Grendel Character Analysis

A man-eating monster descended from the Biblical Cain. Grendel is described as a "walker in darkness," who is "wearing God's anger" and "lacking in joy" because he has inherited the curse the Biblical Cain received as a result of his murder of his brother Abel. While Grendel's psychology is not explored in detail in Beowulf, there is a sense that he attacks the Danes because his own enforced isolation has made him hate those who are able to enjoy society and companionship. As Heorot is a symbol of such society and companionship, being the place where the Danes congregate to eat, drink, tell stories, build fellowship among each other, and share in the generosity of their king, Grendel's attack on Heorot is thus symbolic as an attack on the idea of society itself. The novelist John Gardner wrote a book called Grendel that explores these ideas about Grendel more fully, and tells of the events of Beowulf from Grendel's point of view.