2 of 8

Plot

Grendel watches one of the king’s bowmen hunt and shoot a deer

He’s “silent as an owl”

There is then a flashback/vision to Hrothgar’s hall

“The image clings to my mind like a growth. I sense some riddle in it.”
It’s almost as if he is being thrown into the flashback/vision

His flashback being from the time he had “wrecked the place; broke up the wooden gods...”

Grendel witnesses a religious ceremony held in a language similar to his own
Grendel then encounters a blind priest named Ork
Grendel asks him about the Great Destroyer, even though he is pretending to be the Destroyer
The priest explains the Destroyer is the Chief God, he takes care that everything in the universe has a purpose
Ork believes himself to be the “eldest and wisest of the priests”
The other priests come in, and they just see Ork, he discusses how he saw the Great Destroyer, but he is “senile” and “ not see” they esscentiall badmouth him for saying nonsense and disregard what he had said.
Grendel the raids Hrothgar’s hall in the winter, which even he knows is unusual for him

This then just turns out to be a dream

3 of 8

Ork Allusion

An allusion of someone who goes against God’s laws, making him a revolutionary figure
He went against the church because he was not supposed to talk to the Great Destroyer

“‘Ye shall not see my face’” (134)
“Worship is the work of priests. What the gods do is the business of the gods.” (134)

The other priests do not agree with Ork’s actions
They call him crazy

“I’ve been telling you the old fool has gone senile” (133)

4 of 8

Zodiac

Grendel can be likened to Sagittarius who go on adventures to determine the meaning of existence
Symbolism of the archer, the symbol of Sagittarius, near the beginning “an arrow in a dead man’s chest” (125) ‘Hrothgar’s bowman” (126)
The chapter is set in winter, the season of Sagittarius: The trees and all of nature is dying so it can be rebirthed in spring
Sagittarius is intoxicated by the great outdoors, which is the main setting of this chapter.
Sagittarius need to know their limits as they can fail to complete the task they set out to do. Grendel in this chapter sets out to “paint the images with the old man’s blood” (130). Grendel “has trouble deciding what to do” (133) This indecisiveness stems from the fact that Grendel has trouble processing his own emotions and understanding the emotions of others.
Another aspect of Sagittarius is being hungry for knowledge and learning. Grendel holds off killing the man in order to hear his ideas about the concept of evil and time. “I observe with wonder” (132) He also says that he wishes he could “travel through space and time to the dragon” (137) because he values the wisdom and learning he was able to get from him. Both the dragon and Ork talked about morality and the concept of time to Grendel.
Sagittarius desire to make the rules. Grendel’s greatest resentment is not being of control of anything: the monotony of the passing seasons, the passage of time, and his own miserable conditions. Ork furthers these fears and emotions in Grendel by continuing the Dragon’s discussion with him about the evils of time. Grendel has a desire to be in control just like Sag, but this is impossible to him. The Dragon and Ork are mirror characters. Grendel looks up to both of them for advice about time but they are both cast out of society.

5 of 8

Philosophy

“... I told him my opinion of the King of the Gods, and he didn’t deny it...”
Religion is losing currency in the kingdom, which provides the old priest Ork an opportunity to come up with a new system.
“The King of the Gods is the actual entity in virtue…”
“There is no conviction in the old priests’ songs…”
“Old laws are destroyed, new laws are created…”
The new priests wants a change in religion
“The trees are dead.” “Everything alive is fast asleep”
He changes attitudes about how he describes theeverything in the winter is dead, meaning everything is changing, like the trees.

“Everything changes...nothing is permanent”

6 of 8

Language and Meaning

Grendel describes the language the priests speak in as “A language closer to mine than to their own” (128). When usually Grendel’s communication is one-sided, the priests have the ability to understand what he is saying. This is shown later on in the chapter when Ork understands Grendel with no issue.
Grendel doesn’t find meaning in the Scylding religious practices
“The weak observes the rituals… but no one harbors unreasonable expectations”.
However, Grendel wants to find meaning in religion. Prior to this chapter Grendel would kill priests, however, this chapter Grendel decides to talk to the old priest about the meaning of religion instead of killing him right then and there
“Tell us what you know of the King of the Gods”
In the end, both Grendel and the humans are becoming more alike. Grendel is obtaining a better understanding of humans (resorting to him sparing the 4 priests) and the humans are starting to learn that the universe is a meaningless place (essentially becoming like Grendel)
Old Priest : “Things fade” and Grendel “ I have trouble deciding what to do”
Grendel writes out the priests’ conversation as if it were a script, experimenting like he did in the previous chapter.

7 of 8

Morality

grendel creates her own morality

- “I sit in the center of the ring of circles”

Grendel placed himself in the center of the god circle representing how he alone is the creator of morality

- “we are pleased with the ork”

The use of “We” creates the meaning of Grendel being a god and how he is the only one that sees himself as important in Hrothgar’s society

the priests morality

“Hankering for visions, he should do it in public, where it does us some good”

The priests recognize that their religion is a business and isn’t the holy idea that they make it out to be.

“Lunatic priests are bad business”

Again reveals how their “religion” isn’t about believing in god but is only a complex to gain money and influence in society

“He has been drinking”

One of the priests does not follow the ideas of his own religion again producing the idea that their religion is not a legitimate (or moral) community