Grendel’s self-image changes throughout the course of the novel with the help of the Shaper, the dragon, and Beowulf. These characters have shared their philosophies with Grendel and shaped him into the monster he became.
One night, while watching the men feast and celebrate the building of a new hall, the Shaper sings as a form of entertainment. The Shaper sings about how great king Hrothgar is, and how the battles were fought. However, Grendel knew the truth of these stories, he knew what actually happened. Grendel tells of how the Shaper, “...knew his art. He was king of the Shapers, harpstring scratchers (oakmoss-bearded, inspired by winds)”(Gardner 42). The Shaper would tell such magnificent lies in order to gain a higher profit from …show more content…
At first, Grendel only wants to know about religion and how it works, however, what he got in return was much more than he bargained for. While conversing with the dragon, Grendel seems completely lost in the philosophies that the dragon presents him with. The dragon tells Grendel of his perspectives on life and his power to see the past, present, and future. After telling Grendel his many viewpoints of the universe, that dragon starts to get irritated with Grendel and finally tells him, “Things come and go,that’s the gist of it. In a billion billion billion years, everything will have come and gone several times, in various forms...A swirl in the stream of time...a few random dust specks...”(Gardner 70). With this, the dragon is saying that nothing in the world lasts forever and at some point, it will have to go. He also talks about how men are unimportant and meaningless in life and that everyone, and everything, on earth will disappear in time. They are only dust specks compared to the whole universe. Grendel does not seem content with his answer and decides to finally leave the dragon. However, Grendel speaks of his visit and says, “Whatever I may have understood or misunderstood in the dragon's talk, something much deeper stayed with me, became my aura. Futility, doom, became a smell in the air, pervasive and acrid as the dead smell after a forest fire—my scent …show more content…
He feels joy, but he also feels fear. Regardless of this, Grendel is anxious to finally kill Beowulf and show the Geats and the Danes how obnoxious and narcissistic he is. The men finally sleep in the hall and patiently await Grendel’s appearance. Once Grendel has noticed that they are all sound asleep, he enters the hall, with hesitation, and he eats one of the men. Upon doing so, Grendel feels powerful and decides to eat another man. This other man, however, turns out to be the stranger, Beowulf. Beowulf then grabs Grendel by the arm and begins to hurt him. Grendel knew that Beowulf was a dangerous man, yet he never knew how dangerous. When Beowulf has Grendel by the arm and pushes him against a wall, he whispers “Feel the wall: is it not hard? Hard, yes! Observe the hardness, write it down in careful runes. Now sing of the walls!”(Gardner 171). By cracking his head up against the wall, he is forcing Grendel to accept something real that he did not make up himself. This goes against Grendel’s theory of how he alone exists in the world and that everything around him is only in his mind. Grendel has taken some form of the Shaper by believing that the world is but a mere illusion that takes place in the mind. To prove that Grendel accepts the hardness of the wall, he says “If you think I created that wall that cracked my head, you’re a fucking lunatic”(Gardner 171). Grendel finally comes
One night, while watching the men feast and celebrate the building of a new hall, the Shaper sings as a form of entertainment. The Shaper sings about how great king Hrothgar is, and how the battles were fought. However, Grendel knew the truth of these stories, he knew what actually happened. Grendel tells of how the Shaper, “...knew his art. He was king of the Shapers, harpstring scratchers (oakmoss-bearded, inspired by winds)”(Gardner 42). The Shaper would tell such magnificent lies in order to gain a higher profit from …show more content…
At first, Grendel only wants to know about religion and how it works, however, what he got in return was much more than he bargained for. While conversing with the dragon, Grendel seems completely lost in the philosophies that the dragon presents him with. The dragon tells Grendel of his perspectives on life and his power to see the past, present, and future. After telling Grendel his many viewpoints of the universe, that dragon starts to get irritated with Grendel and finally tells him, “Things come and go,that’s the gist of it. In a billion billion billion years, everything will have come and gone several times, in various forms...A swirl in the stream of time...a few random dust specks...”(Gardner 70). With this, the dragon is saying that nothing in the world lasts forever and at some point, it will have to go. He also talks about how men are unimportant and meaningless in life and that everyone, and everything, on earth will disappear in time. They are only dust specks compared to the whole universe. Grendel does not seem content with his answer and decides to finally leave the dragon. However, Grendel speaks of his visit and says, “Whatever I may have understood or misunderstood in the dragon's talk, something much deeper stayed with me, became my aura. Futility, doom, became a smell in the air, pervasive and acrid as the dead smell after a forest fire—my scent …show more content…
He feels joy, but he also feels fear. Regardless of this, Grendel is anxious to finally kill Beowulf and show the Geats and the Danes how obnoxious and narcissistic he is. The men finally sleep in the hall and patiently await Grendel’s appearance. Once Grendel has noticed that they are all sound asleep, he enters the hall, with hesitation, and he eats one of the men. Upon doing so, Grendel feels powerful and decides to eat another man. This other man, however, turns out to be the stranger, Beowulf. Beowulf then grabs Grendel by the arm and begins to hurt him. Grendel knew that Beowulf was a dangerous man, yet he never knew how dangerous. When Beowulf has Grendel by the arm and pushes him against a wall, he whispers “Feel the wall: is it not hard? Hard, yes! Observe the hardness, write it down in careful runes. Now sing of the walls!”(Gardner 171). By cracking his head up against the wall, he is forcing Grendel to accept something real that he did not make up himself. This goes against Grendel’s theory of how he alone exists in the world and that everything around him is only in his mind. Grendel has taken some form of the Shaper by believing that the world is but a mere illusion that takes place in the mind. To prove that Grendel accepts the hardness of the wall, he says “If you think I created that wall that cracked my head, you’re a fucking lunatic”(Gardner 171). Grendel finally comes