Grendel Chapter 1 Annotations
Character Analysis
Grendel-monster
 Intelligent and temperamental
 Capable of rational though as well as irrational outbursts of emotion
 Has very human-like actions
 Can be compared to the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Frankenstein
 Feels he has no purpose in a meaningless world-Nihilism
Chapter 1 Summary
Page 5
 Grendel tries to get the ram to leave by throwing stones, yelling, and
stamping his feet. He even freezes the water at his feet, but the ram
stubbornly stays. This reminds Grendel that spring has arrived.
 This marks the 12th year of his war with the humans. He thinks it’s stupid and
pointless.
Page 6
 Disgusted of the ram’s sexual urges
 Asks the sky why the idiotic animal can’t discover any dignity, but like the
ram, the sky refuses to respond. So he flips it off and kicked defiantly.
 Compares himself to the animal by calling himself a pointless, ridiculous
monster who stinks of death.
Page 7
 Walks around noticing spring everywhere and notes the place where he
committed various acts of violence.
 His presence frightens a doe. He claims the reaction is unfair because he’s
never done anything to the doe.
Page 8-9
 Passes the sleeping body of his fat, foul mother.
 He swims through firesnake-infested waters up to the surface of the earth.
 He hates the necessary repetition of traveling to the world of men. He
reaches the edge of his territory, stares over the edge of the cliff and yells,
surprised by the volume of his voice.
Page 10-11
 He continues down the cliff to the mead hall of Hrothgar, King of Danes.
 He thinks about his mother and believes she is wracked with guilt for some
secret crime. She has lost the ability to speak and is unable, or unwilling to
answer questions about the reason for their existence.
Page 12
 He arrives at the mead hall and ravages the humans. This is the 12th year he’s
raided it and he calmly, laughingly looks forward to the reactions of the men.
Page 13
 The men turn off the lights in attempt to confuse Grendel, but he can see in
the dark.
 He sacks up the dead bodies and retreats to the woods and eats them.
 At dawn, the sour meat of the humans sits heavy in his stomach and he is
filled with gloom.
 The Danes attribute the attack to an angry god and he watches as they
rebuild the mead hall.
Page 14
 A funeral pyre is erected and they burn the corpses. They throw golden rings,
swords, and helmets into the fire. The crowd sings songs together and to
Grendel the sounds like one of triumph.
 Nauseated and filled with rage he flees for home.
Chapter 1 Analysis
Page 5
 Schema connection, text-to-text: The beginning echoes “Canterbury Tales”.
 The ram is a link to the poem when the pilgrims set off when the sun is
halfway through the cycle of the ram.
o Ram=Aries (March 21-April 19)
 Gives the reader an idea of what month it is.
Page 6
 Has a low self-esteem. Calls himself pointless implying he feels he has no
purpose in life.
Page 7
 Schema connection: text-to-text.
o “Children of the dead.” Draws from Eliot’s imagery describing spring
in “The Waste Land”.
Page 8-9
 Grendel’s inability to communicate with the ram foreshadows many of his
future interactions.
 He is perpetually trapped in one-way communications whether with his
mom or with animals.
o Even Grendel’s own mother is either unable or unwilling to
communicate with him.
Page 10-11
 All communication is with himself and he creates multiple personalities
because of it. Probably why he is so temperamental.
 Irony!
o Grendel’s inability to communicate with humans, even though they
share a common language. Even his mom is unable, or unwilling to
communicate with him.
Page 12-13
 Gets a pleasure out of watching the men in the dark. Turns into a game with
him.
 Becomes very angry with the thanes for thinking the attack was attributed to
an angry god when he deserves all the credit.
Page 14
 His quiet, isolated position makes him a good narrator and commentator on
the human condition because he is not invited to be a part of it.
 He’s always the outside observer.
Grendel Chapter 2 Annotations
Character Analysis
Grendel’s Mother
 A foul, wretched being
 Grendel’s only family member
 Lives with Grendel in a cave in an underground realm
 Desperately tries to protect Grendel from the humans
 Has either forgotten or never knew how to speak, but at times her gibberish
starts to sound like language
The Bull
 Discovers Grendel hanging in a tree and attacks him repeatedly
 The attack changes Grendel’s view of the world and of himself
Grendel-monster
 Intelligent and temperamental
 Capable of rational though as well as irrational outbursts of emotion
 Has very human-like actions
 Can be compared to the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Frankenstein
 Feels he has no purpose in a meaningless world-Nihilism
Chapter 2 Summary
Page 15-17
 Flashback to the past and Grendel’s first experience with the human world
 While exploring his underground cave, Grendel sees strange creatures
watching his every move, but they never interact with him.
 One night Grendel arrives at a pool of firesnakes in a pool. He thinks the
firesnakes are guarding something.
 Grendel dives into the pool, finds a door, and comes out of the water to see
moonlight for the first time.
 Grendel does this over and over, venturing out farther and farther each time.
 Grendel’s perception of life changes after going to the human world.
o He realizes the creatures underground look past him, or through him
and that only his mother looks at him.
 His mother looks at him and he sees them as the same person.
o Sometimes his mother’s gaze causes Grendel to suddenly feel separate
from her, and so he bawls and hurls himself at her.
o She responds by smashing him to her breast
o Grendel becomes comforted by this and goes back to exploring.
Page 18-19
 One day he becomes trapped in a tree in the human world and begins calling
for his mother, but she doesn’t come.
o He imagines he sees her but it is just a vision of his own doing.
Page 20-21
 A bull appears and, despite Grendel’s screams, the bull charges him.
 His horn rips Grendel’s leg up to the knee.
 The bull strikes too low, and Grendel realizes it’s all just blind instinct.
 Grendel knows if he can twist his body away he’ll be able to avoid the bull’s
attacks.
Page 22-23
 Grendel comes to the realization that the world is just a chaotic mess of
violence. He believes that he alone exists, and everything else is merely what
pushes against him.
 The bull continues to attack but Grendel stops paying attention and
eventually falls asleep
 Grendel wakes to find the first glimpse of men. He’s surprised they speak his
language.
Page 24-25
 The men see Grendel and are baffled by him. They are unsure what he his.
o At first they think it’s fungus on the tree, but then decides it’s a tree
spirit.
Page 26-27
 The men decide that Grendel is hungry for pig and they must feed it.
 Grendel is thrilled with the thought of food and laughs out loud. The humans
think the laugh means he’s angry and they attack Grendel.
 Grendel tries to communicate with the humans, but they don’t understand
his words.
 As Grendel watches them plan their attack, he realizes that the humans aren’t
stupid but intellectual and more dangerous than any creature he’s ever
encountered.
 Grendel’s mother arrives to save him.
Page 28-29
 Grendel wakes up in his mother’s cave. He tries to share what he has
discovered about his existence, but she just stares at him blankly.
 Grendel becomes more and more agitated at this mother’s unresponsiveness,
and she reacts by grabbing him and holding him tightly.
 Grendel is sick with fear and is suffocating in his mother’s fur.
Chapter 2 Analysis
 Grendel crossing over into the human world represents his abandonment of
an innocent childhood and the beginning of a student of human nature.
o Leaving the family to go out on your own is a necessary step every
child makes in discovering who they really are.
 As a child, Grendel sees no difference between himself and his mother. He
sees them as one being. When he leaves home, he realizes they are actually
separate beings.
o This realization frightens Grendel and his mother soothes him by
smashing his face into her body as if trying to join them back together.
o This reassures Grendel that they are still connected and that he’s not
alone. He then returns to his exploring.
 The silent creature in the walls disturbs Grendel and his exploring and makes
him self-conscious which reminds him that he is really alone.
o Grendel’s encounter with the bull makes him feel even more alone
when no one comes to rescue him.
 The bull’s violent act causes Grendel to understand that his mother can no
longer provide him meaning in his world. Only he can.
o At this moment is when he believes that the self is all that can be
known to exist. The bull is just one more thing that acts against him.
o This perception end his childhood and begins his adulthood.
Grendel Chapter 3 Annotations
Chapter 3 Summary
Grendel begins thinking about the growth and social development of men.
 Nomadic tribes of men roam the forest.
o Two groups of men would meet in the woods and battle each other.
When finished they would go back to their separate huts and caves
and tell stories about the battle.
o When the groups got larger, they would leave the caves and huts and
set up large communal halls.
 The halls were beautifully painted and decorate with tapestries
and woodcarvings.
o The humans would plant crops and tame animals.
 Women would stay at the camp to tend to the home and field.
 Men would go out each day to hunt.
o At night, the humans would drink and tell stories about what they
plan to do to the other groups.
o Each group followed a similar pattern and Grendel would watch them
all. The drunken bragging and conquests amuse him and he believes
the men are only partially serious.
o One night, Grendel finds a hall in ruins. It is burned to the ground and
robbed of treasure.
 Grendel watches a change come over the humans.
o They enter an age of conflict and warfare.
 With war came war songs that tell about their battle heroes
and military events.
 Goldworkers would make beautiful handles for battle-axes,
and gain a high place in society.
 Grendel remembers one particular Goldworker with a
funny laugh-“Nyeh heh heh.”
 Confused, Grendel watches as the war escalates and battles
become very repetitive.
 He is safe and secluded in his tree, but he and the humans
share a common language.
 Grendel feels because of this, he is somehow related to
the humans who are capable of “pointless waste”.
 Grendel watches as King Hrothgar (the same king whose men attacked him
while in the tree), grows more powerful than the other leaders.
o Hrothgar is a good strategist and understands the need for
organization.
o Soon, he ends up having other mead halls swearing their allegiance to
him and paying him tributes.
o Hrothgar and his men begin to build roads, with the mead hall in the
middle.
 The Danes military powers grow, as well as recognition and treasure.
o The treasure fills the meadhall and forces the Danes to sleep in the
outbuildings.
o Hrothgar’s influence becomes widespread, and Grendel is filled with
the desire to murder.


One night, Grendel watches as a blind old man and his young assistant get
into Hrothgar’s meadhall.
o The man is a Shaper, an Anglo-Saxon court bard. (Bard=a poet who
traditionally recites epics.)
 To his harp’s music, the Shaper tells the story of Scyld Shefing,
a well-known and respected ancestor of Hrothgar and the
founder of the Scylding (Danish) line.
 The Shaper sings a fabricated version of the Danish history.
 When he finishes, the Danes go wild with glee, and are uplifted
by the Shaper’s account of their heritage.
Grendel sneaks away from the meadhall, affected by the Shaper’s lies.
o Even though he has actually seen the truth of the Danes history
firsthand, he feels the Shaper’s story has the feeling of truth because
of the way he told the story.
o Crying and whimpering, Grendel runs to the top of the cliff wall,
where he can see the lights of the human’s village and screams into
the wind, then runs back to the mere on all fours.
Chapter 3 Analysis
Chapter 3 is about Grendel’s examination of man.
 The society that Grendel describes is the same Scandinavian society where
Beowulf takes place.
 Grendel is just an observer and tells a viewpoint that is very different.
 In Beowulf, the poet stresses the importance of strength, pride and courage in
battle. In contrast, Grendel, the author imitates this view by showing the
crude, early stages of battle. (Two men fighting barehanded in the snow like
animals, then going back and telling wild tales about it.)
o The Grendel view doesn’t sound as noble or exaggerated.
 The chapter imitates the idea of history and the Anglo-Saxon meadhall
culture, with its “poet” (bard), songs, and epic retellings.
 Grendel is the perfect “person” for this imitation because he is an outsider.
o He’s a monster, but resembles man, which allows him to be objective
(not influenced by personal feelings or opinion) to the true nature of
man.
 Grendel’s objectiveness is tested because of his feelings when
he becomes fascinated to empathy and obsession.
 When the Shaper arrives, Grendel again becomes the historian, or recorder,
to the Danes’ story.
o Unlike Grendel, who was just trying to understand humans and make
sense of them, the Shaper has a different agenda by telling his version
of history.
o The Shapers tale of Scyld Shefing came straight from the opening of
Beowulf.
 It shows Hrothgar’s rule and makes it appear as if his ruling
came from heaven itself.
 The song transforms vulgar soldiers into proud inheritors or
tradition by changing their views of themselves.
 Why do the words in the song affect Grendel so much?
o Grendel knows the truth about the history of the Danes that falsifies
the Shaper’s song.




The poem gives little to no factual truth-Grendel’s account of
history is much closer to being accurate.
Even Grendel says the Shaper doesn’t sing because of his love
for the Danes, but only because he knows of Hrothgar’s
growing importance will guarantee him a larger payment.
We have seen Grendel’s ability to be logical and find reason,
and to think philosophical (based on chapter 2), and his
observations are very scientific.
 The Shaper’s story-telling, derails Grendel’s logical
abilities and sends him into an animalistic, primal state.
 He becomes confused and panics because he is torn
between rational thought and beautiful poetry.
This chapter occurs under the sign of the Gemini-the Twinsbleating, two-headed beast Grendel hints towards at the end of
the chapter. “Thus I felt, ridiculous hairy creature torn apart by
poetry—crawling, whimpering, streaming tears, across the
world like a two-headed beast…” (Grendel 44)–symbol of his
dilemma! Astrological motif!
Character Analysis
Hrothgar
 King of the Danes
 Has a very powerful and prosperous kingdom
 Shows leadership
The Shaper
 A harpist and storyteller
 Tells lies of the Danes heritage that are very seductive and believable
 Represents the power of art and imagination to create meaning
Scyld Shefing
 Legendary king from whom Hrothgar is descended.
The Shaper’s assistant
 A young man who arrives with the Shaper
 Apprentice who will take over the Shaper’s duties when he dies.
Grendel
 The protagonist and narrator
 Bearlike monster
 Lonely creature who seeks an understanding of the meaningless world
around him.
 An outsider who observes and provides commentary on the human
civilization.
Grendel’s Mother
 A foul, wretched being
 Only apparent family member to Grendel
 Lives in a cave in a vast underground realm
 Desperately tries to protect Grendel from the humans
 Has either forgotten or never knew how to speak, but at times speaks
gibberish
The Ram
 The first creature Grendel encounters
 Stands stupidly at the edge of a cliff and will not budge despite Grendel’s
protests.
The Goat
 Climbs a cliff despite Grendel’s repeated yells and screams. Grendel tries to
bludgeon it to death with stones, but it continues to climb.
The Bull
 Discovers Grendel hanging in a tree and attacks him repeatedly.
 The encounter with the bull becomes an event that changes his philosophical
view of life.
Motifs
 The Seasons
o The novel completes one calendar year
 Opens in the spring
 A time when cold weather retreats and new vegetation
appears on the earth.
 Symbolizes growth and new beginnings.
 The Zodiac
o Chapter 1-Aries, the Ram
 The creature whom Grendel is arguing with at the beginning.
o Chapter 2-Taurus, the Bull
 The creature whom attacks Grendel while he is hanging from a
tree in the human world.
 Chapter 3-Gemini, the Twins
 Machinery
o Grendel often uses metaphor as a way of expressing his frustration
with what he sees as pointless, mindless adherence to set patterns of
behavior.
 The ram, instinctually responds to the arrival of spring with
ludicrous behavior.
 Grendel describes himself as “mechanical as anything else”
when the warm weather causes him to begin attacking men
again.
 When Grendel is stuck in the tree, both bull and the group of
men attack him.
 When the bull starts attacking Grendel, it never changes
its tactics; it fights by a “blind mechanism ages old.”
 The men have the ability to make new patterns, to break
out of routine and mechanism, which is Grendel’s
fascination with the humans.
Symbols
 The Bull
o Grendel condemns the bull for the unthinking manner in which it
follows patterns.
o In Grendel’s view, animals are like machines, and maintain a tedious
routine that is determined by outside forces (ex: nature and instinct of
animals). They never break the routine on their own.
o Attacks Grendel in the tree is a powerful example of the unthinking
action.
o Comes to represent the world, which similarly acts in a savage,
uncalculated way.