Beowulf Grendel Essay

classic Anglo-Saxon tale, Beowulf, readers find themselves engrossed in the character of Grendel. This interest led to John Gardner’s creation of Grendel, a novel that tells Grendel’s side of the story and gives readers a deeper understanding of the character’s personality and morals. While the two stories use the same characters, they are still extremely different. Beowulf’s predictable narrative and basic language make the story very easy to comprehend, while Grendel is filled with complex phrasing

In the Anglo-Saxon Beowulf and John Gardner’s Grendel, the difference in the point of views give a change to the author’s style and the narration of the two writings. The difference in literary purpose behind the two writings affects the motivation and the language. Beowulf is about a warrior who fights a huge monster to show his loyalty to a king that was not even his. It was written in the Anglo-Saxon time period and this greatly affects the way the story is written. Grendel is written from the

“Grendel” was written by an American author known as John Gardner in 1971. This novel retells a part from the poem Beowulf; however, it is told from the view of Grendel. Throughout the novel there are a multitude of characteristics shown by Grendel. After comprehending the novel from Grendel’s point of view it more pronounced that he is rather “good” than evil, and more so a character that is sympathized for. Many times the perspective people have is what leads them to make predictions about the

Beowulf, the epic, follows an Anglo-Saxon society, the Danes, during the middle ages, a time when religion and bloodline dictated social hierarchy. The king was the dominant figure, destined to be chosen because of his ancestors, who preceded him as king. The poet introduces Grendel, a monster, condemned by god for his demonic bloodline. These factors in addition to society’s outlook on impiety, shape Grendel as a menace to society. Therefore, the Beowulf poet characterizes Grendel as an outcast

Beowulf and Grendel are two well written pieces of literature that feature a monster-like figure and his struggle to overcome his urge to kill. Based on the passages read, the poem and book feature the same basic plot line. However, the stories’ reflection of the main character show both similarities and differences due to Beowulf’s third person point of view compared to Grendel’s first person point of view. Ultimately, the change of perspective between the two stories does not not impact the outer

Beowulf, an old English epic, helps the reader visualize how the Anglo-Saxon culture was. This epic uses many different types of literary archetypes from the Anglo-Saxon literature. Beowulf is about a young prince making a journey to Denmark to help Hrothgar, the king of the Danes. The author of the English epic Beowulf, shows how Grendel is such an outcast, Beowulf's battles between good and evil, and how heroic he was throughout his life.  Grendel is an outcast in the land of the Danes, which prompts

In the novel Grendel and the epic poem Beowulf the reader receives a better experience through a first person point of view. In John Gardner's Grendel which is written in first person the reader is constantly engaged. The authors use of first person provides the reader of Grendel’s thoughts and emotion. While, in the epic poem Beowulf which is written in 3rd person does not give the reader any personal connection. By using first person we have more insight on the characters inner emotions and the

According to Jack Lynch a characteristic of an epic poem is that “[there is] a concern with the fate of a nation or people” (Lynch, Epic). In Beowulf, the concern is Grendel coming to Heorot and killing Danes. An example of this in Beowulf is “suddenly then/ the God-cursed brut was creating havoc:/ greedy and grim he grabbed thirty men” (Beowulf 120-123). Grendel was killing the king’s men by the hundreds over the span of several years. That was a significant amount of the population, for the Medieval

Grendel, the offspring of Cain the outcast, is a demon. He is a scaly creature that lives in a swampy area. He is a reptilian human, with spikes on him. He is a human-like figure, in which the way he stands. He stands on two feet, and has arms. In the book Beowulf removes Grendel’s arm and shoulder, defeating him. This must mean he has a shoulder blade and can walk like a human. He also has razor-sharp talons as it says in the book “Venturing closer, his talon was raised to attack Beowulf where he

Grendel, by John Gardner published in 1971, takes a different view of the original novel Beowulf. The plot of the Grendel is analogous to the Shakspearnean play, Macbeth in many approaches. Macbeth is a play that originated during the 1600's which incorporated aspects of sorcery, witches and violence during a medieval era. In the beginning, Macbeth is an honoured warrior in Scotland, but later craves for power; hence, he kills the king and rules the country. At this point, there were three witches