Grendel's Monstrosity

In the start of the book it truly is the light that Grendel hates and it is that that he cannot stand he is the absolute meaning of darkness since Beowulf is full of light there is no way for Grendel to defeat him. Hrothgar, is filled with goodness and light, he is someone who is humble and kind and it is the She Demon who shows the exact opposite trait of good. The She Demon only comes back for revenge seeking greed and creating ruin, therefore Hrothgar knows that they also cannot defeat this monster with swords but with something else that Beowulf has inside of

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

"He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting nothing, their dreams undisturbed. The monster's thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws." He is said to not have a method to his madness. In Beowulf it seemed that he got pleasure out of killing. Although there are several differences in the way Grendel is described, there are also several things that are the same in both Grendel and Beowulf.

Grendel’s killing was unforgivable and someone had to put an end to it. Hrothgar and his army of men could not accomplish this, someone had to come and take care of this problem. Grendel’s attacks were King Hrothgar’s fault for sleeping with the witch and starting this curse, everyone had to pay for the mistake he made. In the world we live in, when someone dares to harm innocent people, that person must be punished. This crime can even lead to death sentence in some states.

To begin, Beowulf has a complex motivation for fighting the monster Grendel. His first motivation is duty which is part of the Anglo-Saxon code he’s obligated to go and kill Grendel. His people told him so go and do it so he does duty comes first and personal choice comes second. On page 47 lines 244-246 Beowulf says, “My people have said, the wisest, most knowing And best of them, that my duty was to go to the Danes’ Great king.”

Grendel is put off as an evil monster, but not all monsters start out evil. Yes, he lives in a lair underneath of the earth but, why were the Danes being so loud that he could hear it that low in the ground? They say in line 20-22 that Grendel was, “Conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God.” Just because he was a descendant of Cain, it doesn't mean he is evil. Grendel was courageous but an evil kind of courageous. I if the Danes hadn't made him angry, maybe they would still be alive.

In Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf, Grendel is nothing but an evil fiend that needs to be slain, “a fiend out of hell, began to work his evil in the world” (Heaney 9). Grendel is portrayed as an evil monster that has only been wreaking havoc and terrorizing a kingdom for an extended amount of time because it thrives on the pain of others. Seamus states, “Malignant by nature, he never showed remorse” (Heaney 10). Grendel is made out to appear as little more than a monster, “insensible to pain and human sorrow” (Heaney 11). He is portrayed to have little to no human qualities, to be the furthest thing from

Grendel was a character that was widely misunderstood in the book Grendel by John Gardner he was portrayed in the book as a gruesome beast when in reality all he had wished his entire life was to fit in. Throughout this story Grendel feels he has no friends in the outside world and no one to accept him besides his own mother. He doesn’t want to accept his role in society of being the Great Destroyer described to him by the dragon. Man creates a huge problem in Grendel’s life and has had a major effect on the way he lives with man. Grendel in his heart never truly wanted to be destructive; it was the rejection of mankind that changed his view on his life.

First, Grendel is an angry demon who has been attacking Hrothgar’s Kingdom and hurting the villagers for twelve years. Some people refer Grendel as, “Grim demon”. Beowulf is informed about Grendel destroying the kingdom and hurting innocent people. One night Grendel had struck Beowulf’s men with his brutal strength. After Grendel slaughtered all the men, Beowulf walked up to Grendel tried to grab, but Beowulf grabbed Grendel’s arm and held onto him with a firm grip. Grendel was trying his best to escape Beowulf because of his brute strength. For example, “you could hear Grendel’s claws cracking.” Beowulf through Grendel’s urge to rip Grendel’s whole arm and part of his chest off. Beowulf watched as Grendel died slowly from the amount of blood loss.

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

To begin, one of the many ways that Beowulf was different than Grendel is that Beowulf was brave. Every night Grendel snuck into Herot Hall to destroy King Hrothgar’s men. He did this while hiding in the shadows, sneaking around in the dead of night, and attacking while the men we asleep and at there most vulnerable. These are not the characteristics the brave, these are the characteristics of a foul, loathsome, cowardly beast. Mean while, Beowulf liked to meet a problem head on, in this case the problem was Grendel himself. Determined Beowulf sailed to Denmark to defeat Grendel, telling Hrothgar that he will take Grendel’s life with his bare hands. As told in the story, “ That mighty protector of men/ Meant to hold the monster till it’s life/ leaped out” (Raffel, 1963, l. 366-368). And when Beowulf got the chance to do just that, Grendel took the cowards road, “Grendel’s one thought

Beowulf wants to kill Grendel so he can show other how brave he his, and that he can take any evil monster down. Once Beowulf gets there he brags about to the villagers about how he killed many sea monsters on his way to Heorot, so that the villagers can feel confident that Beowulf

Grendel is a horrible beast who massacres king Hrothgar’s people, but he does respect his ability to command his people. Hrothgar is an older man who has grown his empire's wealth and its military. He has no eligible successors and so he must maintain his throne until his two sons Unferth and Hrethric are of age. Hrothgar does this with several methods like marriage, ring-giving, and Beowulf. The choices Hrothgar makes is the reason he is seen as good king and that is why Grendel despises him enough to murder.

It may be that at one point Grendel was a human much like Beowulf. "Yet, so as to save his life, he left behind his hand, his arm and shoulder" (957-959). He has the appearance of a man and he has a mother, but the humanness of Grendel has disappeared, and what remains is a creature that as the text says, "the Creator had condemned." Instead of saying that Grendel was just a real bad guy, through these descriptions, he has taken on a supernatural or mystical quality. God was even concerned enough to curse Grendel for his atrocities.

The narrator of “Beowulf” introduces us to the monster that is Grendel in the very first lines of the poem. The speaker describes “a fiend from hell” and speaks of “a cursed creature” whom God has condemned as he is “the kin of Cain”. Grendel’s description immediately aligns him with sin and the darkness of human nature found in the old biblical tale. As the poem goes on Grendel attacks Hrothgar’s hall because of the singing of praise to God. Grendel cannot bear to hear the praise as he is said to “live in the land of monsters since the Creator cast them out” (pg. 39).