Journal 5

Character Name	Details from Epic
Actions	Kills many
Motives	Angered by the poet’s songs  about the beginnings, “the Almighty” ‘s creation of earth, and of the beauty of his creation “The monster’s thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws(34-35)…”
Words Describing Character	Powerful monster Lives in darkness (in the wild marshes) described in the translation as hell on earth Conceived of monster’s born of Cain(20-21)
People’s responses	After seeing what he had done the night before, the people would “break their long feasts with tears and laments(43)”
Setting	Grendel attacks Hrothgar’s mead hall in Herot
Does the character symbolize anything?	The character symbolizes sin, or punishment.

Grendel, as depicted in Part One of Beowulf in the translation by Burton Raffel is a monster tormenting Hrothgar’s mead hall. Grendel is a very strong monster “conceived of monsters born of Cain (20-21).” He lives in the darkness in the swamp. Each night, Grendel is angered by the loudness of the mead hall. The poet sings, accompanied by harp music, about the beginning of the Earth and “the Almighty’s” beautiful creation. (From the novel Grendel, we know that the Dragon informed him that the harpist was full of lies.) Grendel would travel to Herot and snatch up humans from their beds as they lay resting in a drunken sleep. Out of anger and curiosity, he attacked the mead hall led by his “thoughts…quick as his greed or his claws (34-35).”

While this is not typical of Anglo-Saxon literature, there is biblical symbolism in the origin of Grendel. As stated earlier, Grendel is said to be a descendant of Cain. In the bible, Cain was one of the first murderers, killing his own brother. As a punishment he was cursed and from then on, it was said that all evil creatures come from him. In other words, Grendel is an embodiment of sin and punishment, said to be living in a hell—earth.

 By night, there is music played telling about the origin and creation of Earth. The Devil is said to test those who believe in “the Almighty.” It is even easier for the devil to get in when there is sin already. The Danes were a people that partied every night and it wasn’t until they passed out into a drunken slumber that Grendel attacked the hall. The book said he was powerful and, most likely, he could have easily taken them in the day when they were awake. Instead, he waited until after they were through partying. He was punishing them each night and yet, every evening, they continued their ways.

 It wasn’t just any punishment, but a cruel punishment. “He slipped through the door and there in silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them unknowing in their beds (36-38).” Many tried to flee and postpone their fate, but they could only flee so far. They just postponed the fate instead of changing it as they thought they were. Hrothgar’s kingdom was weakening. The Danes were falling to death. The tone following the fun, upbeat night was much more somber the next day. After seeing what Grendel  had done the night before, the people would “break their long feasts with tears and laments (43).” This is natural for human behavior—despite the signs that something should be stopped, we continue to sin and it is thought to weaken us as Grendel was doing to Hrothgar’s kingdom. The fate of the Danes seemed inevitable until Beowulf came to save them from the beast, eventually giving his own life as Jesus was said to do, saving the world from fate.

Grendel is a terrible monster, said to be a descendent of Cain, that represents an embodiment of sin and evil on Earth. He tormented the home of Hrothgar, as well as his people, sometimes killing thirty a night. Each night, the Danes continued to party and agitate the monster. In some ways, the monster is like fate. The people tried to escape what they was inevitable death by moving to beds further away; however, they weren’t escaping fate, just postponing it. The Danes thought they were in control of the territory; they had power over a large area and felt they could do anything, however Grendel brought them back down to Earth, punishing them for their sinful ways.