“Grendel should be home now, what is wrong with that child,” the mother of the descendant of Caine thought. Just then Grendel burst through the ceiling, deep dark red blood gushing from his shoulder. He trails blood through the chalet towards his room where he collapses from his injuries on his bed. His mother instantly falls to his side trying to save him but it is too late for he has passed. “SO MUCH BLOOD. IT IS EVERYWHERE.” The She-troll thought hysterically. “Grendel, baby, WAKE UP!” she calmly spoke, “He’s just sleeping, he is just tired from eating tonight.” As she paces the hovel, she decides to visit Grendel’s feasting ground. As she draws near the Hall of Hearts she hears the celebration of the Danes as they shout, “Well met Beowolf, Excellent kill, Down with Grendel”. Infuriated she waits until the dead of night to spring an attack. “They DARE celebrate the death of my son, Death, ruin, and destruction I shall rain upon them for their insolence. They shall feel the agony of losing those close to them!” she rages as she severs the head from the guard posted outside bursts through the hall’s large wooden doors, grabbing another drunken idiot. As she fled the gory scene, she spied her son’s bloodied arm placed upon the wrecked door …show more content…
Then Beowolf dove in after the other serpents descended into the depths, but he was snatched up as he neared the bottom by the She-troll. Crashing through the ceiling of her hovel he was greeted by a series of attacks meant to gorge his eyes out. As the battle raged on blood from both adversaries seeped up to the surface, discouraging the waiting men above that their contender was alive. Far below the decisive blow was struck from a magical sword, the head of the She-troll rolled to a stop inform of her son granting her one last look at her son before death tighten its grasp upon
Up until the end of Chapter 7, Grendel’s actions are influenced by the dragon. He believes nothing matters, there is no good or bad, and everybody eventually dies. The people of Heort know Grendel as a monster and a killer and he lives up to his reputation.
As Grendel is swaying in suffrage from a tree, he has epiphany of the truth about his universal role in the kingdom. He also realized that there is only fate. “I understood that the world was nothing; a mechanical chaos of casual, brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I
He takes out his loneliness on the prosperous hall of the Danes. The news of Grendel terrorizing the kingdom became a tale overseas, which is how Beowulf hears of Grendel and his acts. The kingdom had not received successful help, and Beowulf believes that he is capable of helping and takes this as his calling. After the call in a Hero Quest, the hero must make a decision.
The actions of others is what absolutely counts. What any creature does determine what he is and how he thinks of himself. In the novel known as Grendel, written by John Gardner, Grendel has a dynamic self-image of himself since he was slaughter people. Grendel is what many psychologist would declare to be a sociopath. For he has no remorse and he is anti-social.
Grendel’s death at the hands of his barbaric challengers produced a revengeful mother, whose only vow is to cause suffering to all those responsible… They say that a mother's love is stronger than distance, more powerful than time, and can be transcended to the grave. I watched in disgust as those cruel creatures celebrated the wrongful death of my beloved son. Murders are what they are; their crimes are unjust and gruesome, yet they believe they are the hero’s. I don’t recall a time when I thought so highly of myself, that I would celebrate my murder of another.
At the end of Chapter 12, Grendel’s last words were “Poor Grendel’s had an accident … So may you all.” (Gardner 174). Such words are meant as a curse to affect mankind. To start off, Grendel’s relationship with humans are not great.
Shadow Stalker, God-cursed Grendel, The Captain of Evil, and Monster are all nicknames of one creature. This one creature was named Grendel who brilliantly said “Balance is everything”. For Grendel to figure out that balance, or in other words the yin and yang, is integral to living says a lot about a “murderer.” Grendel cannot live without a hero and a hero cannot live without a challenge. The humans symbolize the hero withstanding the forces of Grendel, while Grendel symbolizes the villain trying to hurt and dismantle the hero.
Grendel’s innocence when he was younger is shown throughout the beginning of the story, “ One morning I caught my foot in the crack where two trees joined. “Mama!” I was out much later than I'd meant to be” (Gardner 18). Grendel is out exploring the world and got his foot caught in a branch and is crying for his mother. Seeing this event from
The “Monstrous ogress” was “savage in her grief,” and her actions become even more beastly than her sons (Beowulf 1258-76). Women in this Germanic Warrior society were meek, so the actions of Grendel’s mother greatly contrast with the typical behavior of a woman in this time period. Grendel’s mother’s gruesome actions are beastly in nature, but her emotions of outrage and grief for the murder of her son are human. Once again, Beowulf’s victory of the savage monster shows the overall theme of good winning against evil.
Grendel seems to want to fall of nightmare cliff, the darkness is dragging him closer to the edge. “I seem to desire the fall, and though I fight it with all my will I know in advance that I can 't win”. Grendel 's final words wish all of his enemies the same situation as him, which is death by a trick. Before his final breaths he exclaims, “Poor Grendel had an accident,” I whisper. “So may
Grendel in the novel displays the idea that he is far more superior than mankind. He mentions, "I am swollen with excitement, bloodlust and joy and a strange fear that mingle in my chest like the twisting rage of a bonfire" (Gardner 167-168). Grendel knows that that the people fear him because he is different and he uses that to his advantage. The "Monster", Grendel, seems to be fascinated in attacking Meadhall and is not frightened at all. Although he is brave in the novel, Grendel in the epic poem is described in being scared and weak on the attack at Meadhall.
Beowulf: Good Vs. Evil The balance of good and evil in Beowulf by Seamus Heaney is apparent in the characters Grendel, Grendel’s mother, Beowulf and Wiglaf. Grendel is a slayer and kills the Danes in Heorot Hall. Grendel’s mother comes for revenge of her son and in the process kills Hrothgar’s friend and adviser, Aeschere.
John Gardner gave Grendel emotions that the reader was able to see and hear through his own words. Grendel told tales of his childhood causing the reader to become invested in Grendel’s past giving the feeling of a connection. As in the way he describes instances of his imaginative play, “I use to play games when I was young…explored our far-flung underground world in an endless wargame of leaps onto nothing…quick whispered plottings with invisible friends” (Gardner 15). Consequently, this information gives the feeling of sympathy for Grendel, for his lonely childhood and circumstance. Gardner continues to play on the sympathies of the reader after Grendel’s first interaction with the Danes.
Beowulf is the main hero in the poem, and he travels to the land of the Danes to help King Hrothgar get rid of the monster Grendel. After having slain Grendel, there is still a huge crisis present. Grendel’s mother comes to the Hall of Heorot to avenge the death of her kinsmen by killing Aeschere. Aeschere is one of Hrothgar’s most trusted advisors, and his loss bear’s heavy on Hrothgar’s heart. In the culture displayed in Beowulf, the bonds of friendship and kinsmanship are very important to the characters.
In the poem Beowulf, there is a contrast between good and evil. This distinction is presented through the monsters Grendel and his mother, in parallel to the hero Beowulf. The themes of evil and monstrosity are therefore used in the story, as a way to create the notion of Grendel and his mother as monsters. Beowulf therefore appears as a character representing good. Although Beowulf shows traits of abnormal power, like Grendel and his mother, his motifs are interpreted differently.