“A peace weaver was a woman who would marry a person from an enemy tribe in the hope of ending a feud” (Yewdaev). The role of women in Anglo-Saxon culture was simple: to resolve disputes through arranged marriage. However, Grendel's mother did not follow similar principles. Instead of arriving at the mead ready to make amends and settle Grendel's dispute, she returns bloodthirsty and eager for revenge. Another role played by women in the Anglo-Saxon period was that of cupbearer. “So the Helming woman went about, / regal and dignified, adorned with rings, / offering the chalice to all ranks, / treating the family” (Heaney 620-623). The cupbearers were meant to pass out cups of mead to the men until they were all drunk and merry. Grendel's mother's independence and lack of subordination to men in the culture embody the contrast she faces with other women of the time. His attack is surprisingly more effective than all of Grendel's combined, even though it only causes one fatality. Instead of taking out a random drunken guard, he goes straight to Hrothgar's favorite advisor. “To Hrothgar, this man was the most beloved/ Of the friends he trusted between the two seas” (1296-1297). Evidently, coincidence or not, his attack on his advisor was immensely powerful and contradicts the passive,