Passed down through various societies for multiple generations, the poem Beowulf is a true literary masterpiece. While first spread by word of mouth, the work was later transcribed, translated, and transformed into numerous forms of literature and media. Due to this, we know that their is not one true Beowulf. As Professor Martin Foys once said, “each generation gets the version of Beowulf it deserves”. These various adaptations led to differing tales of the conquests of Beowulf, as is the case with the first of the three agons, Beowulf’s clash with Grendel. Seamus Heaney’s new verse translation and Robert Zemecki’s movie adaptation portray this clash in differing ways, and the root cause of this is Grendel 's physical appearance. Heaney depicts …show more content…
Heaney’s descriptions of Grendel during the first agon represent a battle hardened creature, with a heart full of hate and rage. On the other hand, Zemecki’s half-breed herot is a creature who has been abandoned by his father and the rest of society, forced to live a desolate life in his mother’s lair. Where we encounter the two Grendel’s also helps us contrast who they are. We first encounter Heaney’s Grendel alone prowling in the borderlands, signifying him as a independent creature. Meanwhile, we first see Zemecki’s Grendel writhing in pain in his mother’s home. This helps depict this Grendel as a child-like creature, who does not wish to harm others. Finally, the differing reasons of the two Grendels’ decision to attack Herot is a direct result of their physical features. Heaney’s Grendel has no known physical weakness, so he chooses to attack Herot out of anger and evil, leading to the clash of humanity and monstrosity when Beowulf defeats Grendel. On the contrary, Zemecki’s Grendel is the one first struck by physical pain due to his sensitive ears. He thus attacks in retaliation, creating a fight between himself and Beowulf and the rest of the
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.
The anglo-saxons have beliefs about fate and how people were destined to fulfill some of the legends. Many stories have fate as an underlying tone that impacts the flow of the article. “.... Heard how Grendel filled nights with horror and quickly commanded a boat fitted out….” (112-113) in the beginning you can infer someone will come along to defeat Grendel. The person destined to defeat Grendel is a young warrior named Beowulf. Beowulf is centered around fate and the inevitable results that are planned with any action.
When Grendel is first presented, he is described as
Grendel's state of mind was terrified during his battle with Beowulf. The author provides an example throughout the poem explaining how Grendel was scared when he was fighting Beowulf. In Line 306-310 the author stated how Grendel was in terror when Beowulf was defeating him, " The sounds changed,the Danes started in new terror, covering in their beds as the terrible scream of the almighty's enemy sang in the darkness, the horrible shrieks of pain and defeat. " By stating explicitly Grendel became weak because Beowulf had more strength than him. In Line 314-316 the author provided an example that supports another reason on how Grendel became weak from his battle with Beowulf. "
In Beowulf, the characterization of Grendel directly opposes his portrayal in Grendel. Because the point of view of Beowulf is third person omniscient, Grendel’s thoughts and emotions are not explicit. His philosophies present in Grendel do not appear in Beowulf. The citizens of Herot view Grendel as a wild, evil beast: “Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend/Grendel who haunted the moors, the wild/Marshes, and made his home in a hell” (Beowulf 101-103). The author of Beowulf created Grendel to be a malevolent and powerful being.
To begin, in the book Grendel, the main character Grendel starts off mechanical. Grendel is a monster who is often found near the Dane’s Mead Hall on the hill. Practically every day for the past twelve years Grendel has a same perfunctory routine of killing men; which was very sadistic of him. Then one day, Grendel has an accident. A warrior named Beowulf and Grendel are battling
Grendel in the novel is very different from the monster in Frankenstein because Grendel wants to and enjoys to humiliate and kill people, the monster in Frankenstein wants to be able to socialize with people without them getting frightened by his appearance. They are alike because they are both alone, they both frighten people with their looks, and they are not welcome in the human world. Grendel in the novel knows he is a fright to people, he is danger. He doesn’t seem to have a problem with that, but at the same time is not proud of it, either. He does like the pain of others, preferably king Hrothgar and his men.
Zemeckis).Another example of Grendel weakness and him being a kid is when he passes in the cave with his mom. Grendel body wither away to a smaller kids size body, as his mom comfort him. During this they had a conversation about how it happen and Grendel said “Mother. They hurt me, Mother.”, which shows relationship with his mom and how he depends on her. Without her he is left without no one, and shows that he is truly
The epic poem “Beowulf”, translated by Burton Raffel, focuses on a hero by the name of Beowulf who goes on a quest to rescue King Hrothgar and his people from an egregious monster by the name of Grendel. This Anglo-Saxon tale gives insight into the values and beliefs of the people from whom the story originated. Their war-centered ideology and views on loyalty and courage were the principles that the Anglo-Saxon culture was founded upon. While warfare was a focal point in their lifestyle, it was far from a savage, barbaric state of fighting. Honor and prestige were bestowed upon those who died during battle and selflessness for fellow warriors was a fundamental belief.
In my opinion, I didn’t understand Grendel’s character from the story. I honestly thought the two stories were actually confusing. When comparing the two stories, there are many things to think about though. First of all, Beowulf is a poem, while Grendel is a novel. Secondly, in the poem Beowulf, Grendel is described as a beastly monster who doesn’t think the way humans do.
He is big and strong, a descendant of Sheild, the founder of the Geats, aka the Danes. On the other hand, Grendel and his mother are not good
This is the beginning of Grendel falling directly into the role that the dragon said he would need to fill. Grendel’s murderous tendencies completely reflect the monstrous side of his personality and the more he kills the more he grows insane, separating from rational, humanistic thought. “I am swollen with excitement, bloodlust and joy and a strange fear that mingle in my chest like the twisting rage of a bone-fire... I am blazing, half-crazy with joy” (168). It is clear that, by the time Beowulf arrives, Grendel has embraced the fact that he is required to be evil, despite the fact that he previously claimed he would oppose that destiny.
Grendel in both stories is described as a vicious "Monster", but is viewed differently. The character of Grendel, in the novel by John Gardner, portrays a different visualization than that of Grendel in the epic poem Beowulf. In the novel the story is told in first person point of view which gives Grendel human qualities while Grendel in Beowulf is told in third person point of view not giving Grendel his standpoint. In both works, the authors give two different perspectives of Grendel. Grendel in the novel is not seen as a "Monster", but as a human that has emotions and is very sympathetic about everything that comes his way.
Argument Essay: Beowulf and Grendel Many people have read or heard of the epic poem of Beowulf, which spins a tale of Grendel, the monster, attacking the admirable Danes and their king, Hrothgar. Some may not be as aware of a book titled Grendel written by John Gardner in 1971. Gardner’s book tells a completely different account of the more familiar tale of Beowulf, from the perspective of Grendel, the monster. The narrator from Grendel portrays a more plausible, powerful story than the excerpt from Beowulf by drawing the reader in with a more emotional viewpoint from the character Grendel, making him more relatable by giving him humanlike qualities, and clarifying why certain events took place in Beowulf.
The story of Beowulf has been an oral tradition since the beginning of time and has been interpreted many ways. For our project, Hannah, Angela and I drew a wanted posted sent out from King Hrothgar. The purpose of the poster is to find someone who can defeat Grendel. In the description provided, we put together the best characterization of Beowulf possible without listing his name. The goal of this was to show that Beowulf was the sole hero for the danes during this time.