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.