Role Of Grendel In Beowolf

390 Words1 Page

Beowolf is a story of Anglo-Saxon descent and has been passed down orally from generation to generation. Grendel, a modern book by John Gardner, tells of a monster named Grendel who is lost in life. Grendel struggles with whether he is good, bad, or if his existence even matters as his conscience is influenced by The Shaper, The Dragon, and Hrothgar.
Grendel is mostly persuaded by the Shaper to believe that his purpose in life is to be good. The Shaper is royal harp player and story teller who tells stories of the great ventures of the Danes. Grendel hears the Shaper and he begins to believe that the Danes and himself could live in peace. He doesn’t want any problem with the Danes while the Shaper is playing, but when he stops, Grendel

Show More
Related

  • Analysis of Storytelling: Discovering One's Identity and Purpose in Life

    1264 Words  | 3 Pages

    In John Gardner’s Grendel, the Shaper is an important contributing character that carries the plot in a historical sense. During the first encounter between the monster and the humans, Grendel hears of the stories and tales the Shaper is singing about in Hrothgar’s mead-hall. Throughout the story the Shaper tells about Danish history and the creation of man’s existence and Grendel is fascinated by this. After listening to the Shaper’s stories, Grendel starts to realize that what he is saying is not true, “I too crept away, my mind aswim in ringing phrases, magnificent, golden, and all of them, incredibly, lies,” and starts to question what is true and what is not (Gardner 43). The Shaper’s eloquent tales had a large effect on Grendel, “He told of an ancient feud between two brothers which split all the world between darkness and light. And I, Grendel, was the dark side...I believed him! Such was the power of the Shaper's harp!” (Gardner 52). Gardner’s writing of Grendel sheds light on a whole new side of Grendel, as opposed to the monstrous being in Beowulf; so much so that we can see a divide in G...

    Read More

  • The Changes In Grendel's Character In 'Beowulf'

    500 Words  | 1 Pages

    Grendel had changed drastically from all the way from the start of the book all the way to the end of the book. Grendel began very immature almost child like from the beginning of the book. The way he talked and viewed all things such as plants and animals was very child like. The difference between him and a human would be his monstrous height and strength. Grendel’s first major change was when Grendel heard the words of the Shaper. Grendel would evaluate the Shaper as he would tell his stories in the mead hall, he would do so for many nights. Many times though Grendel would not agree with the stories the Shaper would say and tell to the others, sometimes he felt as if the Shaper was trying to manipulate the others around him. This would anger

    Read More

  • Grendel And Beowulf: Humanizing The Monster

    833 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rudd cites various sections of the poem, describing Grendel as a “night-monster of the border lands” (Rudd 3), and the translation of the poem says that Grendel was, “...Conceived by a pair of those monsters born Of Cain, murderous creatures banished By God…” (Raffel 42). Rudd also gives evidence for Grendel being seen as demonic, and reasons that Grendel attacks the Danes out of “...not mere thirst for gore, as we might suspect… but rather… envy of the Danes’ happiness- and envy was a chief characteristic of the medieval devil.” (Ruud 5). He then ties this devilish persona to Grendel’s humanistic aspects, stating Grendel has a heathen soul, and therefore he must be human. Ruud also notes, however, that there are critics who question the validity of portraying Grendel as this three-sided figure, asking questions such as, “How can Grendel be a devil when he has a physical body? How can he be a man when he is so manifestly bestial?” (Ruud 7). Ruud believes that the original poet of Beowulf is doing this for effect rather than consistency, but a more reasonable explanation that encompasses all three characteristics is that Grendel represents the evil in

    Read More

  • Grendel In Beowulf

    627 Words  | 2 Pages

    No one knows who wrote Beowulf but we do know who wrote Grendel. John Gardner took the epic Beowulf and added more to the brilliant story. Grendel takes on the same story as Beowulf but from the perspective of Grendel, the beast in Beowulf. The story of Grendel is very interesting because from reading Beowulf it is completely uninspected. In Beowulf Grendel is said to be a disgusting monster that’s only job is to kill. In Grendel we really see him as very nice but turns to be evil because he is pushed into that direction.

    Read More

  • Grendel's Death In 'Beowulf'

    404 Words  | 1 Pages

    Grendels death was quiet unexpected. For many people tried killing him but all failed. Until one day, a young man came and succeeded.

    Read More

  • Vengeance in the Epic of Beowulf

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    Beowulf is the epic story of a young hero who battles the monster Grendel and his mother. Beowulf, a prince of the Geats, the son of Ecgtheow who voyages to Heorot, the hall of Hrothgar, king of the Danes and the great grandson of the hero Scyld Scefing. There at Heorot, Beowulf destroys the monster Grendel, who for twelve years has haunted the hall by night and slain all he found therein. When Grendel's mother, in revenge, makes an attack on the hall, Beowulf seeks her out and kills her in her home beneath the waters.

    Read More

  • Grendel and Beowulf Heroism

    1534 Words  | 4 Pages

    A building is ablaze and a crowd of people stare helplessly from the streets, listening to screams coming from within. A single person runs in to rescues whomever he or she can find. Whether or not that person emerges with a child in their arms, empty handed, or not at all, does nothing to alter our society’s perception of their heroism. Today’s society would classify such an action as heroic, regardless of outcome, for one reason: intentions. During Anglo-Saxton times the interpretation of such an act, based on the tale Beowulf, would not be so understanding of what was intended, but rather of the outcome. If one perished and failed in an attempt of such a heroic act words like weakness might arise. It is here that the clash of what a hero is occurs between the Anglo-Saxton tale Beowulf and John Gardner’s Grendel. Beowulf in Beowulf is a hero for he defeats evil and restores order to and for the common people. Unferth in Grendel however is unsuccessful in his campaign against evil, but like the man who emerges empty handed he is by no means any less of a hero. For heroism, as demonstrated in the Anglo-Saxton tale Beowulf, is altered in Gardner’s Grendel to convey the idea that intentions define a hero as opposed to actions.

    Read More

  • Grendel As A Monster In Beowulf

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    The deeds one does leave an impression on the people for a lifetime, a person is remembered by what he did, no matter what the situation is. Thus, in the same way Beowulf is defined as being a hero and Grendel as a monster. For instance, Grendel killed a lot of men in the kingdom of Hrothgar but, on the other hand Beowulf killed Grendel for the sake of his people and his honor. Furthermore, this tells us that a person is defined by the deeds he does for his people. And as we can say Without defeating Grendel, Beowulf would have never been considered a hero. Therefore, Beowulf would have been deemed as a liar for his whole life and he would have never been made the king of Geatland.

    Read More

  • The Epic Of Grendel's Metaphamental Monsters In Beowulf

    1017 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beowulf outlines turmoil between three opponents: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon. These separate discords each serve to fulfill different metaphoric purposes. Grendel’s character epitomizes the adverse persona of how an Anglo-Saxon warrior should not be. His mother represents everything that a woman during the time era should seldom be. Lastly, the Dragon embodies all the values that an Anglo-Saxon king should not dare retain. Without a doubt, the symbolic implications of the monsters in Beowulf bring the context to a new level of understanding.

    Read More

  • Grendel's Development In 'Beowulf' By John Gardner

    543 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Shaper later “[tells] of an ancient feud between two brothers which split all the world between darkness and light” and makes Grendel “the dark side.” Grendel then goes into the hall and asks the men for friendship, but they attack him. This episode causes Grendel to question reality, but then he starts listing everything that he knows to be true. However, the beautiful poetry continues to confuse Grendel, and he cannot determine the truth. Although Grendel has mixed feelings, he keeps coming back to hear the Shaper’s songs. One day, Grendel hears a story about how he raided the mead hall, and he decides to become the monster that the Shaper makes him out to be since he knows the story is false. Grendel’s dilemma demonstrates the power of craft and art and the Shaper’s effect on

    Read More

  • The Shaper And The Dragon In Beowulf

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Shaper’s musical tales mesmerize Grendel; Even though he knows that the tales are partially fictional, he can’t help but fall under the influence of the power of stories. He spends a large portion of his time spying on the Shaper while he tells his tales.This shows that there is some aspect of the human culture that fascinates Grendel enough for him to abandon his animalistic pursuits of

    Read More

  • Grendel Responsible For The Death Of The Shaper

    540 Words  | 2 Pages

    Grendel’s hatred towards the Shaper is interesting because Grendel is more jealous than angry, Grendel wishes that he could believe in the ‘incongruous world’ that the Shaper has created, this connection between the Shaper and Grendel also results in Grendel’s resentment towards the Dragon since the Dragon is responsible for clarifying the way the world works. Even though Grendel seems to believe that what the Shaper says is not true, Grendel still, inevitably creates his own ‘illusion’ of the world. Throughout the story, Grendel imagines situations such as the Dragon and Beowulf to challenge his beliefs; he tries to become the Shaper himself in a way, all whilst trying to break free of the hold that the Shaper has on him. The death of the shaper however, was the last straw for Grendel, this made Grendel realize that there was nothing preventing him from coming out of his shell, expectedly, Grendel’s subconscious breaks free of the spell he was under. This suggests that whilst Grendel was busy explaining how humans were inferior and he was vastly different from them, he never stopped to realize that he himself was under the control of the Shaper, this, to some extent, portrays the Shaper as

    Read More

  • Grendel And Beowulf Comparison

    942 Words  | 2 Pages

    Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson 2005) depicts a very different protagonist than the one in the epic (Heaney 2000). The Beowulf in the film learns how to have mercy as the movie progresses, while the epic Beowulf is very flat. This is due to the fact that the modern culture is very different from that of the epic. Our culture isn't content with such characters. We want our characters to have more lifelike characteristics such as emotions and a change of heart.

    Read More

  • The Importance of Grendel and the Dragon in Beowulf

    1277 Words  | 3 Pages

    “In my youth I engaged in many wars”, Beowulf boasts to his warriors, which is certainly true. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time. Even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically, the two monsters pose a new threat to the hero on a higher plane. Beowulf is not only at risk of losing his life, but his humanity, virtue, and even spirituality.

    Read More

  • A Comparison of Beowulf and Grendel

    947 Words  | 2 Pages

    The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. 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 set 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 the perceived terrible evil fiend who is Grendel into a lonely but intelligent outcast who bears a striking resemblance to his human adversaries. In Grendel, John Gardner portrays Grendel as an intelligent being capable of rational thought as well as displaying outbursts of emotion. He portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression ostracized from civilization. The author of Beowulf portrays Grendel as the typical monster archetype as compared to John Gardner’s representation of Grendel as an outcast archetype.

    Read More

More about Role Of Grendel In Beowolf

Open Document