Beowulf and Grendel

In the last two chapters of Grendel, Beowulf and the Geats arrive to save the Danes. Beowulf is strikingly different from how he was described and portrayed in the original epic poem. Although the Beowulf in the novel Grendel has the same physical attributes and strength as Beowulf did in the original epic poem, the similarities end right there. In the epic poem, Beowulf is portrayed as a great man who possesses all the heroic qualities an archetypal hero should have. He represented the values and morals of the wergild society that dominated back then. Honor, generosity, and loyalty all perfectly characterized Beowulf. There was no question in the epic poem that Beowulf was the good guy. However, John Gardiner changes this in Grendel. He makes Beowulf look so different from the original Beowulf in the epic poem that I was unsure of the character Beowulf after I had finished reading the very confusing novel Grendel. To me, Beowulf seemed really creepy. During the fight between him and Grendel, Beowulf starts to menacingly whisper very weird things in Grendel’s ears. Perhaps it’s because the readers, including myself, were so used to Grendel that we felt sympathetic towards him. It’s almost like the roles of Grendel and Beowulf completely switched in the novel Grendel. Grendel in the original epic poem is a complete heartless monster who does not think and just kills as many people as he can. I think that I got perhaps attached to the character Grendel. In the novel, Grendel is portrayed as a monster who was abandoned and very lonely. He also doesn’t know who he really is himself. The novel centers around Grendel setting out on a quest to really discover himself. Also, Grendel thinks a lot. I would have never expected Grendel to be a thoughtful monster from the original epic poem, but he is in the novel. He constantly thinks about not only events, but the world in general. The opening chapter in the novel took me by surprise. He appears to have a very sinister view of the world but at the same time seems very knowledgeable. He completely understands the mechanical nature of the ram. It is revealed in the next chapter that he began to understand that the world was a mechanical place from the bull he encounters. When Grendel accidentally entraps himself between the tree trunks, a bull appears. Grendel is at first frightened by the bull as he looks as if he is ready to attack. When the bull begins to run at Grendel to pierce him with his horns, Grendel is frightened. However, when the bull tries to attack the same spot every single time he attacks, grendel starts to laugh as he realizes the harmlessness of the bull because he is a mechanical animal who can not think. It is things like this that portrays Grendel as a monster who constantly thinks about his surroundings. In the end when Grendel dies, I honestly felt kind of sad.