Journal 1

Grendel is a misunderstood monster. Grendel is a monster that just wanted friends; he wanted someone to talk to. He tried being friends with the humans, but they were afraid of him because he looked like a terrifying monster. Grendel wanted to be nice at first, but because of the way the humans acted towards him, he only wants revenge now. “So Hrothgar’s men lived happily in his hall/ Till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend,/ Grendel , who haunted the moors, the wild/ Marshes, and made his home in a hell/ not hell but earth” (15-19). Grendel now torments the humans because they torment him. The twelve-year war was a result of the humans’ cruelty. “So Grendel ruled, fought with the righteous,/ One against many, and won; so Herot/ Stood empty, and stayed deserted for years,/ Twelve winters of grief for Hrothgar, King/ Of the Danes, sorrow heaped at his door/ by hell-forged hands” (59-64). Grendel wanted friends, but the humans fought him, so Grendel fought back.
“I have heard,/ Too, that the monster’s scorn of men,/ Is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none”(166-178). Grendel is a huge, strong monster; his skin was unaffected by weapons that the humans tried to use to fight against him. “They could hack at Grendel/ From every side, trying to open/ A path for his evil soul, but their points/ Could not hurt him, the sharpest and hardest iron/ Could not scratch at his skin, for that sin-stained demon/ Had bewitched all men’s weapons, laid spells/ That blunted every mortal man’s blade” (479-485). Grendel not only looked like a monster, but he could not be harmed or touched. This made the humans even more terrified of him. Grendel’s God-like powers did not help him make piece.
“He was spawned in that slime,/ Conceived by a pair of those monsters/ Born of Cain,- murderous creatures banished/ by God, punished forever for the crime/ Of Abel’s death” (19-23). Grendel is a member of “Cain’s clan” in which “the creator” had condemned as outcasts. He symbolizes the malice and evil in which Cain has bestowed upon the world. Grendel hasn’t chosen this life, but he is cursed to live it. He lives in the swamplands outside of human civilization.
Grendel constantly attacks the mead hall of King Hrothgar. “He slipped through the door and there in the silence/ snatched up thirty men, smashed them/ Unknowing in their beds, and ran out with their bodies,/ the blood dripping behind him/ back to his lair, delighted with his night’s slaughter” (36-40). They try to think of any possible way to defeat him, and almost always fail. Grendel is much too strong for them to hurt. The people hate Grendel with a passion and are terrified of him. “Then each warrior tried/ To escape him, searched for rest in different/ Beds, as far from Herot as they could find,/ Seeing how Grendel hunted when they slept./ Distance was safety; the only survivors/ Were those who fled him” (53-58). Their only safety was running away.
Grendel tried being friends with the humans, but they were afraid of him because he looked like a terrifying monster. Grendel is a huge, strong monster; his skin was unaffected by weapons that the humans tried to use to fight against him. He is a creature of true evil and malice, torturing the humans for years. The people hated Grendel with a passion and are terrified of him. But finally, he was brought to his end by Beowulf, a courageous warrior of the Geats.