Grendel Vs Beowulf

Two Sides of a Monsters Story. "There are two sides to every story and the truth usually lies somewhere in the middle." Paul. J Alessi. “Beuwulf” is the oldest surviving long poem in Old English and is recognized as one of the most important works of Old English literature. The poem was written in England between the eighth and the early eleventh century. The author was an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, referred to as the "Beowulf poet". Scandinavia is the know setting for the poem. The poem basically consists of three mayor battles. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to assist Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall in Heorot was under attack by a feared monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf defeats him, Grendel's mother attacks …show more content…
I find good and evil to be main conflicts found in the poem, “Beowulf”, and how these concepts cancel each other out. God comes to portray good, and evil is set aside for what awaits the hero. Beowulf usually prayed to God asking to be blessed with strength for his battles. After killing thousands upon thousands, Grendal was Beowulf’s first opponent. Evil always seemed to take the form of monsters, like Grendal. Monsters where known to shed innocent blood for no reason other than being hungry or just wanting to be over the law. In “Beowulf”, Grendal is the antagonist of all wrong doings. He is the evil villain both feared and hated by all. The poem, narrated in third person point of view, allows the reader to see Grendal through the eyes of his victims basically describing him as the most horrifying, blood thirsty creature that roamed the …show more content…
In the epic, Grendel is portrayed as a simple monster who is plain evil and has no emotions what so ever. Gardner gives a chance for Grendel to tell his side of the story. Grendel telling the story makes us feel pity towards him which was lacking in the original “Beowulf”. In the epic Grendel was a monster who was pure evil but in “Grendel”, he is almost childlike which makes us feel pity towards him. Because the main character narrates the novel, raw emotion is described. For example during his first raid, “boiling like a flooded ditch with glee” (79). Because he describes this in first person, it feels personal, but this was lost narrated in third person. We would feel differently towards Grendel if it was said through someone else. Then again, whether narrated in third or first person we always get just one side of the story described by the person who is telling it. Neither side can be set