Grendel, the Villain of Beowolf

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Most poems written in the early 9th century to the late 14th century were about immortal things trying to take over a countries civilization. In every society, there are demons or monsters that the members of that society are fearful of. In those types of poems, a hero usually comes along and saves the day. In the poem Beowulf, we see that the hero, Beowulf, is religion protection and a hero to his society. In the poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, we see that the villain, the Green Knight, is envious and dangerous to his society. I am going to discuss the difference in fears from a villain’s society and values in a hero’s society. In Beowulf, those fears in society are seen in that monster. Grendel plays a significant role throughout his society. In Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, those values are respected and praised in that hero. The fear of Grendel in Beowulf symbolizes the weakness in society throughout the poem and the values of Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight symbolizes the strength and bravery throughout the poem.
In the poem Beowulf, Grendel is portrayed as a vicious human-eating monster to society. Many men fear combat with Grendel because of his hideous appearance and great strength. In Grendel’s society he fears the gain of civilization in for the humans. Grendel is your typical outcast in life, "So Grendel wages his loney war" (164). The mead hall represented civilization in human society. The dancing and singing irritated Grendel. He was a loner, so he never knew what it was like to interact with society. He was an outcast by the sins of his forefathers Cain, who killed his brother Abel "He was the Lord's outcast" (169). By him being an outcast, he did not want anyone out celebrating with happine...

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...wing. In some situations in the poem Sir Gawain got off track of what his main prize was. The first situation was when he and Lady Beritilak's trying to make a love connection. It was pretty well explained in text how deeply Lady Beritilak's feelings were for Sir Gawain. She brought him a gift in bed every day along with a kiss. Thanks to King Arthur Sir Gawain got the fully message of it is meant to be trustworthy.
In conclusion many poems have different types of people or thing that can harm their society. This goes for heroes and villains. With Grendel in Beowulf he just wanted to want by the human society. They exiled him by the way he looks. With Sir Gawain in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight he wanted to show his society braver, representation, chivalry, and nobility. Both Grendel and Sir Gawain societies mean a lot to them and represents them in a major way.

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