Grendel Summary
Grendel by John Gardner is based off the epic poem Beowulf, only telling the story from the point of Grendel, the monster. In his early years, Grendel thought himself the center of the universe. He discovers in time that that is not the case, and becomes very aware of the world around him and the nature of humans and their perception of heroism. One year Grendel becomes particularly fed up with the noisy partying coming from Hrothgar’s meadhall, and he starts to make routine visits to the meadhall which consist of killing and eating humans. After twelve years of this monstrous behavior, a man named Beowulf arrives to kill Grendel, and Grendel’s fate is soon decided.
Poem:
He who greets the shadows
With words that can twist
Time and the slaves of this
King of power and glory
Meet the one brought down
By darkness
The trees whispered if
In the eternal silence of
Space that is beginning to end.
Yet the end grows
Nearer than you expect
A shrunken heart
But enlarged mind filled
With pride and fearlessness.
This is what you can do
Angels will lose their wings
And devils will rise to power
The hatred of your own marginalized
Confusion.
Oh, but it was not an accident
He knew all along
The secret should not have been that surprising
The hairs rising on your arms
The quickened heartbeat
All meant one thing
This was what you could prevent
Not a lie, not a mistake,
Fate and Chance interchanged.
Here the shadow is patient
Waiting in silence
As Time drags on with heavy footsteps
Here he greets the shadow
Their faces are mirrors of each other
Fixed with wicked grins
Poem:
He who greets the shadows
With words that can twist
Time and the slaves of this
King of power and glory
Meet the one brought down
By darkness
The trees whispered if
In the eternal silence of
Space that is beginning to end.
Yet the end grows
Nearer than you expect
A shrunken heart
But enlarged mind filled
With pride and fearlessness.
This is what you can do
Angels will lose their wings
And devils will rise to power
The hatred of your own marginalized
Confusion.
Oh, but it was not an accident
He knew all along
The secret should not have been that surprising
The hairs rising on your arms
The quickened heartbeat
All meant one thing
This was what you could prevent
Not a lie, not a mistake,
Fate and Chance interchanged.
Here the shadow is patient
Waiting in silence
As Time drags on with heavy footsteps
Here he greets the shadow
Their faces are mirrors of each other
Fixed with wicked grins