Journal 8

Grendel is an obvious parody of the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. The main character of Grendel is the monster Grendel from Beowulf. In Beowulf, Grendel only has the most basic human and monster qualities. Unlike the in original epic Grendel is far more complicated in John Gardner’s Grendel. Grendel is highly intelligent, very unpredictable, easily upset, and quite capable of rational thoughts. Grendel often appears just as human as the people he sees and describes. Not only is the main character in the novel mentioned in the epic but many other characters like Unferth and Hrothgar are mentioned in the epic as well.

In Grendel, Grendel seems to actually be an odd and funny character. In the novel you see a scary monster that kills and eats humans but is also someone that tries to be a poet of some sort. Even when Grendel and Beowulf face off, Grendel tries to come up with some poetry and he actually succeeds. But Beowulf kills him anyway. Grendel and Beowulf have similar themes such as: good and evil, the heroes and the villains, and so on. The difference is that Beowulf was told in a very serious manner and in such a way that shows Grendel only as a monster. In Grendel, Grendel challenges this role and existence as the monster by embracing language and the arts.

Journal 7

Throughout Anglo-Saxon literature there are different motifs. The three most common motifs are journey, fate, and exile. “The Seafarer” presents a journey that is not all that obvious. The journey is from a young man to an old man. The narrator tell of when he was a young man and lived on land but then something unknown happens and he chooses to leave land and live on the sea. In “The Wife’s Lament” there is a journey of exile. The wife is in love with her lord and marries him but then he gets into trouble and she is left exiled.

Exile is the most apparent thing in both “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament”. In “The Seafarer” the exile is one that is self-inflicted. “… I choose to put myself back on the paths of the sea.” The narrator is showing that he forces himself to stay on the sea. “The Wife’s Lament” presents exile from an outside force. The wife is exiled by her in-laws after her husband gets himself into trouble. The poem is a testament to her emotional distress during her exile.

Fate would have to be the most common motif in not only “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament” but in all Anglo-Saxon poetry. “The Seafarer” has fate present throughout the poem. The narrator believes it is fate that has forced him to the sea and that he will die on the sea. “No man has ever faced the dawn certain which of Fate’s three threats would fall…” In “The Wife’s Lament” the narrator accepts that it is her fate to be exiled and that fate has taken her from her love.

Journal 5

The villain, Grendel, from Beowulf retells his story from his point of view in the modern novel Grendel. Grendel is highly intellectual and observant, but he is misunderstood by many and is “neither proud nor ashamed” of himself. (Gardner 6) If we look closely at his actions, Grendel kills animals but he doesn’t do it for a sport. He lives of off these animals that he hunts. Grendel constantly questions and cries like a young child would, which lets us see his immaturity to an extent. Grendel is also a very curious creature, in that he believes that this was a spell he cursed with when he was younger, though he is steady like a wild animal and observant of the dealings that go around him. He is ungrateful and has an extreme dislike for humans because they are the reason for his immense hatred of the world. Grendel is a simplistic creature whom does not have many motives for his actions. Grendel’s craving to discover the world around him has gotten his mind entangled in a series of mazes. In the novel he constantly asks “why not” as if expecting to get some type of reply back from the background, which makes him even more frustrated. He possesses many characteristics that can make him similar to humans; they both seek knowledge of the world around them. Very often the ignorance of a creature’s or person’s background will make others more hostile towards it, which generates large conflicts between the two. Grendel also is desperate for some company seeking a friend, seeking somebody to talk to, just someone to keep him company.

Grendel is a very sarcastic, deep, emotional, and self-conscious creature. He constantly judges his persona by calling himself a “poor old freak” (Gardner 6). He is a very pessimistic person, always looking at the negativity of situations and never finding the “bright side” of things. Grendel can’t be blamed for this fact since he has never had the opportunity to really experience the positive aspects of life, or life itself for that matter. The people Grendel meets and the things Grendel does make his outlook on life even more pessimistic and harsh. People usually freak out, attempt to attack him, or even attempt to kill him. The most common immediate reaction when someone sees Grendel is disgust quickly followed by running away. Grendel lives during the same time period as Beowulf in the epic poem Beowulf. Grendel also lives in Denmark since that is the setting of his battle with Beowulf. More specifically Grendel lives at home with his mom in an underwater cave in a forest next to Hrothgar’s kingdom. Grendel spends most of his life in the forest and his cave. He only watches the outer world of men hanging from trees and looking at events as a spectator. Grendel is the symbol of various concepts throughout the narrative. The most prominent of these symbols are evil, human curiosity, and the quest for knowledge. Grendel is known as the son of Cain and is also described as being hideous. These facts show that Grendel himself is an evil monster. Throughout the novel Grendel is on a quest for knowledge. He evolves and learns which is apparent in the varying structures of the text. Grendel shows his curiosity because he watches the humans and is just simply curious during the duration of the novel.

Journal 4

Beowulf reveals many values of Anglo-Saxon society. Beowulf reveals that the Anglo-Saxons valued bravery, strength, boldness, and loyalty. This is shown when Beowulf boasts about himself and how strong he is. These values are shown at the end of the story when Wiglaf says “…I would rather my body were robed in the same burning blaze as my gold-giver’s body than go back home bearing arms.” Wiglaf is showing not only showing that he is brave enough to possibly die killing this dragon but is showing is unwavering loyalty to his lord.

            Beowulf reveals one universal theme which is fate. Throughout the story there are direct and indirect references to fate. This reflects on Anglo-Saxon culture because they were very philosophical. Beowulf as well as the Anglo-Saxons believed that all things were left to fate. “Let me live in greatness And courage, or here in this hall welcome my death!” Beowulf shows that he is leaving his life to fate; he believes that he will be courageous and win or suffer his death. Fate is then mentioned throughout the epic poem before fight sequences.

Beowulf Boast

Journal 9

      In Anglo-Saxon culture the bond between lord and servant was very important. This bond is shown in both “The Seafarer” and “The Wife’s Lament”. In “The Wife’s Lament” the bond is apparent not only is the woman’s love her husband but her lord, but she remains loyal to her husband/lord during the entire poem. She speaks of how she still loves and is still loyal to her lord/husband even though she has been separated from him. The author tells us of how horrific the separation from her lord is. She wishes to be with him so badly but yet she is alone exiled from her home and her lord. In “The Seafarer” the author is loyal to his god and the sea. The author speaks of how he knows the joys of landlubbers and the harshness of the seas but yet he remains loyal to the sea. At one point of the poem the author tells of how he comes ashore but cannot wait to get back to sea and his journey. The author also speaks of his god and tells of how he is loyal to his god by giving up his possessions and pleasures in life and living on the sea.

Riddle

I’m put in my owner’s hands and he runs around with me

Then he gets mad and just throws me away

I fly through the air spinning and spinning

I’m scared that I am going to hit the painted-earth

But suddenly a savior comes to adopt me

I land in his arms and loud blaring alarms go off

He must be the king

But then he slams me to the carpet-of-earth

I hobble away to the zebra-man

Then it happens again

Grendel's Attitude towards Language

Grendel has a difficult to understand relationship with language. In the beginning of the novel Grendel embraces language. He makes complicated literary styles, such as arranging text in different forms, writing in others' voices, and writing as if this were an epic. As the story goes on he realizes the world around him is not as he would wish it to be. He becomes frustrated with humans and the world in general, and sinks into his "cave". Grendel's speech becomes more and more simple until he cannot even make a grammatically proper last sentence.

Contemporary Hero

     There are many worthy heroes in this world today from firemen to doctors to some politicians to soldiers and even someone’s own mom and dad but the most deserving group of people that everyone could agree on would be policemen. They confront all criminals in today’s world from speeders to murderers. They do it all. They also can help you if you’re lost, and they are kind enough to escort you to your destination. Policemen do these deeds for us because they have the ability and the heart to protect the innocent people in this busy and rambunctious world. These officers stand for justice, right and would never do anything intentional to harm an individual.

Beowulf-like Hero

     In today’s world there are many Beowulf characters. Maybe not in the real world but in the world of movies there is plenty. One that comes to mind would be Jack Sheppard from the show “LOST”. Jack is like Beowulf in that he faces death numerous times from the black smoke (dragon) but finds a way to overcome adversity multiple times before finally killing the source of the black smoke once and for all. The smoke was extremely persistent and wanted to rule the island that the survivors were stuck on and in turn rule the world.