Beowulf’s Grendel: Corrupt Monster
Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, is an epic poem that was originally written in Old English and was composed in between the seventh and the tenth century. In the poem, a hero named Beowulf is a brave warrior in the land of the Geats who has a goal of saving the Danes from a vicious monster named Grendel. Grendel is a conceptual monster who is contrasted by the Anglo-Saxon beliefs of togetherness and Christianity. Being a descendant of Cain, Grendel is opposed to the idea of camaraderie and God, thus making him strongly disliked by the people who live in the Geats. For his unethical values and disbeliefs of the Anglo-Saxon way of life, Grendel is portrayed as a demon and a monster.
Grendel is characterized
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as a demonic monster who rejects God’s way of life. Grendel is described as being a part of "Cain's clan" (106). Cain was a son of Adam and Eve who committed the first murder by killing his brother, Abel, due to jealousy and from then on was considered a descendant of the Devil. To be thought of as one of Cain's people is a terrible thing and it can only highlight how awful the people of the Geats and the Danes think Grendel is. Grendel is what most citizens back then would call a "grim demon" (102). That reference could be describing his appearance or his personality, but either way, he is clearly viewed as a monster by all citizens. To build up the hatred that the Anglo-Saxons have for Grendel, he acted, in the past, with some horrible actions such as causing a "hard grievance" (9) in Heorot which led to it burning down due to aggravation caused from the noise pollution created by everyone present in Heorot. Due to his actions, Grendel is depicted as a demonic creature. Grendel’s way of life contrasts both Christianity and the Anglo-Saxon values.
Grendel hated the sound of music coming from the mead hall. As he, “grabbed thirty men/ from their resting places and rushed to his lair,” (122-123) and attacks the mead hall. The mead hall, also known as Heorot Hall, is a place where the community gets together and unifies. Usually Heorot represents happiness and social concepts. Not only does Grendel hate the idea of getting together, he also hates all of the noise and the music that comes from Heorot. So he decides to attack this place of community. By him attacking Heorot, it is a symbol of him destroying the sense of togetherness that is highly practiced by the Anglo-Saxons. Also, it is explained that he “rushed to his lair” which represents how isolated Grendel is from the society he lives in. A lair can be described as a burrow or a sort of cave, something well-hidden and confined. His lifestyle completely contrasts the way of life the Anglo-Saxons live. Grendel is considered "the Lord's outcast" (169). Being a descendant of Cain, Grendel is neglected by god for his immoral standards. The word “outcast” detaches Grendel from the world of Christianity and overall society. The Anglo-Saxons live their life the way God would, and by Grendel being a said “outcast” he is completely opposing the values of Christianity as well as the Anglo Saxon belief of fellowship. Grendel is depicted as a “fiend out of hell” (100-101). A “fiend” or demon is
something that is normally spoken about negatively, especially in the Christian world. So by Grendel being described as something evil and dark, it displays how destructive he must be in the eyes of the Danes. Grendel’s corrupt ways contradict Christianity and the Anglo-Saxon beliefs. Grendel is a monster that opposes the Anglo-Saxon's values of coming together and Christianity. He is portrayed as a descendant of the Cain, a biblical figure that is rejected by God. Not only is Grendel outcasted by God, he is against the idea of camaraderie. Since he is completely opposed to the idea of togetherness, he decides to destroy the Heorot Hall. A place of community for the Danes. Grendel lives his life opposing the values of the Anglo-Saxons and Christianity, thus depicting him as a demonic monster.
For ages, humanity has always told stories of the classic struggle between man and monster. The battle between Beowulf and Grendel is a prime example of this archetype, but is Grendel only purely a monster? In his article “Gardner’s Grendel and Beowulf: Humanizing the Monster”, Jay Ruud makes a point that Grendel is a hybridization of both monster and man, particularly in John Gardner’s novel Grendel. In the poem Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as a purely evil monster who terrorizes Hrothgar and his people, but the novel provides a more humanistic backstory to the fiend. Throughout the novel, Grendel tells of his internal struggle between his thoughts of filling the role of the monster versus attempting to make amends with the humans. This conflict
Upon arrival at the mead hall, Grendel notices the door is much to small for him to enter through it easily. This does not make him happy because it happens everywhere he goes in the little human towns. So he squeezes his shoulders through the small opening and manages to ask the man at the nearest table what was going on. The man, being exhausted from his own celebrations, was to tired to even notice the beast standing over him. Monsters of Grendel's type are not used to be ignored and see it as disrespectful and so do not like to be ignored. Which is why Grendel pulled his head from the doorway and reached his claw in to snatch up unsuspecting man. Everyone else in the room was too busy to even notice the man being lifted from his place behind his drink. With the first man out of the way, Grendel decided to try a different approach. Again, scrunching himself down partway through the door, Grendel looked for someone to tell him what was going on. He cleared his throat and said with a rough, gravelly voice, "Excuse me!" No one noticed. So he said it louder, "Excuse me!" A few heads turned. After a number of astonished gasps, more turned to see. Detecting he was now the center of attention, Grendel asked what they were all doing making so much noise so late at night. The men only stared at him. So he asked more simply and slowly, not knowing if they were intelligent or not, "What are you doing?" The only response this time was an echoed "Get him!" This surprised Grendel because they seemed to say it in unison. He jumped slightly and hit his head on the doorway. He stood up and rubbed his head and knocked over a horse and its cart with his foot.
Beowulf is an epic poem that was written in the late tenth-century, at the kingdom of the West Saxons. The two main characters are Beowulf, a young man; and Grendel, a furious dragon. Beowulf's world is a very violent society with wars as a dominant part of daily life. Dragons and monsters are a constant threat to the Danes and the Geats. Warriors are a necessity to this war-like society. Beowulf is a hero as well as a great, and honorable, warrior.
In times before printed books were common, stories and poems were passed from generation to generation by word of mouth. From such oral traditions come great epics such as England’s heroic epic, Beowulf. In Beowulf, the monster Grendel serves as the evil character acting against the poem’s hero, as shown by his unnatural strength, beast-like qualities, and alienation from society.
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.
Beowulf, an epic poem, written by unknown and translated by Seamus Heaney, is an artifact of the Anglo-Saxon era because it is a piece of literature that was documented once. During the time it was written, writing was not common. The poem reveals a lot of the Anglo-Saxon practices and beliefs, but it also is compared to Christianity because was written down by a christian monk.
In the story Beowulf by Seamus Heaney, Grendel is a slimy green swamp monster that has human emotions but is portrayed as a hideous beast and an outcast of the Anglo-Saxon society.
The epic Beowulf is one of the oldest poems written in English. According to the Norton Anthology, "the poem was composed more the twelve hundred years ago, in the first half of the eight century. Its author may have been a native of what was Mercia, the Midlands of England today, although the late tenth-century manuscript , which alone preserves the poem, originated in the south in the kingdom of the West Saxons" (Norton 21). Although the poem is of English origin, it speaks of tribes (the Danes and the Geats) that are from the "Danish island of Zealand and southern Sweden respectively" (Norton 22). The main character, Beowulf, demonstrates that he is a warrior who places heroism and bravery over his own well-being and life. Beowulf is a hero and an example of a great warrior. His actions give us a good example of the pagan warrior mentality. The pagan society is a warrior society, in which courage and bravery are extremely prevalent. Beowulf fights against monsters and dragons, and he would rather die in battle, then anywhere else. Beowulf is called upon to help defeat Grendel, who is a monster that has taken over the hall of Heorot. He is greeted with great hospitality. Hrothgar, the King of Denmark, is relived to see Beowulf. There is some skepticism by Unferth, who recalls a fight in which Beowulf lost in Battle. Unferth is wrong, and Beowulf says this great line: "fate often saves an undoomed man when his courage is good." Beowulf defeats Grendel with great ease and the people of the hall are gracious to Beowulf.
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.
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.
The character Beowulf, “a man of great strength and bravery” (Magill 388), is a hero in the way he defends his neighboring country, Denmark. When the word that a hostile creature, known as Grendel, was killing tons in Denmark, Beowulf set sail to help defend the people and rid them of the hideous monster.
He is described as a monster, demon, and a fiend. Grendel has swift, hard claws, and enormous teeth that snatch the life out of his victims, which are numerous. This “shadow of death” not only kills; he drinks the blood of his prey. His forefather, Cain, was also known for this fiendish act. Just as Grendel is an outcast, so Cain was cast out of the Garden of Eden. To the Anglo-Saxons, the worst crime a person could commit was the crime of fratricide, the killing of one’s own brother. Their society and culture was structured around themes of brotherhood and kinship. The mead Hall, Herot, was a symbol of peace. It was a place where warriors gathered in a spirit of brotherhood and harmony to celebrate. Grendel was jealous and enraged by the festivities and the sound of laughter that he kept hearing while he was alone in his mere.
Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney is a poem that was written in Anglo-Saxon, or Old English. It is about a Scandinavian Prince, Beowulf, who is the “biggest presence among the warriors of the Geats,” and he goes to help the Danes fight off a man eating monster called Grendel, he ends up fighting Grendel’s mother, and he rules for 50 years as king before he ends up fighting a dragon. (Heaney XI). Comitatus is one of the major themes in Beowulf and it is shown constantly throughout the entire book. It is the idea of the Anglo-Saxon culture that warriors show loyalty toward their lord by protecting him through all times at any cost. The reader notices how the Comitatus relationship is shown from Beowulf’s point of view, Grendel’s mother
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.
After the first night, Grendel murdered thirty men, the narrator tells the reader, “the very next night he committed a greater murder, mourned not at all for his feuds and sins- he was too fixed in them” (135-137). The author tells the reader that Grendel is a decedent of Cain “after the Creator had condemned him among Cain’s race – when he killed Abel the eternal Lord Avenged his death.” (106-107). Grendel was miserable and the happiness from Heorot, only made it worse “Thus this lordly people lived in joy, blessedly, until one began to work his foul crimes – a fiend from hell.”