Grendel by John Gardner

Classic. 

Read for AP Lit

Rating: 4.5/5

Pages: 174 

Started: 15 October 2022

Finished: 28 October 2022

Summary:

  In the epic poem Beowulf, monster Grendel is a savage and brutish beast who terrorizes Heorod, the Danish mead-hall, and who ultimately must be killed by Beowulf for the good of humanity as a whole. Yet in John Gardner's Grendel, the eponymous monster is a philosophical, if existentialist, creature living on the outskirts of human society who puts more stake in the comprehension of humanity than in his final battle against the famed hero. 

Thoughts:

    This book was gorgeous. As I told my friend, I want to take a bath in Gardner's prose. The language was flowery and relied heavily on metaphor, but was philosophical and thematically dark enough for the meaning of the pretty words to hold my attention. The tug-of-war between existentialism and nihilism was fascinating to read, and the myriad parallels between characters was incredible. 

My Essay for English: 

                                            Grendel: The Evasion of Monstrous Fate
“We’ve been expecting you,” laughs the dragon of John Gardner’s Grendel menacingly, demonstrating a definitive knowledge of the future in one leering sentence, thus suggesting that fate is unavoidable in his ancient eyes. The eponymous monster he addresses attempts to transcend the limitations of his fate of being the villain in a hero’s story. When the warrior Unferth seeks out a heroic victory, or heroic death, in battle with Grendel, Gardener reveals how Grendel ultimately eschews his expected role in the hero-villain conflict by choosing an action outside of the preconceived options. By describing how Grendel breaks free from the expectations laid out for him, Gardner implies that even the most obvious of fates can be evaded.
By presenting the dragon as timeless and all-knowing, Gardner implies that some version of Grendel’s fate has been already written. During his conversation with Grendel, the dragon philosophizes about time: “‘It has happened,’ he said—and smiled as if it pleased him— ‘in the future. I am the witness’” (71). “Has happened” is in the past tense, and thus refers to a prior event, yet “in the future” looks forward in time. Through these antithetical sentence fragments, which suggest that, to the dragon, past and future are inexorably intertwined, Gardner confirms that the dragon has some clairvoyant understanding of the future. This is emphasized by the dragon's allusion during his speech when he refers to something as “the whole kit and kaboodle,” a disarmingly modern phrase (61). No one living in the medieval times during which Grendel takes place, regardless of their intelligence, would know to use such a phrase. Through this anachronism which demonstrates the dragon's knowledge of future culture, Gardner highlights the dragon’s ability to see forward in time. Nothing is more symbolic of fate than a clairvoyant. And from the dragon’s sight of the future in a minor way, it can be inferred that the dragon is also privy to the destinies of Unferth and Grendel, characters who should fight in a battle to the death. 
Gardner portrays Unferth and Grendel as the stereotypical hero and stereotypical villain, thus casting them as perfect antagonists. Unferth is the picture of the stoic, brave hero: “He stood across the hall from me, youthful, intense, cold sober. He was taller than the others'' (82). Physical size symbolizes the superiority of a hero, since heroes are usually required to perform feats of strength on their journey to victory. Contrasting Unferth’s stature against those of his companions, Gardner emphasizes Unferth’s impressive physical intimidation. Heroes are also supposed to be virile but serious, and Gardner picks up on this stereotype in deeming Unferth “intense,” which connotes focus and determination. By juxtaposing the man’s youth with his intensity—an unusual combination, since young men are known for recklessness and frivolity—Gardner implies that Unferth is special, thereby cementing Unferth’s position as a hero. Gardner depicts Grendel, by comparison, as the stereotypical villain, sacking Heorot, the great mead-hall: “I could walk up to the meadhall whenever I pleased, and they were powerless. My heart became darker because of that” (76). The ability to do something at will is an indication of power, and the seizure of control from others without permission is immoral. Thus, by describing Grendel forcibly taking power away from others, Gardner suggests his authority is distinctly villainous. The oxymoron of “a dark heart” adds to this effect. The heart symbolizes love, humanity, and pure emotion. In contrast, darkness connotes evil and suffering. Where a heart should be red as lifeblood and pulsing with passion, Grendel’s dark heart has been poisoned with evil. Thus Gardner’s metaphor of a dark heart implies that Grendel’s actions have led him to become wicked and corrupt. Through Grendel’s twisted gain of power, Gardner confirms his position as the antagonist. In a hero’s story, the protagonist and antagonist are pitted against one another in a great battle. Since Gardner casts Grendel and Unferth as hero and villain, the rules of story and fate would decree that the two must fight to the death. Yet instead, Gardner depicts Grendel thwarting the stereotype, thus challenging the concept of a predetermined fate. 
Gardner suggests that the famous hero-villain dichotomy is not inevitable through Grendel's refusal to yield to his role as prophesied by the dragon. Using disarmingly gentle language, Gardner describes Grendel’s treatment of the near-defeated Unferth: “I picked him up gently and carried him home” (90). Antagonists are expected to act violently and remorselessly toward their enemies. Yet “gently” connotes kindness and care, while “home” suggests comfort or belonging. In addition, carrying a weaker or more vulnerable is often symbolic of the nurturing mother-child relationship. Thus, Gardner portrays Grendel as merciful, though his mercy is not necessarily backed by the most generous of motivations. After the conflict is over, Grendel narrates that Unferth “lives on, bitter, feebly challenging my midnight raids from time to time [...] I laugh when I see him” (90). Bitterness and feebleness are both symbols of old age, the antithesis of the youthful strength of heroism. Where Gardner originally described Unferth as a great warrior, capable of inspiring fear in the hearts of attackers, he here uses Grendel’s mocking laughter in response to Unferth’s attempts at battle to suggest that his [attempts] are ridiculous. Gardner uses the extreme change in Unferth’s [position] to highlight the former hero’s fallen position. Yet despite the unkindness of Grendel’s derision, his fate to be the murdering or murdered antagonist is subverted, and he is aware of it: “So much, also, for the alternative visions of blind old poets and dragons” (90). Through the colloquial phrase “so much for,” which uses a sarcastic tone to reflect disapprovingly on past choices, Gardner makes it clear that the prophesied fate has been avoided. Since Gardner places the phrase in the last line of a chapter, he further emphasizes the sentiment of avoiding fate. 
Within fiction, destiny brings about both glory and tragedy. In the traditional hero’s story, steeped in centuries of tradition, that destiny involves the death of either the hero or the villain. Yet through Grendel’s evasion of such a destiny, Gardner suggests that such fate is not inevitable. Gardner demonstrates that, just as Grendel makes a choice outside of the conventional binary of possibilities, it is possible to avoid the destiny of the villain through an action that is neither typically evil nor heroic. Thus, Gardner comments on the role of people in their own fate: by being clever, one can avoid predetermined destiny and create a unique path. 

And some notes I took while reading: 

Grendel Discussion Notes Chapter 1-3

Grendel’s Youth/Age

“Inevitably, after I’d stood there a while, rolling my eyes back along the dark hallway, my ears cocked for my mother’s step, I screwed my nerve up and dove. The firesnakes scattered as if my flesh were charmed. And so I discovered the sunken door, and so I came up, for the first time, to moonlight” (16).

• eyes rolling back and forth suggests nerves 

• listening to see if your mom is going to come get you in trouble is a very youthful experience; Grendel is young in at least some sense. 

• “as if my flesh were charmed” is a simile, alluding to some sort of magical or symbolic armor, which is a parallel to that which Beowulf wears when he dives into the same lake to fight Grendel’s mother

• “for the first time” is parenthesis; it makes the moment more stretched out and dramatic so the reader is eager to find out what is on the other side of the door

Grendel and his Mother

“Of all the creatures I knew, in those days, only my mother really looked at me.--Stared at me as if to consume me, like a troll. She loved me, in some mysterious sense I understood without her speaking it. I was her creation” (17). 

• “only” is an absolute, showing the intensity of the mother-son relationship 

• “consume me, like a troll.” trolls are inhuman, aggressive, illogical, violent. Grendel sees his mother as this sort of inhuman beast, but also understands there is primal love there. 

• “i was her creation.” Grendel believes there is no god, no purpose in the chaos of life, but he does believe in this; he reciprocates their primal relationship, at least in thought. 

“She gets up on all fours, brushing dry bits of bone from her path, and, with a look of terror, rising as if by unnatural power, she hurls herself across the void and buries me in her brisly fur and fat” (29). 

• “all fours” suggests animalistic behavior 

• “buries” can be the comfort of a hug or the constraint of a coffin

• “the void” suggests that what separates them is more than the few feet of physical space, and “hurls” implies intense emotion. 

“I can’t breathe, and I claw to get free. She struggles. I smell my mama’s blood and, alarmed, I hear from the walls and floor of the cave, the booming, booming, of her heart” (29). 

• “i can’t breathe” is symbolic of the smothering that many teens feel when growing up but still under their parents’ care. and, often, they injure their parents in some way “clawing” to get free. 

• “booming, booming of her heart” uses repetition to emphasize how alive Grendel’s mother is. 

The Root of Grendel’s Existential Views

“ I understood that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of casual, brutal enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest,I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly–as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the whole universe, blink by blink.--An ugly god pitifully dying in a tree!” (21-22). 

• “i alone exist” is an absolute and a metaphor. Grendel sees himself as the only thing warring against every other thing. 

• “i create the whole universe, blink by blink” is a wildly cool idea, but it’s also wildly selfish. he is very philosophical for a monster living in the middle ages. the repetition of “blink by blink” adds to the sensation the Grendel’s creation of the world by seeing is a never ending process. 

• “an ugly god pitifully dying” holds so much juxtaposition. the divinity of god usually doesn’t bring to mind ugliness. gods are rarely pitiful, and by definition are immortal–don’t die. 

Grendel’s View of Man

“I was safe in my tree, and the men who fought were nothing to me, except of course that they talked in something akin to my language, which meant that we were, incredibly, related. I was sickened, if only by the waste of it: all they killed—cows, horses, men—they left to rot or burn. I sacked all I could” (36). 

• “safe in my tree.” a tree is part of nature, not man, so it symbolizes separateness. in addition, Grendel is up high, and so is physically and symbolically above the tragedy of man. 

• in Grendel’s mind language → connection/relation; language is super important to him. 

• “if only by the waste of it” makes clear Grendel’s animalistic priorities. 

• usually “sack” is more violent than pitying or scavenging; an interesting use of the word. 

The Disease of Hrothgar’s Kingdom

“The two groups would fight as allies after that, except that now and then they betrayed each other, one shooting the other from behind for some reason, or stealing the other group's gold, some midnight, or sneaking into bed with the other group’s wives and daughters” (37). 

• “for some reason” shows that Grendel doesn’t understand betrayal like the humans are capable of. 

• stealing gold and unlawful sex (probably rape here, really) are both acts of greed, which is ignoble. 

“They hacked down trees in widening rings around their central halls and blistered the land with peasant huts and pigpen fences till the forest looked like an old dog dying of mange [...]There was nothing to stop the advance of man. Huge boars fled at the click of a harness. Wolves would cower in the glens like foxes when they caught that deadly scent” (40). 

• “hacked” and “blistered” are both violent imagery 

• “like an old dog dying of mange” is a simile, giving the impression of decrepitness. 

• “nothing to stop the advance of man” has an absolute, creating an impression of resignation. “advance” also makes man sound like an army rather than a culture. 

• wolves and boars are both great, dangerous predators. that they are afraid of humans shows how terrible humans are. 

Grendel Discussion Notes Chapter 4-5

Chapter 4: Assignment 5 

The Main Idea: the world around Grendel is filled with incongruous evil, while Grendel has moments of incongruous innocence. 

“I could feel it around me, that invisible presence, chilly as the first intimation of death, the dusty unblinking eyes of a thousand snakes. There was no sound” (50). 

• chilly as death is a simile that creates an eerie impression of evil that makes the “invisible presence” seem bad

• snakes are symbols of evil or betrayal, and unblinking eyes suggest a creepy watchfulness 

• knowing the dragon (nihilistic, called a serpent) is the one watching makes this very fitting

• Grendel is outside. there should be the natural sound of existence, but the dragon’s all-knowing evil cancels it out

“On the lower hillside boys and girls played near the sheep pens, shyly holding hands [...] They talked of nothing, stupidities, their soft voices groping like hands [...] I stepped on something fleshy, then jerked away. It was a man. They’d cut his throat [...] They went on, talking softly, touching hands, their hair full of light” (50-51). 

• boys and girls (rather than men and women) suggests youthfulness, and thus playfulness or folly

• talking about unimportant things adds to the sense of careless youth, and groping introudces the impression of young people being stupid about romance 

• “they’d” implies that the children are responsible for the murder, but even if it was their parents, it’s still supremely creepy that they are playing near a corpse. it suggests a lack of care about life or death, and thus a cruel kind of evil

• their light conversation after Grendel’s discovery completes the paradox. 

• “hair full of light” seems like an allusion to angels, making the murder even more ironic.  

 “I thought how they’d shriek if I suddenly showed my face, and it made me smile, but I held myself  back.” 

• shriek is a belittling word to use to describe the terror of facing a monster

• grendel’s hiding his laugh is the behavior of a young troublemaker 

• he doesn’t feel the need to act on every mischievous thought, though

thinking about the dead man: “I stared up at the hall, baffled, beginning to shake [...] I lifted up the body and slung it across my shoulder” (50). 

• the mead-hall is a symbol of mankind. Grendel’s bafflement is at the nature of humanity. 

• shaking is a sign of strong emotion. whether pity or surprise, Grendel is very impacted by the corpse

• most people are disgusted by corpses. that Grendel picks up the dead body (and doesn’t eat it) demonstrates at least some compassion. 

Chapter 5

The Dragon

“No use of a growl, a whoop, a roar, in the presence of that beast!” 

• feels like “that was a good king” 

• litotes, the negation of onomatopoeias associated with emotional outburst hints at the heightened intelligence of the dragon 

“ The color of his sharp scales darkened and brightened as the dragon inhaled and exhaled slowly, drawing new air across his vast internal furnace; his razorsharp tusks gleamed and glinted” (57). 

• sharp scales and tusks can kill by drawing blood, and the fiery thoat can burn to death. 

• as a nihilist, the dragon is obsessed with destruction. his body parts act as a physical symbol of the serpent’s obsession.

The Dragon’s Views and Language: Time 

“‘My knowledge of the future does not cause the future. It merely sees it, exactly as creatures at your low level recall things of the past’” (63). 

“‘It has happened,’ he said—and smiled as if it pleased him— ‘in the future. I am the witness’” (71). 

• this is a pretty bleak outlook. the dragon presents time as circular for him. 

• he also uses his superior knowledge to make it clear he sees himself as far superior to Grendel in all ways: “creatures at your low level” 

Grendel’s Response

“I was sure he was lying. Or anyway half-sure. Flattering me into tormenting [humans] because he, in his sullen hole, loved viciousness” (73). 

• sure and then half-sure is much better than his earlier complete confusion at the scop’s lies. Grendel is becoming smarter

• the dragon is clever enough to pretend he’s like a harmless old man, but Grendel is able to see through his lies. 

Chapter 6 Notes (For Essay): Grendel and Destiny 

Grendel Adopts Nihilism 

“Futility, doom, became a smell in the air, pervasive and acrid as the dead smell of a forest fire—my scent and the world’s, the scent of trees, rocks, waterways wherever I went” (75). 

• lots of simile displaying nihilism overtaking Grendel’s world view

• “dead smell of a forest fire” the dragon breathes fire, and thus is associated with the smell of flame. this association of nihilism with the flame makes it clear that Grendel’s new worldview is heavily influenced by the dragon’s perspective. 

• the overtaking of a smoky scent (dangerous, poisonous, often signifies coming disaster) is very similar to the environmental destruction of man. 

Grendel Fully Embraces Destruction

“I was transformed. I was a new focus for the clutter of space I stood in: if the world had once imploded on that tree where I waited, trapped and full of pain, it now blasted outward, away from me, screeching terror” (80). 

• where existentialism is about a person in the middle of chaos, Grendel now sees the destruction he sows as aiding in the violent and nihilistic ending of the world. 

• the tree is where Grendel sits to better watch the world of man—it symbolizes foresight and wisdom. thus the blasting outward shows that Grendel’s destruction aids the world’s nihilistic end. 

Unferth the Hero

“He stood across the hall from me, youthful, intense, cold sober. He was taller than the others; he stood out among his fellow thanes like a horse in a herd of cows. His nose was as porous and dark as a volcanic rock. his light beard grew in patches” (82).

• youthful and intense are quite contrasting, as are cold sober and the youth necessary for a patchy beard

• a hero needs to be physically imposing (height, seriousness) have a stamina for battle (youth) and some sort of “special-ness” (stood out among fellow thanes

• Unferth is the stereotypical hero

“‘Monster, prepare to die!’ he said. very righteous. The wings of his nostrils flared and quivered like an outraged priest’s” (82).  

• a command like “prepare to die” is very courageous

• Grendel mocks Unferth’s religion and goodness through his mention of Unferth’s righteousness and his simile comparing Unferth to an outraged priest. Grendel’s tone presents religion/priesthood as both associated with Unferth and as indignified. 

Grendel’s Final Decision on Unferth

“I picked him up gently and carried him home. I laid him at the door of Hrothgar’s meadhall, still asleep, killed the two guards so I wouldn’t be misunderstood, and left” (90). 

• usually in a hero’s story, the hero defeats the villain at the end of the book. sometimes, the villain defeats the hero. but here Grendel defies all possible “fated” outcomes. 

• Unferth wanted to die, to gain glory somehow. by refusing him this final request, Grendel steps outside of expectations to be even more evil than expected. 

• “gently” and “carried him home” both have a loving, kind connotation that is very at odds with Grendel’s antagonism toward Unferth 

• killing two guards continues Grendel’s nihilistic goals, making his violence and lack of regard for human life clear. 

“So much, also, for the alternative visions of old poets and dragons” (90). 

• the scop and the dragon are both, to some degree, considered clairvoyant 

• “so much for” implies a deceptively un-casual casting off of expectations

• by refusing both the scop’s and the dragons’ predicted fates, Grendel takes some agency over his future. 

Chapter 9 Notes

The State of The World

“The trees are dead [...] In the town, the children go down on their backs in the drifted snow and move their arms and, when they rise, leave behind them impressions, mysterious and ominous, of winged creatures (125). 

• if trees symbolize wisdom and nature, their death both demonstrates the winter’s icy grasp and alludes to the dominance of man over nature. 

• the kids’ snow angels being “mysterious and ominous” perverts something that should be innocent into something eerie, presenting to the reader an uneasy atmosphere. 

• winged creatures are often portents of some fate

“There is no sound on earth but the whispering snowfall” ( 137). 

• snow is white, which represents purity. 

• while snow is in winter, it covers the ground with a fresh blanket, symbolizing a new start.

Gardner’s Perspective on Religion

“Near Hrothgar’s hall stand the images of the Scyldings’ gods, grotesque faces carved out of wood or hacked from stone and set up in a circle, eyes staring inward, gazing thoughtfully at nothing” (127). 

• near the mead-hall signifies association with an institution

• grotesque and hacked both have disrespectful and viscerally negative connotations

• gazing thoughtfully at nothing is a juxtaposition, through which Gardner contrasts the intention of the carvings (thoughtfulness) with their actual state (blankness). 

• the gods’ staring at each other also might represent a subconscious preoccupation with self 

“Ghostly destroyer, defend the people of Scyld and kill their enemy, the terrible world-rim walker” (127). 

• presents Grendel as foil to god 

• gives Grendel a big head and minimizes their god at the same time

• grendel’s later mockery of the god only emphasizes the god’s lack of importance

“I notice, with surprise, that the priest’s blind eyes are brimming with tears (132). 

• “surprise” without any negative addition suggests Grendel is at least a little moved by such a demonstration of faith

• the priest truly believes the god is there. Gardner mocks religion by the only priest who truly believes is for sure believing a lie. 

“Senility. I’ve been telling you the old fool’s gone senile [...] lunatic priests are bad business. One man like him can turn us all into paupers (133-134). 

• worldly priests no longer have respect for age, wisdom or religion

• worldly needs take presidence for them 

• “him” others the priest who thinks he saw the god, while “us” lumps all the priests together under concern for their fiscal well-being

Talking about the youngest priest: “So he raves, overflowing with meadbowl joy, and the older three priests look down at him as they would at a wounded snake” (136).

• raves implies madness

• meadbowl joy suggests he is not only mad but drunk. this implies even the other priests believe no one could be this religious 

• a wounded snake is more dangerous for its madness; the priests are afraid of the few truly spiritual members’ perspectives 

• priests looking down suggests a feeling of superiority 

Possible Conclusion

• Gardner mocks the structures men have made surrounding religion—the perversion of devoted and meaningful spirituality 

Grendel Chapter 11 Notes

Grendel’s Perception of Beowulf 

“[Beowulf’s] voice, though powerful, was mild. Voice of a dead thing, calm as dry sticks and ice when the wind blows over them. He had a face that, little by little, grew unsettling to me; it was a face, or so it seemed for an instant, from a dream I had almost forgotten” (153-154). 

• powerful yet mild usually indicates elevated control and cleverness 

• death implies stillness, finality. thus by comparing Beowulf’s voice to things that are dead, Gardner creates an impression of stillness that intends to carry the reader past respect and into unease. 

• like in TRC, time is circular in this novel. the dragon can clearly see past, present and future, while humans are confined to just past and present. in the middle and totally othered, perhaps Grendel is seeing a shred of his future here. 

“If I let myself, I could drop into a trance just looking at those shoulders. He was dangerous. And yet I was excited, suddenly alive. He talked on. I found myself not listening, merely looking at his mouth” (155). 

• all of this is so sexual. 

• the sexuality is kind of dropped later though–why does it just disappear? 

• there’s an entire paragraph on p 157 devoted to Grendel saying he doesn’t understand affairs? why? 

“Honor is very big with them; they’d rather be eaten alive than be bailed out by strangers” (159). 

• “very big with them” feels like understatement, to emphasize just how much they want to be independent 

• “eaten alive” is a contrast to the understatement, further emphasizing the Dane’s wish for independence

• this isn’t very gracious, and says a lot about their society’s valuing of honor over life or safety of children. 

“He believed every word he said. I understood at last the look in his eyes. He was insane” (162). 

• written in Beowulf, the boast was told as a slightly exaggerated retelling of fact. here, that is cast into doubt. 

• grendel seems “mad” lots in the book. this is why he understands the look. 

The Overtaking of Nihilism: Descent into Chaos from Grendel’s Eyes

“I labor to remember something: twisted roots, an abyss . . . I lose it. The aueer little spasm of terror passes” (164). 

• the ellipses and fragmented sentences create a dreamlike effect 

• we know from the end of the book that this is a sort of time-is-circular premonition; a foreshadowing that Grendel will see the tree in person at some point. 

• the presence of foresight here is ironic since Grendel believes there is no pattern to the universe

“Hrothgar laughed too, though he didn’t seem to get it. He was tipsy” (164). 

• having to laugh along without understanding suggests lower intelligence

• lack of understanding and drunkenness are traits of an undignified, nd thus unkingly, person

• too=sheep

“The stranger smiled on, but closed his eyes. He knew a doomed house when he saw it” (165). 

• closed or averted eyes show discomfort or an inability to stand by without taking action to change a bad situation

• something being doomed falls under the category of nihilism, which is slowly overtaking Grendel’s perspective. 

What Impression Is GARDNER CREATING

• Beowulf’s madness, his own madness. and the slow decline of Heorot to comment on society’s trajectory toward chaos and destruction (nihilism) 

Words: