Grendel by John
Gardner
Key Symbols and the
Philosophies that Illustrate
Grendel’s Search for Meaning
Chapter One: Aries the Ram
Symbol of Spring and the Proliferation of
Life
Philosophy: Orphism—the endless cycles
of life
a. Grendel deals death in the war with
Hrothgar
b. He faces his mortality when he speaks of
chasms
c. He longs for meaning, but rejects it as
meaningless
d. He sees the funeral scene: the celebrants
of the cycle
Orphism
• Zeus and Persephone had a son,
Dionysus Zagreus, whom Zeus wanted to
make ruler of the Universe.
• This angered the Titans so they killed him.
Athena, though, saved the kid’s heart
which Zeus ate. He then destroyed the
Titans with a lightning bolt.
• The Human race rose from these ashes.
More Orphism
• Humans are part Dionysus (divine) and
part Titan (evil). This double nature is
essential to Orphism.
• Humans are divine by nature, but it is only
through ritual that the soul can be liberated
from its Titanic ancestry and achieve
eternal blessedness.
Journal Quick Write
• How is Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
reflected in chapter 2?
Chapter Two: Taurus the
Bull
• Philosophy: Solipsism and Plato’s
“Allegory of the Cave” from The
Republic
– Grendel likens himself to a puppy,
happily playing, innocent, self-centered,
solipsistic. “I alone exist” (22); “I create
the universe blink by blink” (22).
– He leaves the underground cave,
through the pool of “firesnakes”,venturing first up to moonlight;
later, he emerges into sunshine and
painful knowledge of the world. He
begins to grow up.
– His encounter with the bull, the tree,
and men:
• He discovers that his mother cannot hear
him.
• He sees the bull operates by instinct.
• He sees that men are “dangerous,” “pattern
makers.”
• When he returns to the cave his life
is irrevocably altered.
• Grendel can reason, but he can not
communicate.
 3 Gemini the Twins. Gemini is flexible,
versatile, restless, a jack-of-all-trades,
lively, alert, quick-witted, literary,
communicative, a good conversationalist,
changeable, sociable, logical, ingenious,
agile, dexterous, intellectual, and
mentally ambitious.
Chapter Three:
Gemini the Twins
 Application of Symbol: Twin sheep and
goats, the two shapers, and Grendel’s
torn nature: he knows the truth about
men, but the new Shaper’s art
mesmerizes him.
Sophism
 The word sophist at one time simply
meant poet; by the 5th century B.C.E., the
term applied to intellectuals, particularly
one who received a fee for his
knowledge.
 Structure of the Chapter:
 Grendel watches men from the safety of
trees, sees their destructiveness, notes
Hrothgar’s strategy for expanding his power:
his roads and ability to get tribute from other
tribes.
 Grendel realizes the Shaper creates
illusions; however, he longs for the “lies” of
the Shaper’s vision.
 How does Grendel distinguish himself
from men?
 Why Does he long for the Shaper’s
vision?
 Why, ultimately, does Sophism fail?
 Why does Grendel reflect,”Thus I fled,
ridiculous hairy creature torn apart by
poetry . . .” (44)?
• Chapter 4 Cancer the Crab. Cancer is
introverted, reserved, emotional, sensitive,
moody, sympathetic, security-conscious,
prudent, retentive, domestic, maternal,
protective, quiet, calm, imaginative,
conscientious, and quite the traditionalist.
Chapter Four: Cancer the Crab
• Philosophy: Old Testament basic values:
good vs. evil
• Symbols: Crab and home are
synonymous.
– Crab’s shell gives it protection and retreat
from threats
– The snake: many references to a “presence”
that hisses, hints at, tempts Grendel to seek
out the void and the darkness of the dragon
• Structure of the Chapter:
– The building of Heorot in response to the Shaper’s song—a sign
of the glory and permanence of a great civilization
– Grendel speaks to the snake about the Danes’ past: “I knew him
when!” (48).
– He hears the Shaper’s story of creation from the book of Genesis
and the story of the division between good and evil, Abel and
Cain, thus believing in his own guilt though guiltless
– He seeks forgiveness at the mead hall, but is misunderstood
because his physical appearance and strange language
frightens the people.
– He rejects men: “Let them wander the fogroads of Hell” (53).
– He seeks out the “invisible presence” following him throughout
the chapter; he drops into the void and darkness to encounter
the dragon.
– He seeks forgiveness at the mead hall, but is
misunderstood because his physical
appearance and strange language frightens
the people.
– He rejects men: “Let them wander the
fogroads of Hell” (53).
– He seeks out the “invisible presence”
following him throughout the chapter; he
drops into the void and darkness to encounter
the dragon.
Chapter Five:
Leo the Lion
• Symbol: The lion—king of animals
• Philosophy: Nihilism—the belief in nothingness
(See the links below)
• Structure: Grendel goes to the underworld
for advice and knowledge, much as
Odysseus goes to the underworld to seek
information from Tiresias. He emerges
armed with despair. The Dragon has
omniscience, but offers Grendel no
redeeming vision of the world. His only
advice? Seek out gold and sit on it. This
approach suggests that material goods are
the only thing that gives meaning to life.
• 5 Leo the Lion. Leo is ambitious,
a lover of limelight, speculative,
extroverted, optimistic,
honorable, dignified, confident,
proud, exuberant, sunny,
flamboyant, charismatic,
dramatic, competitive, a leader
and an organizer.
• The black sun—Grendel sees deeply into
the dragon’s eye and sees nothing, a
void
• The dragon is golden and fiery as a lion.
• The dragon suggests that the quest for
meaning ends in nothiningness because
nothing will remain except a silent
universe. This anticipates the discovery
of matter speeding up after the ‘bang”
and the universe stretching out to
nothingness.
• He understands time and space, and the
connectedness of all.
Chapter 6: Virgo the Virgin
Virgo the Virgin. Virgo is practical,
responsible, sensible, logical,
analytical, highly discriminating, a
careful planner, precise and
punctual, dedicated, perfectionist,
critical, and health conscious.
Chapter 6: Virgo the Virgin


Symbol: Unferth, thwarted virgin, wants
to fight Grendel, but is concerned only
with himself.
Philosophy: Egotism sometimes called
Objectivism
• Man—every man—is an end in himself, not the
means to the ends of others. He must exist for
his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to
others nor sacrificing others to himself. The
pursuit of his own rational self-interest and of
his own happiness is the highest moral
purpose of his life

Structure of the Chapter:
• Grendel discovers the charm; nothing can harm him,
and his “heart becomes darker because of that” (76). It
is harvest time in the first year of his war with Hrothgar.
• Grendel kills a guard, eating him, horrifying the Danes,
reacting himself with :a strange, unearthly joy. He feels
reborn. “I was Grendel, Ruiner of Mead Halls, Wrecker of
Kings!,” he says (80). He realizes also, “as never
before,” that he is “alone” (80).
• Unferth comes forth to challenge him, speaking in lofty,
formal language about how he is going to send Grendel
to hell.
• Unferth swims down to the mere; he fails in his mission
to kill Grendel
• Grendel returns Unferth to the mead hall; Grendel kills
two more people to prove that he Grendel was there.
• Unferth futilely attempts to kill Grendel through the
years, “crazy with shame” (90).

1 Aries the Ram. Aries is energetic,
innovative, original, pioneering,
assertive, quick-tempered, strong
drive, leader, ambitious, extroverted,
sometimes aggressive, competitive,
enthusiastic, self-reliant, and selfassured.

2 Taurus the Bull. Taurus is
determined, efficient, stubborn,
cautious, placid, persistent,
enduring, introverted, conservative,
conventional, materialistic, security
conscious, stable, industrious,
dependable, and one generally
having significant financial ability.

3 Gemini the Twins. Gemini is
flexible, versatile, restless, a jack-ofall-trades, lively, alert, quick-witted,
literary, communicative, a good
conversationalist, changeable,
sociable, logical, ingenious, agile,
dexterous, intellectual, and mentally
ambitious.