Comparing Grendel And Beowulf

Improved Essays
There is a very clear distinction between good and evil in the book Beowulf. Grendel and Beowulf can be seen as representatives for these two forces. In this essay these concepts will be compared and contrasted. As well as what these ideas say about Anglo-Saxon society.
Grendel is introduced right at beginning of the book as this monster who came from ancestors who were literally banished by God. So the things representing evil, in this case, are the monsters. Grendel starts to cause trouble once he hears singing and laughing, because he got jealous. This shows that he is dark because at the first mention of happiness he get mad and starts to kill people. There is a saying that says: “The devil is trying to steal my joy.” This captures

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    The character of Grendel in the novel written by John Gardener is more of an elaborate character, opposed to the character of Grendel in the epic poem Beowulf who is more of a dull character. Its easy to see that one story is told from the first person pov and the other is told from a third person pov, thus allowing the reader to connect more with gardeners Grendel than Beowulf. In Grendel you can have more of an emotional connection rather than just seeing him in Beowulf as a big ugly monster.…

    • 285 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    What separates the epic poem Beowulf and John Gardner’s Grendel is how the devil-spawn Grendel, is presented. Is he a monster set on destroying humanity, or is he a misunderstood creature that is just trying to make amends with Hrothgar and his people? Gardner’s Grendel is a retelling of the story of Beowulf, through the monster’s eyes in depth. On the other hand, the epic poem introduces Grendel briefly, yet assertively. He is described as a terrible, evil being spawned by the devil and shunned by the most high.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Grendel Vs Beowulf

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Grendel is a dark monster who lives off of terrorizing the Geats. The Geats live happily at their football practice every single day working hard and sweating with their star captain Beowulf. Grendel is the star captain who plays for Grendel High. The school is named after him because he punished the school until they named it after him. The reason that Beowulf High is named after Beowulf is because he is such a respectful person; his family name has lived on for him to carry and the whole town knows of him.…

    • 1339 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Although Beowulf always gets all the attention for being being the good guy, Unferth should have won that praise. Unferth is more noble than Grendel or Beowulf because he displays courage through chasing after Grendel to fight him and save Heorot, he displays honor by challenging Grendel to a fair fight, perseverance through his constant attempts to continue fighting Grendel, and truthfulness through admitting he isn’t strong and he is probably going to lose. To a Viking, being honorable meant staying true to your beliefs. Unferth does this in the mead hall owing to the fact that he doesn’t want to fight Grendel with Grendel at a massive disadvantage.…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Grendel, by John Gardner, offers an alternate perspective to the infamous events of Beowulf. An insight to the mind of a ruthless monster, one that slaughters all in it 's path, with no mercy. But is it that simple? Grendel is complex, composed of layer upon layer of conflicting thoughts and emotions. However, all of the character’s actions seem to imply an evil streak, of various degrees and visibility.…

    • 1247 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Heroes triumphing over monsters is a major theme in Beowulf, with characters being clearly on one side or the other. Often, however, heroes and monsters share characteristics, making the distinction between what makes someone good or evil more blurred. They share similarities to show how thin of a line there is between being a hero and a monster, and how easy it is to go down the wrong path. In Beowulf, the word fire is used to draw the similarities between Grendel and Beowulf, as well as to highlight what makes Grendel and monster and Beowulf a hero. Fire first appears to describe the death of Grendel, and emphasizes the characteristics that make him a monster.…

    • 405 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf, an old english poem documents the lives of the danes and a powerful hero named Beowulf, who saves them from a treacherous monster attacking their beloved mead-hall, Herot. Grendel the infamous monster is described as “Bearing from God’s hatred”(711), with “swift hard claws”(739). Although seen as a horrible creature, Grendel is not that different from the humans that hate him. In the book Grendel, by John Gardner, Gendel’s side of the story is told. Of the two books, Grendel is the better book.…

    • 226 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Beowulf” and “Grendel” are two stories of the same events. From two completely different perspectives. The story of “Beowulf” paints Grendel as a horrible heartless monster. However this is completely untrue. Between the two stories Grendel is the real victim.…

    • 654 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “I would back away into the darkness, furious at my stupid need to spy on them and I would glide to the next camp of men” (Pg. 33) Grendel is extremely fascinated by the humans even though he says he hates them deep down inside his curiosity side causes him to watch the humans. Grendel has a child like tendency to be intrigued with humans because all his life it was just him and his mother and now that he knows there is other beings he wants satisfy his curiosity by examining them. Grendel is fascinated by the humans because he doesn’t understand them just yet that’s why he is curious because he wants to know more about them. Grendel in the epic poem “Beowulf” is known a pure evil because of all the murders he has committed in Herot’s Hall. “That shepherd of evil.…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (Heaney 9-11). In Beowulf Grendel is known as the epitome of evil and he has been described as a “fiend out of hell” in the quote above. The poem portrays Grendel as the common enemy between the Geats and Thanes. The people perceive him to be be naturally corrupt and offensive in his own way. The people in Beowulf see Grendel and only see what he has done and they still do not see who he really is and they…

    • 524 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Grendel Versus Grendel Grendel can generally be described as a brutal monster, that to everyone's best guess came from the devil himself, however, we can see that there are differing descriptions of this violent, monstrous character. The depiction of Grendel in the novel by John Gardner, and the depiction of Grendel from the excerpt from Beowulf is mostly similar, both are seen as a brutal monster, but we see a more in depth analysis of who Grendel actually is specifically, in Gardner's description and he gives further detail in to Grendel's thoughts, personality and worries, whereas in the excerpt, we get little to no details or background on Grendel. Our first example in how Grendel is more developed in Gardener's interpretation is that…

    • 794 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The novel tells quite a different story and portrays Grendel as a “sad one, poor old freak!” (Gardner 6). It is clear to see that the poem is purposefully trying to make Grendel look like a cruel monster. If Grendel is a monster,…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Grendel Character Analysis

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In the novel Grendel by John Gardner, it tells the story of the epic poem of Beowulf, but from the “behemoth’s” point of view. This story gives a more sympathetic and altered portrayal of the creature known as Grendel. Grendel is speaking for himself and using empathy for his pain. It gives the reader the question of who the real evil in the world is, whether it is Monster or Men. In the beginning of the novel, Grendel is a misunderstood creature.…

    • 1570 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As you look around in this world you see that every person is different in their own way, either the way they dress, or the way they think. The difference you see is most likely influenced by the culture that they follow. Literary works may express many types of cultural differences depending when they might have been written and the authors' views. While Beowulf the epic poem is an opposing work towards the Beowulf and Grendel on the screen, the characterization of Beowulf in the epic poem is an unchanged person while the on screen Beowulf evolves throughout the movie.…

    • 1183 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf, Grendel Compare and contrast. In story telling there are often two sides to the story such as how it is shown throughout Beowulf and Grendel. Beowulf is a story from the viewpoint of the danes and favors them in their story, but in Grendef it is in favor of the young monster named Grendel. In this paper I will talk about the similarities and differences between the two stories, Beowulf, which is a book about a mighty hero that sets out to slay monsters and Grendel, which is the same story from the monster 's point of view.…

    • 1266 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays