The Disparities Between Heaney's Grendel and Gardner's Grendel

In this class we’ve read Beowulf by Seamus Heaney as well as Grendel by John Gardner. Both books describe the same character with variations of emphasis on certain parts of the plot, but the monster they call Grendel remains in each one. Ideally, one would think that the monster would be similar if not mostly the same for each story, but after reading through Beowulf and Grendel it is obvious that this monsters characteristics and motives can be interpreted completely different from each other. Why do Beowulf and Grendel have such polarizing views of the same character and yet their stories follow the same characters and plot sequence? 

Seamus Heaney’s Beowulf focuses on the story of Beowulf, a young hero who seeks out monsters to slay them and assert his male dominance. The story also centers around the lineage of several groups of people like the Geats, the Danes, and the Swedes. In this story Grendel is one of the three monsters Beowulf comes into contact with and kills. In this version, Grendel is seen as this “powerful demon” with talons that had been cursed by God that wreaks havoc on individuals in Hrothgar’s mead hall (Heaney 9). Seamus Heaney really emphasized how Grendel was an outcast from God, highlighting that he was related to Cain’s damned lineage and how the monster was “the Lord’s outcast” (Heaney 9 & 13). In Beowulf, Grendel’s main characteristics are that he is a damned creature who selfishly murders Hrothgar’s people because he is tired of hearing the incessant noises. That’s his biggest motivation as well, stopping people from making so much noise, but there isn’t much character development past that. He’s been written as a true monster with little to none character development and a lot of problematic traits. Jumping to John Gardener’s Grendel, the reader can quickly see a difference. For starters it is written from Grendel’s perspective, so we are given more insight into the character and in a sense is getting a chance to speak for himself. Reading through Grendel it was obvious that in this version he possessed more human like qualities and personality traits. The biggest one I think this Grendel has is curiosity which is not something a reader gets from Heaney’s version of the monster. In the first chapter Grendel gets curious and goes and explores passed the mere where he gets himself into trouble, but that’s something that everyone has done at some point and it makes him easier to relate to and understand. In Gardener’s version of Grendel, he’s also given more positive characteristics than he is in Beowulf. He’s looked at as strong, intelligent, at least when compared to his mother, and able to think for himself. His motivations have also changed in this story, in this he is more purposeful, spurred on by the wisdom given to him by the dragon as well as wanting to not be outcast like in the songs sung by the shaper's. This Grendel is not motivated by rage and blood, but rather a thoughtful individual who wishes to be on apart of the in crowd.

Each book written from a completely different perspective with the same monster, yet the characteristics of that monster are polar opposites. One Grendel, out for blood and motivated by his own pain, another spurred on by his own curiosity, but why such different versions of the same monster? Possibly because each writer was trying to highlight a different side of humanity, each correct in their own portrayal, but still missing the other side giving the readers two extremes. 

Grendel and His Personal Conflicts

Depicted as a hideous creature with no sense of what is right or wrong in various iterations of the story of Beowulf, Grendel is your typical portrayal of a monster in our modern era. In the movie Beowulf (2007), Grendel is animated to be a grotesque, deformed figure. With gray, scaly skin, abnormal bodily features, and a generally disturbing face to look at, it is understandable why people cower in fear even before Grendel rips the the head off a helpless body. Additionally, it appears that Grendel can't speak, but can instead make ear-piercing noises. However, during the scene before Grendel's arm is cut of by Beowulf, Grendel can be heard frantically attempting to communicate with Beowulf, almost like he is begging for mercy. Apparently, Grendel spoke in Old English dialect. What I found interesting about this part is what he said: something on the lines of "I am not a Monster". Connecting this with his noticeable displeasure during his battle with Beowulf, I believe Grendel is not a complete monster without feelings. Rather, Grendel is a reasonable creature who is struggling with his identity.

Grendel's more human side is significantly explored in the novel Grendel by John Gardner. Gardner retells the story of Beowulf entirely through the mind of Grendel, portraying him more like an antihero than a full on villain. Grendel is shown be able to rationally think about things and even question the actions of others and himself. On the other hand, the original story depicts Grendel as a mindless killer who's only goal is to wreak havoc upon Hearot. Hrothgar and his people believe Grendel is a cursed evil creature. However, Grendel does not solely view himself like this. Yes, there are instances where Grendel clearly expresses his pleasure in murdering the men of Hrothgar in extremely graphic ways, yet Grendel occasionally questions why he goes out on killing sprees. Furthermore, Grendel is capable of sparing characters in specific circumstances, such as letting Wealhtheow live (barely since he was on the cusp of tearing her apart) and letting the truce between Hrothgar and the young prince commence as he hid in the trees. All these qualities suggest Grendel is struggling to have a sense of purpose in his life. He desires more than to just hate on Hrothgar and humans in general for attacking him just for his appearance. This is similar to the narrative in Frankenstein (both characters are attacked because of their horrendous appearances even when they do nothing to provoke such actions). Just like Frankenstein's case, Grendel eventually finds a purpose that unfortunately involves more senseless murders. Grendel is lead to believe by the Dragon that he should continue to terrorize the humans to give them a sense of purpose. Thus, in the midst of his personal conflict, Grendel may be killing the humans because he was led to believe that was the right thing to do in his circumstance as a loathed and feared monster.