This chapter, you will notice, is written in a new style. Grendel is getting more creative in his writing, as if he is trying to perfect his art.
It is written like a play (a drama) and the whole thing plays out like a famous Shakespearean play.
It even has three soliloquies in it. Shakespeare is famous for his soliloquies.
We have several new characters mentioned in this chapter. The most important is King Hrothgar’s 14 year old nephew, Hrothulf. This kid’s dad was just murdered, so he has come to live with his uncle.
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Summary
Grendel’s script even has scenes.
Scene 1: The kid comes in and is welcomed by his aunt, Wealtheow. She is kind to him, but the old king just “frowns’ from his chair.
Hrothulf sits next to his two cousins, ages 3 and 4, who will one day be named the new kings of this land. Not him!
The Shaper still sings of “good deeds” and prospering.
And Grendel is still cynical. He notices that the newcomer sits between the two little boys and “cleans his knife.”
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Summary
Scene 2: Hrothulf Speaks.
He speaks of how the peasants live a stinking, poor life under Hrothgar and the wealthy upper class.
The are like dogs, and they go one praising the king.
The king (and the leader/rich class) rule by force, imposing the laws of the land to keep everyone in line. Philosophy.
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Summary
Scene 3: Hrothulf in the Woods
The kid is out in the woods one day and he talks of a huge tree.
This tree is so big that it shades the land of any sunlight, so nothing grows on the ground. It’s all darkness.
This tree is a metaphor for the King and the rich.
They stifle the light and “suck the life from the grass.” In this case, the grass is the peasants.
He thinks of snatching the daylight by using violence.
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Summary
Scene 4: Wealtheow Speaks
At the bedside of the confused, twisted teen. Wealtheow speaks. And she doesn’t hold nothing back.
She says that her kids will be the next kings. All the riches and gold are going to be theirs.
He will have to “grind out lean” where the cousins rule.
She says that she can not sleep since his arrival.
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Summary
Hrothulf does not speak much. Except to “his counselor.” His name is Red Horse. Social Commentary here!
Red Horse stinks. Literally and figuratively. He is almost like the Dragon was to Grendel earlier. He is leading the boy into action. And he enjoys it.
They talk of violent revolution. Totally changing the system from the way that it is now. They want the peasants to share in the wealth of the kingdom. This reminds me of the rise of communism and how Stalin came to power.
Red Horse talks for two pages on the “stinking fraud” that we call society, where “public force is the life and soul of every state.
Red Horse says that all governments are evil. Monstrously evil.
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Summary
Back at King Hrothgar’s House: I see the Zodiac sign here: The King wanting to survive and still have complete control.
Everyone knows that something is coming. The cute little, plump cousins play with Hrothulf on the floor, but Wealtheow is cautious.
Only King Hrothgar doesn’t see it. He is calm.
He realizes that what he has tried to build here has “transmogrified” (that means changed grotesquely) into a “forest thick with traps.”
He has enemies everywhere. People want to steal his treasure hoard, Wealtheow’s brother, Hygmod, is no friend. And there’s another King named Ingeld who he worries about (he plans on giving his daughter to Ingeld).
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Summary
Grendel notices that King Hrothgar is “chained in a cave.”
He and his wife know that this will all end in failure.
Grendel says that he doesn’t feel bad for attacking Hrothgar still, even now that he is an old, unhappy man.
He says that he made the king what he is, so he has the right to torment him.
He also says that his rage has to be used on something.
He also remembers a dream he has now and again, and he tells it to use in verse.
It is a dream about him hanging from the tree years before, and the sword that Hrothgar threw at him.