Grendel's Multiple Human Characteristics In Beowulf

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.

While reading Beowulf I thought Grendel was a horrible monster and by classification, he is considered a monster. I couldn’t understand why he would kill people just because “it was fun” but after reading Grendel I have a different opinion of Grendel. I personally don’t think Grendel is a monster. I say this because when Grendel was a “boy” all he wanted was a friend. The creatures in the cavern were older so he never had any real friends. Finally, one day he had enough of wondering what the world of humans was like and decided to go to the world of humans. After being in the world of humans for a little while he saw his first humans and described them as having “dead-looking eyes and gray-white faces.” (Ch.2, pg.23) I know when he saw them he was scared but wanted to speak but being a big and strong “monster” he knew he couldn’t speak. Though he hid

In both works, Beowulf and Grendel, Grendel himself is generally given the same connotations. He is given kennings, called names, referred to as the evil spawn of Cain, and even viewed as a monster; but why? Why in both books is he a wicked, horrible, person who is harshly excluded from everyone? After stumbling upon John Gardner's book, it was halfway expected that some excuse would be made for Grendel; that he wasn't really the inexorable monster the thanes in Beowulf portrayed him as. But all it really did was make him worse. What is the message we are being sent about Grendel?

Everyone has a motivation behind their actions. Motivation can be affected by emotion or willpower. Many people get their motivation from what they want to accomplish. There is reasons for motivation behind actions in books, poems, and in everyday life. In the epic Beowulf, Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon all have a broad variety of motivations for what they do.

In Grendel, the story is told from Grendel's point of view. Therefore he is not viewed as a killing machine. In Beowulf however, it is the exact opposite. Grendel is seen as a monster who is terrorizing Hrothgar's people. The way Grendel is portrayed in Grendel is different from the way he is portrayed in Beowulf regarding his initiative and purpose. Grendel is portrayed the same in both stories when it comes to his actions and his nature.

Throughout the novel, Grendel was insecure, innocent and also capable of rational thoughts as well as irrational outbursts. By the end of the novel he turned into a monster that felt powerful, evil and saw men as foolish creatures. The Two main characters that show how best Grendel changed throughout the story are the Dragon, and the Shaper . These two characters has a significant impact on Grendel and who he is as an individual.

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.

Children typically bear some physical resemblance to at least one of their parents. The child may have the same skin color, facial expressions or height as his or her parent. Could this be the same for behavioral traits? Are behavioral traits likewise inherited? Or, are they learned? In other words, do behavioral traits come from nature (inherited) or from nurture (learned)? This question can be applied to “Grendel,” a murderous monster a in the epic poem of “Beowulf,” Was Grendel born a monster? Or, was he raised to be a monster? Or, are his monstrous behaviors a result of both nature and nurture? Descriptions of Grendel from the “Beowulf” poem give evidence that his monstrous behavior was a result of both nature and nurture; a

In most stories, it is easy to determine who the monster is. Dementors from J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, Scylla from Homer’s Odyssey, and the Balrog from J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings make it easy to see who the hero is and who the monster is. On the other hand, the anonymous poet of Beowulf does not make this distinction as clearly. The poet creates an ambiguous feeling throughout the epic that makes it unclear whether Beowulf is the hero of men that he is praised to be or a monster in disguise that uses his unnatural strength to murder his enemies. In Beowulf, the line between humanity and monstrosity is blurred as Grendel and his mother take on human attributes, while Beowulf takes on monstrous ones.

Grendel, the offspring of Cain the outcast, is a demon. He is a scaly creature that lives in a swampy area. He is a reptilian human, with spikes on him. He is a human-like figure, in which the way he stands. He stands on two feet, and has arms. In the book Beowulf removes Grendel’s arm and shoulder, defeating him. This must mean he has a shoulder blade and can walk like a human. He also has razor-sharp talons as it says in the book “Venturing closer, his talon was raised to attack Beowulf where he lay on the bed” (Heaney 51). One night when he is prowling around, he hears the King and his kinsmen singing out to the Lord. He hears the songs of how great God is, and is outraged. As the outcast of God, Grendel despised of God. The songs and happiness, pushes him over the edge. He plans the downfall of the hall, in spite of their songs. He will attack at night, as everyone sleeps, and butcher them dead. He sneaks in at night, watching over the guards, ready to pounce. He rips apart the men eating them alive. “Suddenly then the God-cursed brute was creating havoc: greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men from their resting place and rushed them to his lair” (Heaney 11). This shows just how When the king awoke the next morning he grieved for his men, but little did he know Grendel would attack every night for 12 winters. Once again Grendel sets of for a night of ravishing, but the king has a plan. He has set out more guards to keep watch over the kingdom, as he sleeps. When Grendel

This had great meaning to Grendel because it shows him that the world was just accidental and any actions made are just a mere ripple in time. It takes away meaning from one’s actions, good or bad, making life seem less valid, consequential, and purposeful. If the dragon had used logic that Grendel could grasp and understand, Grendel may not have given in to such dark ideas. Using the dragon’s ideals, Grendel should have done anything he wanted, no matter the consequences. According to the dragon, none of his actions can do anything to prevent the end of life, basically making life meaningless. But I believe this to be wrong in the light that any action you make in the present, can ultimately affect the future. For instance, if technology never

Similarly, Grendel in Beowulf was also a creature that was horrific in nature – full of destruction. The contempt towards festivities and joyous music may have derived from the isolation Grendel experiences. After all, he was described as one who is part of “Cain’s clan, whom the creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts” (9). There was the same reaction of bitterness present in Grendel as in Frankenstein’s creature: both were castaways which led them to be emotionally-driven in anger. Because of his resentment, “the God-cursed brute was creating havoc: greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men from their resting places and rushed to his lair…blundering back with the butchered corpses” (11). Grendel is nothing more than a misunderstood creature. Having hurt feelings, he too resembles a human being; any person who faces seclusion from his or her friends, family, or society as a whole would be full of frustration, sorrow, anger, and loneliness. This negative response towards emptiness brings out the inner monster in us.

According to Jack Lynch a characteristic of an epic poem is that “[there is] a concern with the fate of a nation or people” (Lynch, Epic). In Beowulf, the concern is Grendel coming to Heorot and killing Danes. An example of this in Beowulf is “suddenly then/ the God-cursed brut was creating havoc:/ greedy and grim he grabbed thirty men” (Beowulf 120-123). Grendel was killing the king’s men by the hundreds over the span of several years.

Beowulf is a story about a brave leader of the Geats that thinks he can defeat any monster that tries to destroy anything in his path. He defeats Grendel and the dragon. The movie shows as things that weren’t told in the story like how Grendel mom’s is half human and can curse anyone she pleases too or like in the movie Grendel could talk but in the story they talk like Grendel is just dumb. One major difference between the text and the movie is the characters in the movie. Hrothgar seems like he is just not king like he mistreats his Queen in an unruling way and he is just plain lazy and very disrespectful to his Queen.

The book Grendel, written by John Gardner, and the poem Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, both have very distinct opinions on what role each character plays. The translator of Beowulf and the writer of Grendel follow the idea that everyone has a story. A story is the writer’s perspective on a character’s personality, the way people in the story see and treat the character, and the way it ties the ideas together. There are many examples in these two writings of this concept, but the main instances connect with the lives of Grendel, Beowulf, and Unferth.