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[|Kira's Article] - read all 9 pages (they're short) Title: Grendel

Author:John Gardner

Setting: the fourth century, B.C.E; Denmark

Main Characters: Grendel: an intelligent and temperamental monster. Lonely. Very little separates him from humans. Seeks an understanding of the seemingly meaningless world around him. The Dragon: Provides a vision of the world that is meaningless and empty. He is cranky and vulgar, and has a nihilistic view of life. Perceives the entirety of time and space, therefore is weary and cynical. The Shaper: A harpist and storyteller. Represents the power of art and imagination to create meaning in a meaningless world. He is an opponent or counterpoint to the dragon. Beowulf: Superhumanly strong, cold, mechanical, shows little emotion or personality, and has religiously influenced views. Hrothgar: King of the Danes (Scyldings). Grendel’s Mother: Grendel’s only kin or companion. Foul, either never knew how or forgot how to speak, tries to protect Grendel from the human world and his fate. Unferth - A Scylding hero who is unable to defeat Grendel in battle. Hrothulf - Hrothgar’s orphaned nephew. Red Horse - Hrothulf’s mentor and advisor. Ork - An old, blind, Scylding priest. Ork is a theologian.

Summary: Grendel has spent the last 12 years in a war against a band of humans. The main action of the book takes place in the last year of the war, but skips back in time to show the origin of the conflict and Grendel's personal history. When he was young, Grendel lived with his mother in a cave under water (with a surface of fire snakes) on the outskirts of human civilization. Grendel swims through the fire snakes and reaches the human world. He gets his foot stuck in a tree and is attacked by a bull, then some humans, and isn't rescued by his mother until at the highest point of danger. Grendel becomes fascinated with the world of man and watches as they evolve. He watches Hrothgar of the Scyldings develop into the most powerful king of the area. Inspired by a Shaper's words, Hrothgar builds a magnificent mead hall that he names Hart. Grendel finds the Shaper's visions fascinating and becomes ashamed at his own brute, bestial nature. Upset by his split feelings about the Shaper, Grendel visits a dragon for some advice. The dragon belittles the Shaper and declares all moral and philosophical systems pointless and irrelevant. Grendel gradually adopts this worldview and becomes enraged at the humans. He beings to raid Hart periodically, starting the 12-year war. He defeats Unferth, one of the mightiest soldiers, and insults him by mocking his ideas of heroism. A few years later, Hrothulf, Hrothgar’s nephew, comes to live at Hart. Hrothulf plans a revolutionary overthrow of the government, but his counselor, Red Horse, tries to convince him that all governments are inherently evil and revolution replaces one corrupt system with another. In the winter of the final year of the war, after watching a Scylding religious ceremony, Grendel meets an old, blind priest, Ork, and pretends to be the supreme Scylding deity, the Destroyer. Grendel leaves when 3 younger priest come to chastise Ork for his strange behavior, while a fourth priest is overjoyed by Ork’s vision. Later in the winter, the Shaper dies. Grendel experiences an increased feeling of dread, which his mother senses. She tries to warn him but she can only produce a gibberish phrase, which Grendel later interprets as “Beware of fish”. Geats arrive from overseas and their leader, Beowulf, has come to kill Grendel. Grendel is both frightened and excited. Unferth taunts Beowulf for losing a swimming race, and Beowulf coldly tells Unferth that he is misled and says he is doomed to hell because he killed both of his own brothers. When the Scyldings and Geats fall asleep, Grendel raids the mead hall, only to be surprised by Beowulf. Grendel slips on a pool of blood and Beowulf gains the upper hand. Beowulf whispers madly in Grendel’s ear, yells at him, cracks his head open against the wall, and rips of his arm. Grendel runs to the end of a cliff where animals gather round to watch him die. He whispers to them, “Poor Grendel’s has an accident…so may you all!”

Themes: Art as falsehood The pain of isolation

Motifs, Key words, Symbols: The seasons The zodiac Nihilism The bull The corpse Hart Worldveiws

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[|Beowulf Notecard.doc]