Grendel: Analysis of Major Characters
"Grendel: Analysis of Major Characters" delves into the complexities of key figures in the modernist retelling of the Beowulf legend through the eyes of Grendel, the monster and narrator. Grendel, living in an undersea cave, grapples with his dual nature as both a curious observer and a fearsome predator, reflecting on the brutality and contradictions of human behavior. His mother, a protective yet deteriorating figure, symbolizes his connection to a simpler, more primal existence that he ultimately seeks to escape. Hrothgar, the king, represents the flawed authority built on violence, while The Shaper, a blind bard, creates illusions of nobility that both inspire and repulse Grendel.
The Dragon, a cynical and disillusioned creature, reinforces Grendel’s existential doubts about the nature of humanity and the futility of meaning. Unferth, the prideful warrior, offers a mix of humor and frustration as he attempts to confront Grendel but is ultimately humiliated. Wealtheow, Hrothgar’s queen, embodies grace and duty, temporarily challenging Grendel’s bitterness. Finally, Beowulf, the Geat Hero, emerges as a formidable opponent, stirring both fear and intrigue in Grendel. Through these characters, the narrative explores profound themes of identity, existentialism, and the nature of good and evil, inviting readers to reflect on the complexities of human and monster alike.
Grendel: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: John Gardner
First published: 1971
Genre: Novel
Locale: The Scandinavian countryside
Plot: Fantasy
Time: The early Middle Ages
Grendel, a thinking monster and the narrator of this modern-ist retelling of the Beowulf legend. A dweller in an undersea cave, Grendel disregards the fearful protests of his mother and repeatedly ventures above into the world of humans. Merely curious at first, Grendel soon learns that humans are dangerous, thinking creatures, better eaten than trusted. He kills an occasional person and conducts periodic raids to amuse himself, but his uncertainty about human nature nags him. He vacillates between the brute existence he sees before him and the idealism humans spout even in the face of their barbaric acts. In search of an answer, he travels to see the Dragon, who insists that humankind's pretensions to meaning are pure illusion. When Grendel later discovers that adopting the Dragon's cynicism has charmed him and made him invulnerable to any weapon, the fierceness of his raids intensifies. Unfortunately, the “charm” isolates him still further from the human community that he plunders but secretly wishes to join, and it makes killing people a tedious and mechanical process, unlike the sporting event it had been when there were risks involved. Grendel's boredom and his disgust with human beings continue intermittently, as do his raids, until the Geat Hero arrives from another land to challenge him.
Grendel's mother, also a monster. Although still fierce in defending her son, Grendel's mother has grown fat, timid, and somewhat senile in her old age. When Grendel is trapped during his first encounter with humans, she rescues him and subsequently tries to dissuade him from leaving their cave to roam aboveground. Although Grendel obviously is attached to her and values her protection, he does not want to be limited to the crude and inarticulate existence that she offers.
Hrothgar (ROHTH-gahr), a minor king, ruler of the Scyldings, a group of Danish warriors. Noted for being an accomplished warrior in his youth, Hrothgar has assembled a loyal band of fighting men (thanes) to protect him and his wealth. He extracts payments from neighboring villages in exchange for protection from outside raids and uses his substantial resources to build Hart, a magnificent tribute hall. Grendel, knowing that Hrothgar's power and position rest on nothing more legitimate than bloodshed and intimidation, delights in waging a personal war against him, undermining both his power and his claim to a divinely ordained prosperity. Hrothgar is able to do nothing to stop Grendel's raids and can only watch as his thanes are killed and his power eroded.
The Shaper, a blind harpist who composes and sings poetry at Hrothgar's court. The Shaper arrives after Hrothgar has established his kingdom, and he proceeds to invent noble accounts of the creation of Hart and of the divine benevolence and intercession that made it possible. Half teary-eyed and half enraged, Grendel fluctuates between being seduced into hope by the Shaper's song and being sickened by its falseness and irony. He witnessed the real circumstances, calculated and brutal violence, that enabled Hrothgar to become a wealthy king. The Shaper enjoys his position not because he speaks the truth but because he tells people what they want to hear. Even on his deathbed, he proclaims visions that the Danes, nearly decimated by Grendel's raids and now vulnerable to attack by other clans, will be restored to their former greatness. Grendel savors the irony as the man dies in mid-sentence.
The Dragon, a huge, fire-breathing beast. Misanthropic and cynical, the Dragon reinforces Grendel's doubts about the Shaper and about human nature in general. He characterizes human beings as counters and theory makers who assemble random facts and ideological schemes that mean nothing, and he maintains that the Shaper merely “invents” significance that does not exist. Omniscient in his knowledge of the past, present, and future, the Dragon suffers from an unrelieved boredom, which he tries to mitigate by hoarding gold and jewels. He explains to Grendel that all existence is arbitrary and temporal and thus includes no absolute truths of meaning and no eternal reality. Grendel leaves, saturated with the Dragon's bleak message, and begins to vent his murderous rage whenever he hears people's songs of hope and self-satisfaction.
Unferth (UHN-furth), Hrothgar's best warrior. Still relatively young and a large, capable fighter, Unferth challenges Grendel during one of the monster's meadhall raids. Prone to theatrics, Unferth is not so much a threat as a comic annoyance. Rather than fight him, Grendel decides to pummel him with a barrage of apples, humiliating him in front of his peers. Unferth surprises Grendel by following him back to his cave, where, prepared to fight to the death, he makes a grandiose speech about the meaning and importance of heroism, then passes out from exhaustion. Grendel returns him unharmed and refuses to kill him in subsequent raids, adding to Unferth's shame and frustration.
Wealtheow (WEEL-thee-ow), Hrothgar's queen. A young redhead of unsurpassed beauty and charm, Wealtheow was a gift offered by her brother, a young king who planned to attack Hrothgar but who changed his mind when he saw the army Hrothgar had assembled. Wealtheow seems less than happy in her new life but accepts the duty graciously and becomes a civilizing force among Hrothgar's people. Like the Shaper's song, Wealtheow's beauty and grace “tease” Grendel out of his bitterness, but only temporarily.
The Geat Hero, Beowulf, a huge, well-muscled warrior who has come by ship to rid the Danes of Grendel. As cunning as he is powerful, Beowulf silences the boasts of Hrothgar's men and unnerves the watchful Grendel with his intensity and single-mindedness. Grendel is both afraid of him and eager for their encounter. When they meet, Beowulf uses his shrewdness and strength to make good on his promise to end Grendel's reign of terror.