The Battle with Grendel is an extract from Beowulf, an epic poem written between 8^th and 9^th century in Britain. This text tackles the fight between Grendel, a monster, and Beowulf, the hero that defends the village. Grendel is an unhuman monster which has begun to attack a village in Denmark caped from King Hrothgar, therefore the king called Beowulf to defend the people and he accepted.

In this extract is recounted the victory of Beowulf on the monster during his attack. What is interesting is the description created for Grendel in the text, indeed it is described as a cruel and brutal monster. Starting from his physical aspects, he has a loathsome thread, therefore he is considered monstrous before seen.

Then, despite having a simile-human denotation, he is characterized with animal and unhuman aspects, such as talons. Also, his actions transmit fear and strength, in fact he destroys buildings quite easy and eats people, drinking their blood, too. Therefore, he is cruel and creates a terrifying image in reader’s mind.

Thus, Grendel is physical connoted, he is a destructive monster which terrifies everyone. However, there are many religious references as God-cursed or captain of evil that magnify this meaning and create another meaning linked to religion.

The target of the characterisation is to make the reader scared of Grendel, that represents evil and sin, and side for Beowulf.