Grendel says that he has not always hated Hrothgar, or men for that matter.
His hatred started when he started observing men and their ways until he was “full grown and Hrothgar was an old, old man.”
He hates how man spoils the beauty of the land around him (art) and senselessly kill animals and men (and don’t even eat them) “until the snow was slushy with blood.”
But mostly he hates how men get drunk in the mead halls and talk trash about one another and boast about who they will kill and what town they are going to destroy. He dislikes the use of language to create conflict instead of art.
3 of 11
SUMMARY
Wars between towns erupt. The imagery of war is described: “The cows in their pens, burbling blood through their nostrils, with javelin holes in their necks.”
Sometimes a man is exiled from the town, and Grendel sometimes tries to “befriend” them, “but in the end, he had to eat them.” Love this bit of humor.
The raids on mead halls persist. He sees that the humans burn the mead halls, kill all the men and women, and steal all of the gold.
Grendel doesn’t understand or like the war-like nature of the humans.
4 of 11
SUMMARY
Grendel notices that warfare is changing man’s behavior. King Hrothgar becomes more powerful by allying with neighboring townships. His “power overran the world, from the foot of [Grendel’s] cliff to the norther sea.”
Hrothgar demands payment for the protection he provides to his neighbors.
Hrothgar becomes the richest in the land. His mead hall is so full of riches that his warriors have to sleep in other buildings.
But Grendel is not impressed with him. He notes that humans have “overran the world” and have “blistered the land.”
5 of 11
SUMMARY
And then the “blind” shaper comes to town. I think it’s important that he is blind.
He sings the opening lines of Beowulf (literary allusion).
Grendel appreciates the new shaper’s poetic skill and how he “can twist words together.” The people are “brought low by language” and the Shaper “knows his art.”
Grendel finds himself being sucked into the shaper’s words, even though they are all lies. His words “seem true and fine.”
All of the men love the new shaper’s lies, and the old shaper is outcast to a lesser town.
6 of 11
Grendel tries to hold on to what he knows is reality (truth), but he can’t get the words of the poet out of his mind (language).
He lets out a monstrous scream (which is the best he can do with language at this point), and he flees home.