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Journal 11

            The first chapter of Grendel begins with Aries, the Ram; Aries also begins the astrological cycle.  However, the first chapter is not the beginning of Grendel’s story—it is the middle.  Grendel mentions that this is “the twelfth year of [his] idiotic war.”  He says that he has been doing the same thing over and over again; he is caught in an endless pattern.  The cycle of astrology is a cycle because it repeats itself every year.  In this chapter, Grendel’s theory is that the world is a repetition and endless cycles; this philosophy, first presented by the Orphic sages, is one of the oldest philosophies in the West.  Chapter two is about Grendel’s childhood.  Grendel leaves his cave for the first time and explores the outside world.  When he gets his foot stuck in a tree, there is no one to help him, not even his mother.  This is when he comes up with the idea that “The world is all pointless accident…I exist, nothing else.”  This is solipsism because he denies everything except the existence of himself. 

In the third chapter, the Shaper “challenges” Grendel’s philosophy of solipsism, and he introduces him to sophistry.  The Shaper’s words had the power to make fantastic things seem true.  Although Grendel knew that the Shaper was lying, he believed the Shaper also.  In chapter four, the Shaper talks about good and evil, light and dark.  When Grendel finds out that he is on the evil side, he goes to the mead hall to repent for his evilness.  The dragon introduces Grendel to nihilism and existentialism in chapter five.  The dragon stresses that there is no such thing as God, and life does not have a meaning.  Grendel does not understand the dragon, and he does not want to believe the dragon. 

Grendel does not agree with the dragon, but his adopts a new philosophy: he is a skeptic.  Now, he accepts that other beings, other than he exists, but he labels them as enemies.  Grendel doubts everything and has decided that he will destroy all of the hypocritical orders that men have created (heroism, poetry, etc.)  At the end of chapter six, Grendel says, “So much for heroism…So much, also, for the alternative visions of blind old poets and dragons.”  In the seventh chapter, Wealthow exposes Grendel to Christianity.  While the Shaper talks about the Old Testament in his songs, Wealthow brings New Testament ideals with her when she comes to Hrothgar’s kingdom.  Wealthow’s faith balances Grendel’s skepticism.

In chapter eight, Grendel hears about Machiavelli’s statecraft from Hrothulf.  Hrothulf is Hrothgar’s nephew.  After Hrothulf’s father dies, he goes to live with Hrothgar and his family.  Hrothulf realizes that the rich have too much power.  Hrothulf believes that the people should have a say in government also.  Chapter nine reveals the hypocrisy of the young priests’ philosophies.  Although the young priests preach of “The Great Destroyer,” they do not believe in him.  When Grendel hears Ork, the old priest, tell the other priests of his encounter with “The Great Destroyer,” they do not believe him.  Grendel develops a Nietzschean philosophy.  The Shaper dies, so Grendel says, “We’re on our own again.  Abandoned.”  He is pessimistic because the world is empty without the Shaper.

Grendel’s philosophy in chapter eleven is nihilism.  Nihilists are like existentialists, in that nihilists deny the existence of any natural meaning or value in the world.  Nihilism is often associated with extreme pessimism and radical skepticism.  Grendel is like Jean-Paul Sarte because like Sarte, Grendel believes that humans are isolated individuals in an accidental world where God does not exist.  Chapter eleven shows the reader Sarte’s most concise version of nihilism.  The astrological sign of chapter twelve, the last chapter of Grendel, is Pisces, the Fish.  Pisces is the end of the astrological cycle.  As Beowulf is battling Grendel, he smashes Grendel’s head into a wall.  Grendel is “hit” by reality, and he becomes an empiricist.  Beowulf also makes Grendel “sing of the walls.”  Grendel makes poetry for the first time.  He realizes that poetry is an accident, but a great one.  After he has sung of the beauty of walls, Grendel cannot say, “I exist, nothing else.”  According to empiricists, only objects of experience are real.  Now, Grendel rejects everything but experience.

Like the cycle of astrology, Grendel’s philosophical journey is circular.  In the beginning, Grendel is a solipsist.  He believes that only he exists.  Then, he learns about sophistry from the Shaper.  The Shaper could make the most unbelievable things seem true.  Also, the Shaper talks about the theology of the Old Testament.  Light is separate from darkness, and good is separate from evil.  Grendel finds out that he is a descendant of Cain; therefore, he is cursed by God.  The dragon tells Grendel about existentialism; the dragon believes that life does not have meaning, and God does not exist.  Then, Grendel is a skeptic, but he is balanced by Wealthow’s Christianity.  Hrothulf talks of Machiavellian statecraft, and the young priests do not practice what they preach.  After the Shaper dies, Grendel has the pessimism of Nietzche.  After being a nihilist, Grendel becomes an empiricist.  An empiricist becomes a solipsist once he or she questions the existence of external objects.

Journal 2

              In literature, every hero has someone against them.  This enemy, foe, rival, villain, etc. fights the hero, and he or she tries to kill the hero.  In the epic poem, Beowulf, the hero, Beowulf, must fight a powerful and blood thirsty monster whose name is Grendel.  Beowulf is set in Northern Europe; the land of the Danes is Denmark, and the land of the Geats is Sweden.  In the land of the Danes, King Hrothgar and his people are threatened by Grendel.  Every night for twelve years, Grendel has come to Hrothgar’s mead hall and eats some of Hrothgar’s men.  Beowulf, who is from the land of the Geats, hears of Grendel’s terror, so he leaves his homeland to fight Grendel.  Beowulf is “the strongest of the Geats—greater/And stronger than anyone anywhere in this world.”  Beowulf fights Grendel, ultimately, killing Grendel.  Since Grendel kills Hrothgar’s men out of pleasure and delight, he is portrayed as a greedy, evil, and horrible fiend.

            Grendel is a powerful and greedy demon.  “…Hrothgar’s men lived happy in his hall/Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend…”  People saw Grendel as a terrifying monster, a “shepherd of evil.”  Since people treated him like a monster, he acted like a monster.  People hated him, and he hated people.  Grendel did not care about people’s lives; he only cared about his own life.  When Grendel attacked Herot, Hrothgar’s mead hall, Hrothgar and his people would mourn for the loss of their loved ones.  Grendel had been attacking Herot for twelve years, so grief and misery hung over Hrothgar’s kingdom.  Hrothgar felt helpless because none of his men could kill Grendel.  As a result, “Herot/Stood empty, and stayed deserted for years…”  Before Grendel attacked Herot, Hrothgar and his men were happy.  In Herot, they would boast and listen to the scop tell stories of great heroes and kings.  Herot was a place where thanes could come together to drink and feast.  Herot protected Hrothgar’s people from wild animals and other tribes.  Grendel, however, could get into Herot because he was very strong and powerful.  Since Grendel was a menace to Hrothgar’s people, Hrothgar wanted to get rid of him.

            Grendel is evil and fierce.  Grendel symbolizes evil, hatred, and destruction because he does not care about the lives of others, especially humans.  He killed people out of pleasure and delight.  Since he threatened the well-being of Hrothgar’s people, “the best and most noble/Of his council debated remedies…”  Hrothgar’s council held secret sessions and wondered “what the bravest of warriors could do.”  The council would pray to God or sacrifice to the Norse gods.  Since times were desperate, they would also look for the Devil’s support and guidance.  The council’s solutions to its problem did not work.  Even Hrothgar’s strongest and bravest warriors could not stop Grendel.  Grendel, an evil and fierce monster, would continue being a nuisance until Beowulf defeats and kills him.

            A terrible fiend, Grendel is the offspring of one of Cain’s descendants.  “He was spawned in that slime,/Conceived by a pair of those monsters born/Of Cain.  In the story of Cain and Abel, Cain kills his brother Abel out of jealousy.  Cain and Abel were sons of Adam and Eve; Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden because they disobeyed God.  Since Abel seemed favored by his parents, Cain killed him, becoming the first murderer.  Cain thought that no one saw him commit this crime, but God saw him.  God cursed him, and Cain became the father of all evil beings: monsters, demons, and evil spirits.  “The Almighty drove/Those demons out, and their exile was bitter, Shut away from men.”  Since Grendel was a fiend and monster, people would treat him with hatred and contempt.  As a result, Grendel treated people with hatred and scorn also.  Cain and all of his descendants were punished forever by God.  Since Hrothgar’s people treated Grendel as a terrible fiend, he acted like a terrible fiend.

            Grendel is portrayed as an evil, blood thirsty, greedy, and terrible fiend because he ate Hrothgar’s people out of pleasure and delight.  People treated him with hate, so he hated people.  He did not care about the lives of others, especially people.  He only cared about himself.  Hrothgar’s people called him a “shepherd of evil” and a “guardian of crime” he was a powerful and fierce demon.  Hrothgar’s council had secret sessions to find solutions to their problem, but even Hrothgar’s strongest and bravest warriors could not kill Grendel.  As an offspring of a descendant of Cain, Grendel, along with other demons, monsters, fiends, and evil spirits, would be forever punished by God.  They are separated from humans because of their evil ways.  Grendel is a symbol of evil, hatred, and destruction because he destroyed the lives of Hrothgar and Hrothgar’s men with his evil and hatred for humans.

Journal 8

               A parody is a mocking imitation of a work of literature.  Grendel is a parody of Beowulf in that Grendel imitates and ridicules Beowulf.  Beowulf focuses on the ideal, Anglo-Saxon hero.  Beowulf is the epic hero because he embodies all of the values and heroic ideals of the Anglo-Saxon society.  Beowulf is brave, loyal, generous, and friendly.  Grendel’s main focus is the anti-hero, which mocks an epic hero.  Grendel is deprived from the rules and consequences of society.  He is an outlaw; he has no status in society, and he must wander on the fringes of society.  Grendel rejects values, rules, and attitudes of society and political establishment; he seeks to create his own rules and ethics.  Also, he is often angry.  When Grendel is fighting Unferth, he says, “I’ve never seen a live hero before.  I thought they were only in poetry.”  Unferth boasts about his heroism; he boasts about how he would die to protect is king and fellow thanes.  Grendel mocks Unferth because he rejects the values of society; thus, he does not believe in heroes.

            Using both Grendel and the dragon in a parodic manner, Gardner brings out the prominent points of contrasting philosophies.  In both Beowulf and Grendel, the Shaper’s songs captivate anyone who listens to him.  In his songs, the Shaper sings of the glorious deeds of men, and he focuses on the goodness of men.  The Shaper’s philosophy is very different from the dragon’s philosophy.  The dragon believes that life does not have meaning, and God does not exist.  He tries to stress his philosophy on Grendel, but Grendel does not understand him.  Therefore, he develops his own philosophy.  After listening to the dragon, Grendel emerges as a skeptic.  He believes that others exist, but he assumes that they are all his enemies.  Like Grendel and the dragon, people have contrasting philosophies.  Philosophies are based on people’s opinions about life.  Since everyone does not share the same opinions, there are many contrasting philosophies in the world.  

Journal 3

             Grendel’s attitude toward language changes throughout the course of the novel.  At first, in the second chapter, Grendel’s attitude toward language is indifference; he can make words, but his vocabulary is very basic and limited because he has not encountered humans.

Talking, talking, spinning a spell, pale skin of words that closes me in like a coffin.  Not in a language that anyone any longer understands.  Rushing, degenerate mutter of noises I send out before me…

Humans, especially the Shaper, influence his attitude toward language.  Grendel’s mother does not influence Grendel’s language because she cannot talk.  Grendel sees himself as superior to his mother because he can make words, but she cannot.  Sometimes Grendel’s mother tries to say words, but all she can do is make incoherent sounds.  When Grendel first meets humans, he finds out that they speak the same language he speaks, but in a different and “strange” way.  In chapter three, men start to roam the forest.  As the bands grew larger, they would cut down trees and make little villages with huts, mead halls, etc.  Grendel’s curiosity toward men grew.

Grendel realized that they are not like other forest animals; they could think and talk.  When Grendel hears the old, blind Shaper, he is mesmerized by the Shaper’s language.  The Shaper’s use of poetry made everything that he said “seem true and very fine.”  The Shaper would sing about men’s accomplishments and daring deeds.  Grendel said that he did not believe anything that the Shaper says because the Shaper is lying.  However, the Shaper’s words and songs are so powerful that Grendel wants to believe him.  Grendel says that the Shaper “reshapes the world;” the Shaper creates the meaning of the world through his songs.  The world becomes what the Shaper sings.  Grendel admits that he becomes more poetic because the Shaper affects his manner of speaking.

The language of the thanes also influences Grendel’s attitude toward language.  Grendel picks up curse words from men.  Grendel said, “I wasn’t even sure what they meant, though I had an idea: defiance, rejection of the gods…”  Grendel thought that it was ironic that the accursed did not “have words for swearing in!”  Grendel did not know about swearing and cursing until he met men.  After Grendel encountered men, his vocabulary and understanding of language grew.  He could speak their language without difficulty, and they could understand him.  When Grendel first raids Hrothgar’s mead hall, he meets Unferth.  As Unferth is boasting about his bravery and heroism, Grendel mocks him.  Unferth understands Grendel and is surprised that he can talk.  Unferth claims that he is a hero because he is willing to sacrifice his life for his king and his fellow thanes.  Grendel bases his opinion of a hero on Unferth; Grendel thinks that Unferth is a try-hard, not a hero.

By the end of the novel, Grendel has a broad vocabulary.  He uses more sophisticated and complex words as he is telling his story.  The first chapter of the novel is a flashback.  Since it is a flashback, Grendel already has an understanding about language.  He is irritated by animals’ stupidity; he sees animals as mechanical creatures.  When the Geats come to Hrothgar’s kingdom, Grendel raids Hrothgar’s mead hall for the last time.  As he is raiding it, he is “whispering, whispering, chewing the universe down to words.”  Even Grendel’s thoughts are more sophisticated.  Grendel refers to Beowulf as the stranger/the leader of the Geats because his name is never mentioned in this novel.  Beowulf also influences Grendel’s attitude toward language.  As Beowulf is fighting Grendel, he is whispering about the cycles of existence.  Grendel says that “his syllables lick at me, chilly fire.”  Men influence Grendel’s attitude toward language, and throughout the novel, Grendel’s knowledge and understanding of language grows and improves.

Journal 10

           I think that Gardner made the decision to use Grendel as a narrator because he wanted his readers to be able to “hear” Grendel’s side of the story.  Readers get a chance to find out about Grendel’s past.  Through Grendel, readers find out that Grendel was not always evil.  At first, Grendel did not bother humans because they did not bother him.  When Grendel first encountered humans, he realized that humans can think and make decisions; they are not like the animals, such as bulls, rams, deer, birds, etc.  Grendel lived in the forest many years before humans started to build their camps and mead-halls.  When tribes expanded their kingdoms, they destroyed the forest, leaving many forest animals homeless.  This enrages Grendel.  By seeing everything through Grendel’s eyes, readers can understand why Grendel hates humans.

            Grendel’s status as a monster affects the way he tells the story in that it makes him the anti-hero.  In Beowulf, Grendel is the villain; he is a heartless monster that terrorizes innocent people.  In Grendel, Grendel is still a monster, but it seems as though Grendel has a “reason” to kill humans.  When reading Grendel, readers can sympathize with Grendel.  Humans decide to settle by Grendel’s home.  Grendel tries to befriend humans; however, they think he is threatening them, so they try to kill him.  As a result, Grendel hates humans.  Grendel realizes that he is a monster because humans try to kill him whenever they see him.  Grendel is an outcast. He is eternally punished by God because he is a descendant of Cain.  Since Grendel is the narrator, readers can understand why Grendel became the monster that he is in Beowulf.

Journal 6

            A common theme in poems of the Anglo-Saxon period and heroic narratives like Beowulf is that people who live lives of bravery, generosity, and loyalty will be remembered as great heroes/warriors.  Also, characters in Anglo-Saxon poems and heroic narratives honor truth, love their personal freedom, and revere their king or lord.  Another common theme is that the main character goes on a quest.  In Beowulf, after hearing about Grendel’s terror and horror, Beowulf goes on a quest to kill Grendel.  In “The Seafarer,” the narrator is on a quest; he gives up all of his possessions and pleasures to obtain true happiness.  To the narrator, true happiness is being out on the sea.  The traveler in “The Wanderer” also gives up all of his earthly possessions, but he does it out of grief.  The traveler lost his lord, so he exiles himself from his homeland.  The characters in poems of the Anglo-Saxon period and heroic narratives choose to go on their quests; they do not have to accept the quest that is given to them.  Since Anglo-Saxons believed that loyalty and bravery were important values, they often included them in their literary works.

            A technique that poems of the Anglo-Saxon period have in common with heroic narratives is that the rhythm is free; there is not a specific pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables.  Another technique that Anglo-Saxon poems and heroic narratives have in common is that they have alliteration and kennings.  In “The Seafarer,” an example of alliteration is “When wonderful things were worked among them…”  In “The Wanderer,” a kenning for waves is sea-billows.  Parallelism is another technique that heroic narratives and Anglo-Saxon poems have in common.  An example of parallelism in “The Seafarer” is when the speaker talks about the longing he has for being at sea.  In the beginning, the speaker says, “hunger tore at my sea-weary soul;” later he says, “how often, how wearily,/ I put myself back on the paths of the sea.”  When the speaker was not on the sea, he felt emptiness in his soul; the sea was the only thing that could fill his emptiness.  In “The Wanderer,” the speaker uses parallelism to talk about his sense of loneliness.  “No one offered comfort, allowed/ Me feasting or joy.”  Later, he said, “That warmth is dead.”  The speaker exiled himself to the sea because he lost his lord.  He was looking for a place to live and a lord to replace the lord that he lost.  However, since no one knew him, no one offered him food, shelter, or comfort.  Since he does not feel welcome, the speaker says, “that warmth is dead.”  Anglo-Saxons used similar techniques in their poetry and heroic narratives; this made their literary works unique and different from other literary works.