Grendel And Beowulf Comparison

In the novel Grendel and the epic poem Beowulf the reader receives a better experience through a first person point of view. In John Gardner's Grendel which is written in first person the reader is constantly engaged. The authors use of first person provides the reader of Grendel’s thoughts and emotion. While, in the epic poem Beowulf which is written in 3rd person does not give the reader any personal connection.

Even though the hero’s in these stories are very interesting their tales would not be as rewarding if they did not have to face many adversities on the way. Some of the monsters in these stories like Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon from Beowulf, while the Odyssey has many monsters but some if the main ones are Cyclops, the suitors, and Poseidon. The culture in Beowulf was more about believing in a higher power and related monsters like Grendel and the dragon to religious meanings while the Odyssey is about looking inward because they are all things in your daily life. Even though there are similarities in the monsters in these stories are different in the way they are perceived.

One of the most compelling and highly developed characters in the novel Grendel, written by John Gardner, and the poem Beowulf, written by an anonymous poet, is the monster, Grendel. Even though these pieces show two different sides to Grendel they are similar in many ways. Grendel evokes sympathy toward the hideous monster by making him seem like the victim, while Beowulf portrays him as being the most loathsome of enemies. The reasons behind Grendel’s being, his killing, and finally his death make him one of the most controversial and infamous monsters in literature. Grendel is the man-killing monster that Beowulf portrayed him as being, yet he is also the lonely victim of a judgmental world.

Grendel and Beowulf are being compared to the nine noble virtues. The nine noble virtues explains what a hero should be and what characteristics make them noble. The characteristics are what you expect from a hero. Courage, Truth, Honor, Fidelity, Discipline, Hospitality, Self-Reliance, and Perseverance are the Nine Noble Virtues. According to the Vikings, these traits are what make a hero noble. Grendel and Beowulf have some of these virtues. Grendel and Beowulf are similar in some ways through the virtues. Beowulf portrays the Nine Noble Virtues better than Grendel because of his Courage, to stand up against Grendel. Truth, he believes what is right is the right thing to do. Honor, he sticks to the idea that he is good, and that Grendel is and will always be evil. Fidelity, he will always fight for his kingdom and his friends. Industriousness, he fights hard against Grendel and works hard to defeat him. Self-Reliance, he doesn’t rely on weapons or other people to fight Grendel. And Perseverance, Beowulf defeats Grendel, and never gives up. Grendel only has five of these nine traits while Beowulf has seven out of the nine. Meaning that Beowulf is more noble than Grendel.

In the following essay the topic that will be discussed is the differences between Grendel’s mother in both Beowulf. Paramount Pictures Corp. :, 2008. Film. and Beowulf & Grendel. Distributed by Anchor Bay Entertainment, 2005. Film. Throughout the movies there are significant differences in the plot, the characters and how they’re related. Out of all the characters in the movies it is obvious that Grendel’s mother has the biggest contrast between the two movies. This essay will be discussion her role in the movies. Why is she important to the movies? Grendel’s mother, more than any other character changes dramatically between the two movies; Beowulf (2008) and Beowulf and Grendel (2005).

John Gardner’s story of Grendel and the original poem of Beowulf have many literary similarities, as well as many differences. Each story is composed of archetypal characters, Anglo-Saxon values, and different aspects of viking life. Grendel is told from the perspective of a “beast from hell” as he is referred to as in the story of Beowulf, a brave hero. Beowulf is told from a human point of view, through the eyes of the glorious knight himself. In each story, the tone that the author uses is astoundingly different from the other, and gives the story its own personality. Hrothgar and his men are interesting to compare to each other in each book, as they are spoken of in different ways, depending on whose point of view the story is being told from.

According to the poem, the warriors do not do anything to cause Grendel’s attack. Grendel simply goes to Herot to see what they are doing, finds them sleeping in their bed, slaughters them and leaves, leaving his mark behind. As opposed to in the film, Grendel is a wide-eyed monster who did not like all the happiness and noise coming from Herot; he goes there because of all the disturbance the warriors are causing him. Grendel cries with desperation and pain; he covers his throbbing ears because of all the commotion. Therefore, the film shows the reason for his attack; he slaughters the Danes, not necessarily for pleasure, but for self defense against the noise.

Beowulf, the epic, follows an Anglo-Saxon society, the Danes, during the middle ages, a time when religion and bloodline dictated social hierarchy. The king was the dominant figure, destined to be chosen because of his ancestors, who preceded him as king. The poet introduces Grendel, a monster, condemned by god for his demonic bloodline. These factors in addition to society’s outlook on impiety, shape Grendel as a menace to society. Therefore, the Beowulf poet characterizes Grendel as an outcast to explore how an individual’s identity and social status is determined by their adherence to societal values.

If you have ever read the book Grendel, which is a playoff of the book Beowulf, you know the author depicts the protagonist as a good character. The author, John Gardner, uses many techniques in his writing to make Grendel sound like a good protagonist. He made a good argument for its protagonist by describing other characters as evil, giving an idea of character’s backstory to help guide your opinions towards certain characters, and giving Grendel many of the traits of the nine noble virtues.

After reading the novels Beowulf and Grendel, I was interested in how the stories told from different perspectives were influenced by the religion. Beowulf is the hero and savior from all the monsters and Grendel is one of the monsters slain by Beowulf. From a religious standpoint Beowulf is written very focused on religion; like Beowulf acknowledges that God is the reason he is able to slay all of the beasts. On the other hand we have Grendel; he believes that the world is how he defines it. Beowulf was written as an anti-paganism poem, and Grendel was written to tell people the world is what you make of it and of yourself, but be careful to not cross the limits. Grendel isn’t as full of religion, but the emphasis of free-will versus

The story of Beowulf has been told for centuries all over Europe. However, there is one problem with recreating the story and making it into a movie; each movie has a different plot-line, theme, or character back-story. The differences in the movies may or may not have a large effect on the overall story, but it does show how much stories can change just by the person that is telling the story.

The two stories Beowulf and Grendel are two different stories, told in different perspectives; however, they relate back to each other giving them similarities. Both of the pieces of literature share the story of a horrible monster, Grendel. His mother destroys King Hrothgar and the Danes and Beowulf, the fighter of the gates will easily take on both beasts without an issue. Considering there are two different authors of the two stories, John Gardner and Seamus Heaney, there are two different styles implemented in the books. While there are differences, there are many similarities between the two. One difference between the two is the perspective and story behind each book.

Monsters usually show in all types of places which may be in the form of a beast or human but the main fact is, monsters’ characteristics are not specific which may lead to something unclear. Like for example, the character of Beowulf as showed in the poem is his personality who can compete with Grendel. It is very clear that whenever Beowulf and Grendel fought, the text in the poem is absolutely using similar language just for the purpose of describing these two characters. This paper aims to explore on the great distinctions between monsters and heroes, their overlapping traits and the significance of this said overlapping. Beowulf As described in the poem, Grendel is monstrous and big which is the same as Beowulf (Heaney, 2014).

fight between Grendel and Beowulf is different, in the book it says that “ Beowulf rips Grendel’s shoulder off with his bare hands.” That is a lie he rips his arm off with a door in the movie and he fights him naked which I find odd. In the story it says that Grendel’s mother takes one of the Danes back to her lair, well news flash she doesn’t she kills all of them at the Herot. Beowulf goes to battle the she-wolf and instead of him killing her he gives her a son because he took the only one she had away. Also, in the cave in the movie, Grendel's mother gives Beowulf the head of Grendel to take back to the Danes to show that he is dead. In the book it say that “Beowulf decapitated the she-wolf and Grendel.” In Beowulf’s last battle it says

In life we all face dragons, but in each unique situation we learn something about ourselves or others. Whether it 's the personal storms that flood our lives or the blurbs of life that show sometimes bad things happen, your actions and decisions can influence how the situation is resolved. Similar to Beowulf’s struggle with Grendel and his more difficult battle with Grendel’s mom, I have faced my own dragons with the death of my granddaddy and the custody battle with my mom.