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Summary

Grendel during winter is in “pain” waiting,”
He watches the young priests. The 4^th one tells ten people that the “gods made this world for our joy.” Notice lower case god.
But the scent of the dragon still is there. So what the dragon said earlier is truth (at least to Grendel).
And the Shaper is sick….
But Grendel is checking out a goat (the zodiac symbol) that will not leave, even tough he tells him to run on.
Grendel rolls a boulder at the goat, “looks up at [Grendel] disapprovingly” and continues to climb.
Such a stupid goat. You were warned….

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Summary

But he is… The goat keeps coming up the hill. It is “their business to climb.”

And he keeps coming up the hill. This makes Grendel mad.
Did you all notice that this is one long paragraph. Narrative structure.
Grendel rolls a huge boulder at the goat. The goat tries to move but it strikes him. And it does hit him. It “splits its skull.”
But he still comes toward Grendel. Grendel then throws a stone at him and it hits the goat’s face and destroys it. But it still comes toward Grendel.
“The air is sweet with the scent of blood,” but it still comes toward Grendel.
Grendel finishes the goat off with another stone.
Notice all of the characteristics of Capricorn: willed and determined; focused on a goal; mind is set; straightest path to the top even if there’s an easier way; the drive may lead to its downfall.

Summary

Then there is a huge, long paragraph abort how Hrothgar’s kingdom is carrying on. Prepping for the worst.
The “guards watch anyway, obedient to the orders that the king has forgotten.”
Grendel still watches as the people eat their meals.
He watches an old woman. She tells the kids of “a giant across the sea” who will come back to harm them. So perfect for today!!!

Summary

The Shaper is dying. The young boy who came with him, now a grown man, can not help him. He calls out for a woman.
King Hrothgar and his wife, kids , and Hrothulf (the nephew) come waiting for him to die.
The Shaper tries to talk wisdom. But he can’t. And Grendel “chuckles.”
Then the Shaper speaks… and he dies. Nothing.

Summary

And all of the sudden we are at another place:
A woman, middle aged, and pretty as described, waits. Grendel has been watching her.
The men come to her and tell her that the Shaper has died.
Grendel wants to tell her that “all of us must sooner or later will pass.”
Who is this woman? Is she a woman that the Shaper was having an affair with? NO, she is the woman who would have completed him. His perfect match, BUT religion kept them apart. This is the philosophy connection. The Shaper is like Nietzsche’s Superman. He gave up his passions (the woman) for “higher, more creative” forms.
Grendel slinks back home.

Summary

Back at his cave He sees that his mom is losing her sanity.
She cuddles next to Grendel…. “Dool, Dool.”
Grendel realizes that nothing from the past matter now. Philosophy!! It’s all about now.
Grendel decides to attend the Shaper’s funeral. His mother tries to stop him, but he won’t stop.

Summary

The Shaper’s Funeral.
The Shaper’s “assistant” sings of the old times. And the people listen “silent and solemn.”
The world is white. Still frozen in winter.
He sings. A song about the past. People listen, but no one cares, not even the King.
Hrothulf (the nephew) stands with the King’s kids revealing nothing, more more than “snow.”
They burn the Shaper’s body and his head bursts, “bare of visions.”
Grendel says that he and the King are “on [their ] own again, Abandoned.”

Summary