A Comparison of Grendel in Beowulf and John Gardners...

In both works, Beowulf and Grendel, Grendel himself is generally given the same connotations. He is given kennings, called names, referred to as the evil spawn of Cain, and even viewed as a monster; but why? Why in both books is he a wicked, horrible, person who is harshly excluded from everyone? After stumbling upon John Gardners book, it was halfway expected that some excuse would be made for Grendel; that he wasnt really the inexorable monster the thanes in Beowulf portrayed him as. But all it really did was make him worse. What is the message we are being sent about Grendel? In Beowulf, we hardly know anything about Grendel. His name is barely mentioned and instead he is given an abundant amount of kennings. In Grendel, we learn†¦show more content†¦They hammer this vision of Asgard and what you will get if you die in an act of bravery so that their people will idolize the great Beowulf and want to do heroic things such as he did. That is the only reason he was even ment ioned at all. However, in John Gardners book, we are given knowledge about Grendel, exposed to his existentialism, and provided many different examples of theories that the Anglo-Saxons would violently shriek upon hearing. Yet he still portrays him as a monster? One philosophy we are exposed to in Grendel is Platos Allegory of the Cave. In this philosophic viewpoint, a man is chained to the ground all of his life facing nothing but a cave wall. The only things he will ever see are the shadows of the objects people walk by the fire with. If a vase were to be held, how would he know what it was besides knowing what the shadow looked like? If he were let out into the real world he wouldnt recognize anything because he would be ignorant to everything but shadows. In Gardners book, Grendel himself was kept in a cave representing ignorance for most of his childhood. When he finally came out he did nothing but terrorize and eat the people. Is ignorance really such a bad thing under certain circumstances? John Gardner wrote his book with a purpose, to exploit Grendel in every way and to give readers an understanding about the way he has become. The Anglo-Saxons didnt want their loyalShow MoreRelated A Comparison of Nihilistic and Christian Archetypes in Beowulf and John Gardners Grendel2146 Words   |  9 PagesGrendel, Beowulf and the Relationship Between Nihilistic and Christian Archetypes The Wisdom god, Woden, went out to the king of trolls†¦and demanded to know how order might triumph over chaos. â€Å"Give me your left eye,† said the king of trolls, â€Å"and I’ll tell you.† Without hesitation, Woden gave up his left eye. â€Å"Now tell me.† The troll said, â€Å"The secret is, Watch with both eyes!† Woden’s left eye was the last sure hope of gods and men in their kingdom of light surrounded by darkness. AllRead MoreThe Sonnet Form: William Shakespeare6305 Words   |  26 Pagesimportant sonnet sequences of this period.) Sonnets were also written during the height of classical English verse, by Dryden and Pope, among others, and written again during the heyday of English Romanticism, when Wordsworth, Shelley, and particularly John Keats created wonderful sonnets. Today, the sonnet remains the most influential and important verse form in the history of English poetry. Two kinds of sonnets have been most common in English poetry, and they take their names from the greatest poets