Grendel’s characterization

Beowulf, known as the oldest poem in the written English language, describes a fascinating story involving the heroic deeds of an epic hero called Beowulf and a monster named Grendel. Beowulf arrives to the Danes to protect them from a terrible creature that, disturbed by the parties in the great hall of Herot, is killing the men of King Hrothgar. Like any hero, Beowulf wants to prove that he is the strongest and, afterwards, he will also defeat other enemies.

Grendel, on the other hand, is depicted as an outcast monster who, tired of being not accepted, decides to terrorize Herot Hall once night falls.

The aim of this essay is to outline Grendel’s main characteristics arising from “The Battle with Grendel” extract.

The poem is characterized by the typical traits of Anglo-Saxon poetry and, through the use of alliterations, caesuras and kennings, it helps the intelligent reader imagine the

Grendel inhabits eerie places described as“moors” and “mist bauds”, which both contribute to the idea of a gloomy environment. While describing the monster’s shelter, the author repeated the sound “s” many times as to recall silence giving the feeling of a forthcoming tragic event. The intelligent reader imagines thus a cold and narrow habitat suitable for a frightening monster. Grendel is an outsider: he exists and lives beyond the boundaries of human society.

Grendel is described using several references to God throughout the whole poem, indicating the influence of Christianity in the writing of the work. The beast is indeed described as a descendant of Cain or with the kenning “God-curse”. The use of these metaphors exploits the mysteriousness of enigmatic entities, such as God and Cain, to reflect an aura of secrecy and thriller also in the figure of Grendel. Moreover, another adjective with which the monster is described is "greedily". The alliteration of "g" has a very hard sound in order to emphasize Grendel's ferocity.

The monster shows characteristics typical of predators: it seems to have no soul and his whole life is dedicated to killing everything in his sight.

Grendel features some human traits and some animal traits as a hybrid or chimeric creature. He is always represented in a dark and half-light atmosphere, almost like a devil coming out of the murkiness ready to jump on his prey.

During the battle against Beowulf, Grendel is a being angry and ready to destroy anything: he gobbles men while drinking their blood as an irrational and instinctive creature. Several Grendel’s actions as “grabbed and mauled”, “bit into his bone-lappings”, “bolted down his blood”, “gorged on him lumps” and “eaten up” show vividly the his hunger and desire to kill preys.

Despite the cruelty, the intelligent reader has the impression that Grendel is a lonely creature. In fact, he lives in inhospitable territories alone and, even once defeated by Beowulf, he returns to the swamps in his "desolate lair”.

To sum up, thanks to the meticulous description and the use of kennings and alliterations, the intelligent reader has the feeling that Grendel is a merciless beast to be feared and, at the same time, an outcast from society due to his monstrosity.