The Nine Noble Virtues Of Grendel Vs. Beowulf

There are two sides to every story. The events may be the same, but the tone in which the story is told shapes the reader’s understanding of the events. This idea is never more evident than through the disparity between Burton Raffel’s translation of Beowulf and John Gardner’s Grendel. Both novels are based on the idea of Beowulf killing Grendel. However, the two different points of view telling the story create vastly different novels. Beowulf highlights the heroic and positive world in which Beowulf lives. Whereas Grendel elucidates on the miserable life that Grendel is circumscribed to. The consistent variance in tone skews the events in two completely different directions. The tone between Beowulf and Grendel differ in

Honor, putting himself out there, showing he’ll push to the limit or die to try. Beowulf puts his reputation before the people. “ I had a fixed purpose i meant to perform to the uttermost what your people wanted or perish in attempt”( Heaney, 632-638). What Beowulf is indicating is that he’ll fight and perform as he was meant to or die to try. What Beowulf projects are his honor to be the most he can, stating his internal integrity, “One could define honor as your internal integrity or dignity” (The Nine Noble Virtues, pg.2). Grendel has no honor Killing and destroying, even knowing that himself has no honor, “ Not of course that i fool myself in thoughts that i’m more noble. Pointless, ridiculous monster crochet in the shadows, stinking of dead men, murdered children, martyred cows” (Gardner,pg.6 ). How much effort does Beowulf project?

Beowulf is one of the few people in the story who admits to his weaknesses and proves that even though he is partially bad he uses that to become stronger and conquer his weaknesses. On the other hand Grendel is one who throws away his weaknesses and that leads to his downfall.”The brand missed Grendel but crashed to the floor beside the prostrate figure of Hrothgar.”

Beowulf proclaims “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” (liens 156-160). Beowulf claims that he must go to defeat Grendel, as it was his errand, or his duty, and his fate. This speech he makes to King Hrothgar reinforces his true reason to come to the King, not for any pride. Another vow Beowulf makes is when he says “That this is one favor you should not refuse me—That I, alone and with the help of my men, many purge all evil form this hall” (lines 163-166). In this line, Beowulf is pleading for the King to do one thing, which is to give him the permission for him and his men to go and fight Grendel, what Beowulf had arrived for. The fact that Beowulf asks the king for only one thing, which is to fight Grendel, shows Beowulf’s selflessness and concern for the safety of others. At no part does he ask for a reward, but even says that if fate is in favor of Grendel to give his armor back to his family. These words help paint the image of Beowulf being concerned for others, not for his

The first trait Beowulf shows off is his bravery. He shows his bravery by traveling across the ocean to ask the Danes if he and his men can go out and defeat the terrorizing monster Grendal. In the poem Beowulf goes to the King of the Danes and says “… Grendal and I are called/ Together, and I’ve come. Grant me, then,/ Lord and protector of this noble place,/ A single request! … That I, alone and with the help of my men,/ May purge all evil

deciphered. Beowulf being pure good, and Grendel being pure evil. One of the reasons of

There are many similarities and differences between the movie "Beowulf and Grendel", to the poem. Major differences between the movie and the poem would be Grendel himself. In the poem, he is described as an evil monster born from two demons. In the movie, Grendel is actually human, but known as a troll to the warriors and Danes. The poem doesn’t give the background of Grendel or show how the Danes killed his father and the possible reason of his revenge, like in the movie. If the witch, Selma, was not included in the storyline of the movie, the audience would not have known key information that she was used to show from more flashbacks. The witch gives more of an idea about Grendel’s past life that could have been the possibility to

In the book Beowulf and Grendel there are many differences and similarities between the two. In the poem Grendel is a monster that’s from the demons, and Beowulf is a human. Another way they are different is Grendel was lonely and Beowulf was a fearless person. And a way they are alike is they both were strong individuals. One way they are different that was explained in the book is that Grendel was a monster born by the demons and Beowulf was not.

Although Grendel shows some signs of nobility, Beowulf proved to be quite the character, reflecting The Nine Noble Virtues such as courage, industriousness, and self-reliance. Grendel is said to be misunderstood, that he’s thoughtless and bloodthirsty, but as shown in John Gardner's Grendel, he reflects with reasonable morals and a little bit of nobility. Beowulf on the other hand is portrayed as the perfect hero according to his boasts, and he stays true to all nine noble virtues, making him more noble than Grendel in more ways than not. But being noble is more than just following the Vikings’ virtues. One could be stronger in some areas and weaker in others compared to another, but how well they play their part can determine how noble they are.

Beowulf showed his honor as he traveled from his homeland to battle the vicious monster Grendel, who was terrorizing the Danes. Grendel “Raided and ravaged” the mead hall, showing no honor by killing intoxicated men in their sleep. Beowulf knows that there is a chance that he may die in his great battle against Grendel when he says, “If death does take me, send the hammered mail of my armor to Higlac…”, yet he is still willing to attempt to defeat Grendel. A hero in the Anglo-Saxon time is always very confident, as well he should be. It would serve no purpose to face battle with doubt of ones ability to do so, and with fear of all that awaits him. Beowulf’s morality came also in the form of loyalty to people and his word. Promises by Beowulf were kept . Acceptance of death, and care for the welfare of his people were Beowulf’s greatest virtues. His

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

A characteristic of Beowulf is courageous. Courage is the ability to do something that frightens you. Beowulf wasn’t necessarily frightened, but he did do something that frightened the men of Hrothgar. Beowulf does many things to show his courage to the people of Hrothgar. One way he shows his courage is when he fights Grendel, the monster who was killing and eating the men of Hrothgar, without any

Beowulf’s honor with Grendel leave his Geatish followers in shock, revealing a difference between the two. The Geats would have used the sword to slay Grendel whereas Beowulf used his hand to defeat the monster because Grendel had no weapon. Beowulf also performs gallant deeds, including slaughtering the dragon and dying for the village. With Beowulf being so epic and having colossal struggles

Beowulf consciously chooses to act in a superhuman manner: “I shall perform the deeds of a hero or I have passed my last day in this mead hall.” Even Grendel recognizes the hero’s superior strength: “The criminal knew he had not met in this middle-earth another with such a grip.” Other warriors when thinking of Beowulf “would quickly compose a skillful tale in words.” Hrothgar refers to Beowulf as “the best of warriors.”  The Danish queen Wealhtheow compliments after Grendel’s defeat, “You have earned forever the praise of men from near and far.” Hrothgar expounds on good warriors: “This is the best-born man – my friend Beowulf … the best of warriors.” When the dragon burns the mead hall of the Geats and Beowulf prepares to retaliate, he “scorned a host, a large army … he didn’t fear the dragon’s war …” Beowulf is also superior in a moral sense: When Hygelac’s wife Hygd previously offered Beowulf the kingdom, he declined to accept because there was a legitimate heir to the throne. Beowulf’s example of extreme heroism motivates others to extraordinary deeds: Wiglaf, seeing Beowulf’s strength compromised by the dragon’s fire, risks his life to aid Beowulf in his final battle. It is obvious that the hero possesses superhuman qualities. As

In Beowulf the classic epic, Beowulf, the hero of the epic, and other major characters reflect heroic ideals and beliefs of courage, generosity, unquestioning loyalty and devotion. Courage is most evident throughout Beowulf Beowulf does not back down from any challenge that stands in his way whether it be Grendel, Grendel’s mother, or the dragon. His bravery is most evident in his preparation for his fight with Grendel, Beowulf, “took off his shirt of armour, the helmet from his head, handed his embellished sword, best of irons to an attendant,…” He chose to bravely fight his foe, man to beast without weaponery for he knew it would be “cowardly” to defeat Grendel with a sword and armor when Grendel himself had none. Even in his