Grendel: A Monster We Can Sympathize With.

There are two main reasons given in Beowulf about why the monster, Grendel, is evil.  One reason is the Christian reason.  The monks who transcribed the poem added this interpretation.  This Christian reason to explain why Grendel is evil is that he is a descendent of Cain, which makes him a kin slayer.  The Vikings have their own reason for not liking Grendel.  Their reason is that he did not pay the death toll therefore he did not follow social order.  These two different beliefs that are shared at the same time are an example of syncretism.

Grendel would go to Heorot at night and kill as many men as he could there.  The murder scenes in the poem use vivid imagery to show how heartless the powerful demon was.  Grendel is described as being “malignant by nature, he never showed remorse” (Heaney 137).  This shows that Grendel doesn’t care about all the lives he is taking.  Also the fact that he isn’t paying the death toll to make up for the deaths shows how he is heartless and why he would be considered a monster.

While he is made out to be a horrible monster, one can also sympathize with Grendel.  He is an outcast who had been exiled away from human society.  He could hear all of the noise coming from the hall everyday.  After living for so long with other banished monsters, it probably was painful for him to hear people living such a good life at Heorot.  Grendel is described as waging “his lonely war” (Heaney 164).  This just further shows how he felt left out and it was the only thing he could do.

The Icelandic movie version of Beowulf by Gunnarsson makes Grendel out to be a very sympathetic character.  The Danes had killed his father when he was young and Grendel never forgot.  He continues to hold vengeful anger towards the Danes and he wants to get revenge on them.  This makes the viewer sympathetic because here is Grendel who lost his father at a young age and mourned the loss for years.  It is only normal for one to want to get revenge on someone who has wronged them, this makes Grendel seem like less of a monster.

Grendel remains a popular monster today because the audience is able to see both sides of him.  He was a terrifying monster towards the Danes because he slaughtered them for years.  Weapons wouldn’t hurt him and so it made him seem very strong and invincible.  At the same time, we feel bad for him because he was banished and lonely.  In the case of the Gunnarsson movie, we can relate to the grief that Grendel feels over his dad’s death.  We also like a character like Grendel because no one could beat him but Beowulf.  This elevates Beowulf’s status as a hero because he was able to save Heorot from losing more men to Grendel.