Grendel

Grendel’s Origin

The main origin of Grendel is that he is descended from Cain. That type of descent brings with it a history of giants and monsters. Grendel is described as a humanoid creature, he is of a giant build, has two giant claws and has the strength of thirty men. In the original text of Beowulf, Grendel is presented as evil for evil's sake, but has more character added in the Grendel novel written by John Gardner. Both however, do show that Grendel is a demonic force. Another interpretation is that the translation is he was the descendant of ham, which would make him a slave, and most likely a different race. This does bring in questions of racial ideas in Beowulf, with the fear coming from the rise of a slave rather than the terror of a monster. As for where the name of Grendel may came from the writer of this article could not find anything.

Grendel’s Strengths He was such a threat that no one except Beowulf could hope to beat him. Grendel is the symbol of Christianity overcoming the old pagan religion, with him representing creatures such as giants and ogres normally related to pagan mythology due to relation to Cain. His true strength comes from retrospective material. The novel ‘Grendel’ explores his thoughts and stories prior to Beowulf. This explores a strange mix of human and beast like emotions. He feels love and hate in great amounts with his mother. He is disgusted by humans who give in to instinctive fear to freeze, but respect the ones who can move in his presence. His relationship with his mother is kind of abusive since he feels she attempts to control them. He does develop through the novel and learns a weird sense of balance after meeting the dragon. This shows he has a lot of intelligence and room for mental and spiritual growth.

Grendel’s Weaknesses

The big weakness of Grendel as a character is that he has no motive in the original text. The lack of motivation doesn’t let Grendel stick around in discussion quite as much as the other two enemies. Then while a terrifying threat he is considered the easiest foe to be slain by Beowulf, the only in the text to die to his bare hands. This level of ease that Beowulf defeated him makes him bottom of the totem pole on the list of enemies. With this despite being hyped up as an equal to Beowulf he gave the hero no trouble. This makes him less interesting compared to his mother and the dragon in terms of character.

Grendel’s Significance

The significance of Grendel comes from him being the first and most unique character. While the lack of a motive makes him overall a more generic villain makes him the most unique in the story. The fact he was the first opponent makes him the measuring stick that is used to truly compare each monster. He showed that every true threat from now on can only be defeated by Beowulf. Grendel is the monster that most writers had an interest in. This comes from them thinking of him in more of a human light. He acted out of anger for the Danes’ presence, but he goes on a strange journey of enlightenment in the ‘Grendel’ novel before his death. This journey teaches him that the humans need evil to continue its growth. He takes on the role of evil for the sake of balance. This type of evolution is the true meaning of Grendel; his existence gave heroes like Beowulf meaning. He in this incarnation is the embodiment of a self aware monster who wants to keep balance in his world.

Lines that mention Grendel

100-107, 110-125, 127, 135-137, 144-145, 152, 165-169, 194, 409-410,  425-426, 442-450, 473-474, 476-477, 482-483, 527-528, 592-593, 678, 681-685, 707, 710-735, 737-755, 760-765, 775, 785-788, 802-822, 840-851, 926, 1054, 1253, 1266, 1334-1338, 1352-1361, 1575, 1578-1590, 1638-1639, 1647, 1775, 1997, 2002-2003, 2006, 2070, 2079-2081, 2120, 2353, 2521

Sources

Articles

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“The Growth Of Grendel English Literature Essay.” 11 2018. UKEssays. 02 07 2021

Heany, Seamus. “Beowulf: A New Verse Translation.” Norton. 2000. 02 07 2021 < &lt;nowiki&gt;https://www.sthelens.k12.or.us/cms/lib05/OR01000906/Centricity/Domain/218/beowulf-translation-by-seamus-heaney.pdf&lt;/nowiki&gt; >

Kim, Dorthy. “The Question of Race in Beowulf.” Daily Jistor. 09 25 2019 Daily.jistor.org. . 02 07 2021. < &lt;nowiki&gt;https://daily.jstor.org/the-question-of-race-in-beowulf/&lt;/nowiki&gt; >

Image

Dennis Baker et al. (2013). Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 4, p. 145. Paizo Publishing, LLC. ISBN 978-1-60125-575-4 02 07 2021 https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Grendel 2021. Grendel in an armlock. [image] 02 07 2021 Available at: 

Grendel in an armlock. [image] Available at: < https://www.pinterest.com/pin/452893306262174259/ > [Accessed 7 February 2021].