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Grendel as a hero
Grendel's relationship to society
Grendel's character development in beowulf
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There are three key monsters in the story of Beowulf. Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon. Each have special qualities, all different in their own way. Their personal characteristics are different although the author gives Grendel and his mother human qualities. Each of their homes are different and the reason for Beowulf hunting them is different as well. Grendel is a lone walker and only kills at night. He uses no weapons in battle and slaughters his enemies in masses. While most monsters in epic poems introduce themselves as the son of someone, Grendel has no father, only a mother. Grendel lives in a cave during the day and feasts at night. As he meets his final opponent, Beowulf, he loses this battle by having his arm torn off
Monsters and Men (Unit Paper). For ages, we have wondered what is the difference between monsters and men that make them who they are. What are the characteristics that define a monster? Typically it’s the bad guy, the person or thing that comes into the story just to cause a massacre or stand in the protagonist’s way.
Beowulf is a poem about strength and courage. This is illustrated in the eighth section of the story called “Beowulf and the Dragon.” A slave, a hero and a dragon play a big role in this section. The characters are well developed, as is the setup for the conclusion of the poem.
Grendel is a horrid monster filled with evil and bloodthirsty rage; Grendel terrorizes the men of Heorot when he deems them as being too loud in the meadhall. He snatches them up with his bare hands and devours them. Grendel murders fathers and sons, brothers, and uncles. As far as anybody can see, he will never
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.
An innocent, joyless, outcast lurks in the depths of the earth. He is feared by all due to his violent behavior and thirst for humans. Stories about this monster stretch across lands, intriguing the one and only Beowulf. In this notorious Epic, Beowulf, translated by Seamus Heaney, Grendel is the Frankenstein of this poem, the Joker of this time period, the Lord Voldemort of this book. Basically, Grendel is the villain and when there’s a villain there’s a hero. Our hero today is Beowulf, who challenges Grendel and he trounced not only Grendel but Grendel’s mother as well. Not only are Grendel and his mother villains but they also played the role of being the outcast/scapegoat. Symbolically they play the role
From this novel, the audience is able to get into the mind of this monster and feel his pain, loneliness, and misunderstanding as well as come to realize that Grendel is no monster at all, but rather he represents a reflection of man. Although you could argue that man is a monster himself in this story through the merciless and barbaric actions of the humans, especially Beowulf. Beowulf is represented minimally throughout the story, whereas in “Beowulf” he is shown with much more valor. However, In Gardner's Grendel, Beowulf is depicted as a cruel and narcissistic man. For example, Grendel describes Beowulf as a irrational and greedy man, “He’s crazy. I understand him all right, make no mistake. Understand his lunatic theory of matter and mind, the chilly intellect, the hot imagination, blocks and builder, reality as stress”(Gardner 172). Beowulf does not possess the same qualities in Grendel has he does in the epic poem, “Beowulf.” This is due to the contrasting perspectives of the same character in each book. Like the narrator in Beowulf, Grendel is biased because of his intuitive dislike for humans as well as Grendel’s knowledge that Beowulf is seeking to destroy him. Grendel is also an outcast and monitors the day-to-day lives of the Danish people. His opinions of the people are formed based off of what he observes, sees, and hears. This gives Grendel’s opinions of the
This is reasons why Beowulf is considered a monster. At some point it was actually hard to decide who's is the real monster but reading Beowulf part, Beowulf would be the one. Persons may think Grendel is the monster instead of Beowulf cause of the things he also did. Beowulf did so many things in action that are not good. He fits in, in so many
Throughout the story, Beowulf fights three battles against frightening monsters. Beowulf, the prince of the Geats, was a well known warrior with extreme strength who makes a promise to protect his people under any circumstance. In the poem, his strength is tested, but he uses it to save many people in battles against: Grendel, Grendel 's mother, and a dragon. Before, during, and after each of these battles Beowulf shows many similarities and differences in his actions.
In any classic story about heroes and villains, the monsters involved are often characterized as the evil ones and, consequently, receive no justice under the law. Throughout the epic story Beowulf, the hero of the story encounters three monsters that are threats to society: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. The monsters in Beowulf are quickly targeted and destroyed because of the harm they cause to society. However, upon further examination of the monsters and the motives for their actions, the reader can view the monsters not as the cutthroat villains they may initially appear to be, but perhaps as victims of society. In today’s society, murderers and robbers are also portrayed as “monsters” because of the atrocious crimes they commit. While it is undeniably wrong to commit any kind of crime and I do not wish to condone murder or theft in any way, there may also be an ulterior explanation for why these modern “monsters” cause harm to society. In comparing and contrasting the monsters of Germanic epic with criminals of today, perhaps we can gain some insight into the motivation of both.
In Tolkien’s Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, he offers many points of criticism toward Beowulf. Furthermore, he also critiques those who have previously offered criticism for the poem. He largely praises the poem, claiming that most of its beauty is lost with readers’ interpretations, namely their considering it more of a piece of history than the amazing piece of art that it is. In his own words, Tolkien states that “Beowulf is not an actual picture of historic Denmark or Geatland or Sweden about A.D. 500. But it is (if with certain minor defects) on a general view of a self consistent picture, a construction bearing clearly the marks of design and thought” (Tolkien). Additionally, Tolkien disagrees with other critics on the idea that Beowulf fighting enemies based in fantasy detracting from his many heroic deeds. He says that “it would have been preposterous, if the poet had recounted Beowulf’s rise to fame in a ‘typical’ or ‘commonplace’ war in Frisia, and then ended him with a dragon” (Tolkien).
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.
There are three prominent monsters in the Beowulf text, Grendel, his mother, and the dragon. While the dragon proves to be the most fatale of foes for Beowulf, Grendel and his mother do not simply pose physical threats to the Germanic society; their roles in Beowulf are manifold. They challenge the perceptions of heroism, a sense of unrivalled perfection and superiority. Moreover, they allow the reader to reconsider the gender constructs upheld within the text; one cannot help but feel that the threat that these monsters present is directed towards the prevalent flaws in Beowulf’s world. Moreover, what makes these monsters is not their physical appearance; it is what they embody. Both Grendel and his mother have humanlike qualities yet their monstrous appearance arises from what their features and mannerisms represent. The challenge they pose to societal paradigms makes them far more terrifying to our heroes than any scaled flesh or clawing hand. These monsters provide the ‘most authoritative general criticism […] of the structure and conduct of the poem’. Their presence provides contrast and criticism of the brave society (Heaney 103).
The perspective in which the monster is viewed from, is also very similar in all three battles. In each one the monster is very gruesome and hideous. The monsters are also very powerful figures, who have or a capable of killing many, all worthy opponents to Beowulf. The monsters are all viewed as very evil, the exact opposite of Beowulf.
What makes a monster? Is it the way they speak, walk, or look? The probability of having a neighbor who is to be considered a monster, is not too far as you may think. An old tale that is able to represent how monsters can diversify is Beowulf the Epic. It is an Old English poem written in cantos and considered to be one of the biggest epics of the Anglo-Saxon era. Main character Beowulf, a warrior hero for the Geats, comes to the rescue of Hrothgar. The King of the Danes hall, Heorot, has been under attack by the monster, who is named Grendel, for twelve years. Beowulf is set out to kill Grendel with his bare hand and take on the avagece of Grendel's mother after the death of her only son with a giant's sword that he found in the lair of the
Beowulf’s first accomplishment as an epic hero was his battle with Grendel. Grendel was a huge beast, a descendent of Cain, who ruthlessly murdered innocent Danes because he felt pity for himself. Upon hearing of the Dane’s problem, Beowulf set off to help the Danish without having been called upon. Even though Beowulf had men backing him, He drew battle with Grendel alone and without armor or weapons. Yet, Beowulf emerged victorious with the arm of Grendel as his trophy. Beowulf then went on to kill Grendel’s vengeful mother and a huge fire-breathing dragon who thought it had been done wrong by the Geats. Alas, the killing of the dragon would be Beowulf’s last great battle for the dragon took Beowulf’s life in the struggle for his own.