Compare And Contrast Beowulf And Grendel

In the Epic Poems Beowulf, by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, and Grendel written by John Gardner, Grendel, regardless of what he does, has been seen as unsafe to man. Grendel, perceived as treacherous, is just misunderstood and an outcast to society. The back story of Grendel is crucial to the reader’s understanding of Grendel becoming a monster. Grendel’s life experiences of his environment, men and meeting a dragon contribute to the drastic change.

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

“I won’t shift afoot when I meet the cave-guard.” This quote shows the courage and bravery of a warrior during this time. In the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and John Gardner’s Grendel, the difference in the point of views give a change to the author’s style and the narration of the two writings. The difference in literary purpose behind the two writings affects the motivation and the language.

The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic, chronicling the distinguished deeds of the great Geatish warrior, Beowulf, who travels across the seas to rid the Danes of the evil monster Grendel, who has been inflicting destruction and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land fiendish monsters and stopping the scourge of evil, while the monster, Grendel, is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves death for its evil actions. However, many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel, sets out to change the reader’s perception of Grendel and his role in Beowulf by narrating the story through Grendel’s point of view. John Gardner transforms Grendel, once perceived as an evil fiend in Beowulf, into a lonely but intelligent outcast who is actually quite similar to humans, due to his intelligence capacity for rational thought and his real, and at times irrational emotions. Gardner portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression, ostracized from civilization. Although the two works revolve around the same basic plot,, the themes and characters in Beowulf and Grendel are often different and sometimes contradictory.

John Gardner’s Grendel is the retelling of the heroic epic poem Beowulf; however, the viewpoint has shifted. Grendel is told from the viewpoint of one of Beowulf’s antagonists and the titular character of Gardner’s work—Grendel. In Grendel, Gardner humanizes Grendel by emphasizing parallels between Grendel’s life and human life. Through Gardner’s reflection of human feelings, human development, and human flaws in Grendel, this seemingly antagonistic, monstrous character becomes understood and made “human.”

As a “bloodthirsty fiend,” Grendel was the first of the foes Beowulf battles. (line 407) He is “a powerful monster,” who “was spawned in... slime.” (lines 1, 19) He is a descendant of Cain, and chose to sacrifice the Danes to no one but himself. Grendel is “set on murder.”(49-50) Nothing can “quench his thirst for evil. (lines 52-53) Grendel stalked Herot and set his wrath loose on all who came to the hall. His mother, the “she-wolf” lived in an underwater cavern. (line 572) She is the “water witch,” one that no one’s “sword could slice her evil skin.” (lines 493, 496-497) Both characters are demons living only to hate, and cause terror in the hearts of those who know of them. The third villain comes much later than the first two. The dragon is Beowulf’s last enemy, and last battle. The beast poured out fire and smoke, and was one who “coiled and uncoiled” at the sight of a human. (line 673) The dragon menaces Beowulf’s kingdom and as an old man he is forced to fight the beast. The antagonists are evil and uncaring of human life, each choosing to end it when they please. They are bad and it shows.

Both the epic poem Beowulf and the novel Grendel depict the same storyline, but from different point of views. Grendel’s personality tends to be much more evil than he himself depicts in the novel. Since Grendel is the narrator of the novel, the audience only gets to know what the story is like from his point of view, which he stretches the truth on numerous occasions. But, in Beowulf, the poem has a narrator and is in the third person omniscient, this means the audience knows how all the characters and feeling, thinking, or saying. Also, the theme nature vs. nurture appears a lot in Grendel which means his viewpoints on certain things are either

Grendel is a powerful beast that can not be stop. Grendel in the Grendel never been stop everybody they try to kill with their swords but it never work. When Beowulf came to the see Grendel their where other people trying to kill him. When Beowulf so the other people getting toning apart heads bitten off arms and their body be torn apart. Beowulf told Grendel that I am going to fight you with my hands he keep hitting him with chandelier greened started to run away from him. When Grendel tried to get away Beowulf but he had his arm lock around a chain so that he was trying to go back to his cave but Beowulf would not let him but he end up taking Grendel head off. When Beowulf brought Grendel head to the people he said the Grendel had been killed.

Having multiple chapters of the poem dedicated to the monster Grendel, you would get the idea that he is of some importance in the epic poem. The poem storyline is majorly dedicated to monsters since the storyline is pretty much separated into three different story arcs. Grendel is described as a sin stained demon. “They have seen my strength for themselves. Have watched me rise from the darkness of war. Dripping with my enemies’ blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from earth, I swam in the blackness of night, hunting monsters out of the ocean, and killing them one by one; death was my errand and the fate they had earned. Now Grendel and I are called together, and I’ve come.” (Beowulf page 36). Grendel was the first monster to be introduced in the story and from the time he was introduced and the time he was defeated by Beowulf, Grendel was killing and terrorizing the Danes every day and night. When Beowulf got their he told the danes he was there to defeat the mighty beast Grendel. The King of Danes Hrothgar welcomed Beowulf and threw him a big party of sorts through the night. That was when Beowulf has the

Grendel is the first monster in Beowulf, attacking King Hrothgar’s mead hall and devouring his men, causing the town to become huddled together in fear. Lucky for Hrothgar, a

Seamus Heaney’s Anglo-Saxon translation of the epic poem Beowulf, which has no known author of the original text, surrounds the story of Beowulf’s heroic efforts in conquering sadistic and cruel creatures. There is a trio of monsters that terrorize the honorable, reputable character of Beowulf throughout the entire plot; they also destroy communities. These three horrendous beasts are Grendel’s mother, the dragon, and Grendel. Each of them creates havoc throughout Beowulf. Additionally, each individual has an important role that shaped the conclusion of Beowulf.

While in the epic poem Grendel is shown as pure evil, simply killing the Danes because he was a demon of pure evil intent, the Grendel of the movie is shown to be much more human and dynamic as a character. In the epic, Grendel is introduced as a descendant of Cain, the first person to commit the horrible sin of fratricide, and has no father, and an evil sea witch for a mother. He is enraged by the Danes in the Heorot mead hall, and attacks them in the night, mercilessly killing dozens of men. He does not speak any language, and is shown as more beast than man, with very little given to empathize with. When he is killed by Beowulf, there is none to mourn his passing, and all celebrate unanimously the killing of such a vile creature. However, in the movie, Grendel is illustrated as a much more dynamic, human, and relatable character.

It shows how Grendel is a scary and awful monster. This description of Grendel makes the reader feel the he will be a great challenge for Beowulf when their battle occurs. At this point in the story, Beowulf is preparing the battle Grendel. He claims that he will fight him unarmed completely.

Initially we see the infuriation that infests Grendel and the instant revenge and destruction he conveys upon Beowulf’s kingdom.Revenge almost motivates and acts as a fuel to the fire Grendel is experiencing .We are introduced to the character of Grendel in line 86 of the poem and we are given an immediate explanation of what type of creature he is , a monster , a demon. ‘Then a powerful demon, a prowler through the dark nursed a hard grievance ‘

In the Heaney translation of Beowulf, or what will be referred to as the original, Grendel is portrayed as purely evil. The author goes as far as describing him as, "a fiend out of hell...grim demon..." (Beowulf lines 101-102) Though his physical appearance is hardly described, lines