Grendel’s human nature as the source of horror in “Beowulf”

When it comes to literary monsters, not many have had such an enduring reputation as the
legendary Grendel, the monstrous opponent of Beowulf in the poem of the same title.

And while there have been many terrifying creatures to come out of literature since then, not many
of those were able to have such an profound impact, especially compared to Grendel, even though
many of them were portrayed as something even more evil and blood-thirsty. Despite all these
aspects, Beowulf’s monstrous opponent remains one of the most important creatures in the history
of literature, with many a media attempting their own interpretation of it.

In this instance, the all-important question arises: what is it that makes Grendel the terrifying source
of all things terrible and gruesome in “Beowulf”?

It seems as if it was not only about his monstrous appearance which the author mentions a few times
throughout the whole poem, or the fact that the monster’s mother was a blood-thirsty creature
herself.

It is the humanity of Grendel, its human traits that, especially mixed with its animalistic tendencies,
that make the monster the true source of horror in the legendary poem.

When it comes to the topic of monstrosity and its representation in popular media such as books,
short stories, or movies, one particular example of a monster is more prevalent than others. It is
usually a gigantic creature born to destroy its enemies and not capable of doing anything else. A
typical monster is unable to make conscious choices because it is usually devoid of any consciousness
and even more importantly, it is uncapable of having, or expressing any kinds of feelings.

Things are different to this typical outlook when it comes to Beowulf’s monstrous archenemy,
Grendel. It is not the typical mindless creature, as it is capable of expressing emotions and dealing in
accordance with them, as is the case in L.711 in the Beowulf manuscript; “Grendel gongan. Godes
yrre bær.” (“Grendel advancing. He bore God’s anger”)1

The aforementioned line, albeit very short and seemingly not of substantial importance, does indeed
provide us with the first insight into not only Grendel as a whole, but it also says something about the
monsters “character”, if a monster is capable of having one. It shows that the attack on the people in
the hall was not just a spontaneous act of violence, something typical of a blood-thirsty creature;

1
Beowulf in Elaine Treharne, Old and Middle English c.890-c.1450 – An Anthology, Third Edition, P. 201
there is a reason behind the attack, and it is because of an emotion, something we know more from
human beings than monsters. And because of this, the fact that Grendel is able to act upon his
emotions makes him more human and thus even more terrifying, because it is a mix of the
physicality of a monster and the hate of a human being.

And just as emotions make us human, while at the same time possess the ability to force us to make
mistakes, it is a helpful trait of all living and thinking creatures to be able to act against these
emotions. That means to have to ability of having thoughts that are intelligent and therefore help us
make the right choices in pursuit of our goals.

It is something that we can also see in Grendel, more precisely when he attempts to enter the hall in
order to rid the village of the legendary Beowulf and his warrior friends. The readers get the first
glimpse of his ability to act wisely and in a way that skillfully brings him closer to his goal at that
moment. L.714-715 are the best examples of the aforementioned ability of being mindful and act
strategically, which is also something that the monster possesses; “Wod under wolcnum to þæs þe he
winreced, goldsele gumena gearwost wise…,”. (“He advanced under the clouds to where he most
clearly recognized the wine-hall, the gold-hall of men ,…”)2

In this example, Grendel enters the glorious hall and what he does next is a special reminder that he
is not quite only a monster. In that passage he does not simply start killing everybody who steps foot
in his way. Instead, he deliberately looks for people he recognizes and decides to eliminate them
first.

Lastly, when talking about emotions, we can not forget an emotion we all have experienced at least
once in our live, that being fear. We all know how badly it feels to be afraid of something and how
badly we usually want to get rid of that feeling. We try to always be happy and never have to be
afraid, even though it is the different emotions that make us human and real.

It turns out, that fear is not only something that human beings feel as it is a feeling that also
monsters share as is the case with Grendel during his gruesome, yet mindful attack on Beowulf and
his friends; “He on mode wearð forht on ferhðe ; no þy ær fram meahte. Hyge wæs him hinfus,
wolde on heolster fleon secan deofla gedræg; ne wæs his drohtoð þær swylce he on ealderdagum
ær gemette.”, (“He became in his heart fearful in spirit; none the sooner could he get away. His min
d was eager to escape, he wanted to flee into the darkness, to seek the company of devils; nor was
his experience there such as he had encountered before in the days of his life.”)3

2
Beowulf in Elaine Treharne, Old and Middle English c.890-c.1450 – An Anthology, Third Edition, P. 200

3
Beowulf in Elaine Treharne, Old and Middle English c.890-c.1450 – An Anthology, Third Edition, P. 202
These lines are perhaps the most important examples of Grendel’s paradoxical humanity. He is not
just a mindless brute, on a mission to devour human flesh. Beowulf’s defiance awoke fear in his soul,
something one would not expect from a monster.

All in all, I think it is quite fascinating that the poem’s author did not decide to unanimously make
Grendel inhuman. By giving the monster human traits, he made it more human and realistic, and
therefore even more intimidating.

Works cited:

in Elaine Treharne, Old and Middle English c.890-c.1450 – An Anthology, Third Edition, Oxford 2010
 Explanation about the second part of the BN (videoclip)

As far as the creative part of the bn task concerned, I decided to create a little clip. First, I draw some
things using the Opentoonz app, before cutting the few images into somewhat of a clip with some
pretty simple effects. It actually took quite some time to draw the scenes as I have never drawn using
just the touchpad on my laptop.

As far as the content of the clip is concerned, I decided to go with the classic tale of Richard Coer de
Lyon.

I decided to give the whole thing the title “A dinner at the king’s table”. There is no particular reason
for that but I thought it was suitable.

The second scene shows both King Richard and a representative of the Sarazenes as the king tells his
guest about the food that they are about to eat, whilst already thinking about how to intimidate the
man.

The second scene is based on the part of the poem when Richard proposes that the head of a dead
pig should be served for dinner, but instead it ends up being heads of dead Sarazenes.

The very last part of the short clip shows the Sarazenes sitting at the table and seeing dead heads of
their compatriots being served for dinner. Understandably, their reactions tell the wholy story about
the situation as they are shocked and terrified beyond belief.