FREE ESSAY ON GRENDAL OF BEOWULF

GRENDAL OF BEOWULF

Grendel on the Moors
Or
How Grendel Got His Groove Back
It is true that Grendel is monstrous. He is not only a deadly enemy to Hrothgar and
Herot, but to the Geats in general. Grendel seems to take his only pleasure from
assaulting Herot and destroying the warriors inside. He is a bane to all those that live
under Hrothgar's rule. They hate him. He is called the "enemy of mankind" (29) and
rightly so. However, because of Grendel's actions, they cannot see the other part of
Grendel that makes him do the evil he does. Grendel, like the Angels before and the Geats
soon after, is symbolic of displaced races/peoples and not simply a mindless monster.
When Adam and Eve had children, they had two boys. Their names were Cain and Able. When
Cain killed Able, God "banished him far from mankind" (29). From Cain came trolls, elves,
monsters, and giants. Grendel is a descendant of Cain, so he shares Cain's banishment.
Cain may have been the first displaced person after Adam and Eve were thrown out of the
Garden. Grendel shares his ancestor's sentence. He is displaced not only from whatever
land or wealth he would have if he were "human" but he is also displaced form God. It is
this displacement that causes Grendel to destroy. Since he cannot "approach the throne"
(28) like other people, he chooses to try to destroy the throne, because he has "no love
for him (God)" (28). This is the main reason Grendel is symbolic of displaced peoples.
After all, he is a direct descendent of the very first displaced people, Adam and Eve.
However, unlike Adam and Eve, Grendel is doomed to an eternity of banishment from God's
light because of Cain's sin against his brother. That is why Grendel kills, because he
cannot be in the light, because he is at war with God.
Grendel is not only banished from God's light, but from the light in general. Throughout
the text, references are made to Grendel as "the walker in darkness" (36), and "the
dark-death shadow" (29). This kind of imagery further shows how displaced Grendel has
become. The text refers to him as a "creature deprived of joy" (36). The text also refers
to Grendel's dwelling as "his joyless home" (37). It is no wonder Grendel was considered
so monstrous. Like other displaced peoples, he has nowhere that is a refuge to him,
because he has been removed from his home, or in Grendel's case, the love of the Lord.
Grendel, like other displaced peoples, did not accept his banishment without a fight. 
Like other displaced peoples, Grendel fought back. He had no sorrow over the killings he
committed. He did them willingly. The reason behind Grendel's slaughter is not because he
is a mindless beast, but because he is jealous over not being able to share in the Geat's
feasting and celebrating under God's love. Grendel has been permanently kicked out of the
light. And like any race that has lost his or her land or home, he fought back, if not to
get back in the light, then to at least make sure no one else can enjoy it. Grendel can
have no peace as long as he sees God's people celebrating and living in a way he will
never be able to. That's why Grendel, "driven by evil desire and swollen with rage" (36),
worked so hard at attempting to destroy Herot. In Grendel's mind, if he could deprive the
Geats of their meadhall, which they loved so much, then they would be like him: a people
with no home and with no joy. Grendel, being symbolic of displaced peoples, also makes
him very symbolic of the Angels. 
Grendel's tale shares many similarities with the Angels. While God pushed Grendel into
exile, the Vikings forced the Angels from their land. Both Grendel and the Angels were
forced to retreat under duress. Both of them also fought back. Grendel waged his battle
against Herot and Hrothgar people while the Angels battled with the Danes for control of
England. However, while the Angels won against the Vikings and formed a truce, Beowulf
destroyed Grendel.
The Angels are just one of many misplaced races whose story of destruction is mirrored by
that of Grendel's. Grendel is not just a simple killer, a monster who lived under the bed
or in a dark cave in the woods. He is much more. His is a tale of loss, sorrow,
resistance, and death that has been seen in numerous cultures and peoples throughout the
centuries.
Bibliography
none, taken from text