A Realistic Twist on an Ancient Myth Essay

The novel Grendel, by John Gardner, gives the reader an inside look on the “monster… demon… [and] fiend” (Beowulf, 99) who, in Beowulf (translated by Burton Raffel), seems only capable of destruction, sneaking around in the night and killing soldiers off by the dozen. Grendel is a non-human entity who possesses human characteristics; no one truly knows who or what he is. He is monstrously huge, absurdly strong, and insatiable (he has been murdering for approximately twelve years). He is a “[monster] born of Cain, [a] murderous [creature]” (Beowulf, 105-106). He lives with his mother in a swampy marsh that is secluded by a “pool of firesnakes” who guard “the sunken door” to the strange world of humans (Grendel, 16). Beowulf does not provide any information of where he came from or any history about him, except that he is a pre-cursed, wicked being with no conscience. This seems like a biased assumption because the story

In the epic of Beowulf, one of the warrior’s biggest adversaries is a creature from the swamp named Grendel. Although the character of Grendel is present for only a short portion in the story of Beowulf, Grendel signifies one of the important messages in the text about humanity. In Beowulf, Grendel is called a ‘monster’. However, if observed closely, analyzing the meaning behind the story, it is easy to see that Grendel is not a typical monster, in fact, it doesn’t seem like he is a monster at all. There is much evidence within the short period of the text where Grendel is present, which indicates he is

Grendel. One of John Gardner’s best novels based on the epic poem, Beowulf. It talks about a war between Grendel and the humans, the Danes, their king Hrothgar and a stranger who appears at the end of the novel, Beowulf himself. Grendel lived with his mother in a cave, isolated from the rest of the world. With time passing by, he became curious about the outside world, so he started to go out to explore, seeing new fascinating things, meeting with the humans which made him even more curious about them, leading into him spying on them during the nights. This turned Grendel into a great observer of human nature and behavior with a high level of insight. But the question is, what exactly did he think of what he observed?

Grendel discovers and begins to gain the understanding/knowledge of different concepts such as power, etc. In addition, he observes how humans interact with one another throughout the twelve years of war; Yet, his attempt to communicate with humans gives him the title horrific monster. This leads to his loneliness and isolation from everyone. Furthermore, Grendel is left without any companion. Grendel can be best described as a monster who has human qualities but can be both rational and irrational. In Chapter 1, Grendel has an outburst because of the ram that appears.. “I stamp. I hammer the ground with my fists. I hurl and skull-size stone at him. He will not budge. I shake my two hairy fists at the sky and let out a howl so unspeakable that the water at my feet turns sudden ice and even I myself am I left uneasy.” This demonstrates how Grendel is hostile and belligerent. His emotions get the best of him and blinds his consciousness and awareness of how harmful he can be towards

knew that he was up against a man like non other. He franticly tried to escape and run

Grendel initailly is frightened by him, discovering how the humans must feel in his own presence in the following passage: "My throat convulsed and I tried to get my breath to speak, but I couldn't ... 'Now you know how they feel when they see you'" (59) as their conversation continues they do not make much ground with each other, instead just adding fuel to the fire. Eventually they reach a breaking point in the conversation when Grendel asks, "Why is it fiddlesticks if I stop giving people heart attacks over nothing? ... You improve them, my boy! Can't you see that yourself? ... You are, so to speak, the brute existent by which they learn to define themselves. The exile, captivity, death they shrink from" (72) This sticks with Grendel throughout the rest of the novel.

Grendel is undoubtedly a killer. He is does not take pity on the humans at all. When he fights them, he fights and kills ferociously.

Grendel is seen by other people in Beowulf as a monster and a fiend even before his name is mentioned the narrator refers to him as a “powerful monster, living down in the darkness” (line 1). But the most common thing that comes to mind when most people think of Grendel is fear, it’s what Herot did was fear him. The final opinion I gathered was one of respect, for Beowulf fights Grendel with no weapon or clothes because

When Beowulf hears about Grendel, he feels that it is his duty to stop Grendel from killing anymore, Beowulf leaves to go to Herot to destroy him. Beowulf is mostly being applaud for his long journey to face this terrible monster. Beowulf says, “Grendel is no braver, no stronger than I am! I could kill him with my sword: I shall not” (line 677). Beowulf feels

Grendel is a novel dominated by forces of good and evil, religious allusions, heroism, and nature. These themes are the primary go-to’s for thoughts on significant themes in a novel such as this, but one overlooked theme plays a larger role in the context of the novel. The importance and power of language is arguably one of the most significant themes of the novel. This theme is demonstrated within 3 main scenes within the novel including; Grendel’s first encounter with men, The Shaper’s words and effect, and in the battles between Grendel, Unferth, and Beowulf.

Though he does not actually remember how he’d learned it, John Gardner’s Grendel speaks a language which is similar to that of the human characters in the book and is, therefore, able to understand them. During Grendel’s first encounter with humans, he pleads to them for assistance when he is caught and wounded in a trap. The leader of the humans is Hrothgar who eventually becomes king of the Danes. When Grendel’s cry for help is mistaken for a cry of attack, the humans attack Grendel and wound him more painfully than flesh could be wounded. The first intelligent, speaking beings, with some similarity to himself, which Grendel has encountered, have attacked instead of helped him. It is in this moment that Grendel forms his first opinions of existence; the outside world does not seem to embrace good as he does. In a one-way conversation he has with his mother after the incident (Chapter 2), Grendel says, “ the world resists me and I resist it. That’s all there is. The mountains are what I define them as.” In the statement, “ the mountains are what I define them as”, Grendel starts to form a belief of a sort of reality which does not actually exist. Life is meant to be lived as the owner wishes to live it; it is what you

When Beowulf and Grendel finally fight in Herot, the battle is similar to that of Jesus and Satan’s exchange of words in the garden of Gethsemane. Satan has tempted many men, but has never come across one so stubborn in his beliefs. Satan is unable to move Jesus and this shows Jesus’ triumph over the ultimate evil. Grendel, when he comes to Herot that fateful night is expecting an easy meal, but instead is thrown in face to face with a man of incredible strength and fighting skill. “That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime, knew at once that nowhere on earth had he met a man whose hands were harder…this was a different Herot than the hall he had emptied.”(433-439).

Grendel, is thus seen as the descendant of an individual who epitomizes resentment and malice in Beowulf. The author states Grendel lives in exile and is seen as “mankind’s enemy”(Raffel, 22). Grendel is the representation of all that is evil and he is declared to be the “shepherd of evil and the “guardian of crime”(Raffel, 33) by the Danes in Beowulf. The author describes Grendel to be an evil, cruel, apathetic creature who’s pleasure lies in attacking and devouring Hrothgar’s men. The author describes Grendel’s malice by painting a gruesome picture of Grendel’s countless attacks on the mead hall in which he exhibits Grendel as a heartless, greedy, and violent being who mercilessly murders the men at the mead hall by tearing them apart, cutting their body into bits and drinking the blood from their veins. The author describes Grendel’s greed by stating Grendel’s thoughts were as “quick as his greed or his claws”(Raffel, 21). He describes Grendel’s as having eyes that “gleamed in the darkness and burned with a gruesome light”, swift hard claws and great sharp teeth which paints a picture of Grendel’s frightening appearance in the reader’s mind. In contrast to the traditional story of Beowulf, Grendel in John Gardner’s novel, Grendel is not depicted as a monster but as an intelligent creature capable of human thought, feelings and speech. John Gardner portrays Grendel as an outcast

Grendel, the first villain in the epic Beowulf, is portrayed as a demon from Hell and a descendant of Cain. He is twelve feet tall, with red eyes and ravening jaws. Grendel is somewhat like a man, with a head, two arms, and two legs, and he is described as such:

"Grendel is no braver, no stronger Than I am! I could kill him with my sword, I shall not,