans and other animals. One example of these hybrid bodies is the<\/a><\/p>\n women who have boars\u2019 tusks, hair down to their heels and oxen\u2019s tails from their loins. These women [\u2026] have camel\u2019s feet and ass\u2019 teeth.<\/p>\n Wonders of the East also describes women who \u201chave beards down to their chest\u201d who \u201chunt all kinds of wild animals\u201d \u2013 acting outside traditional gender roles could be viewed as monstrous. <\/p>\n If you choose to dress as these figures the act of hunting would be as important to the costume as the beard. <\/p>\n St Christopher<\/p>\n Another story found in the Beowulf-manuscript is that of St Christopher the martyr<\/a>. <\/p>\n
was a sharp tip, most like steel,
\nheathen talons, the terrible spikes
\nof that awful warrior.<\/p>\n![\"Half](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/file-20261028-52-pvqwsb.png\")
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\n British Library<\/a><\/p>\n