The Shaper is an old, blind man who comes to Hrothgar offering to sing for money. He is the character through whom the novel most deeply explores ideas about language, art, and beauty. His skillful songs inspire Hrothgar’s men to greatness and propagate ideas of heroism, justice, and religion. He also inspires Hrothgar to construct his great meadhall, Hart. For Grendel, the Shaper has the unique ability to shape and change the world, creating a sense of order, meaning, and beauty out of a chaotic universe. Grendel is fascinated and enticed by the beauty of the Shaper’s art, but he is also enraged by it, since he knows that it false and full of lies. However, underlying Grendel’s dislike of the Shaper is at least some jealousy, as Grendel wishes he could be a part of the community that is unified by the Shaper’s stories. The dragon sees the shaper’s songs as simply illusion, a tool that helps the humans deal with an irrational universe. While this may be true, the Shaper does possess real power and is able to make things actually happen in the real world (such as the construction of Hart).
The Shaper Quotes in Grendel
The Grendel quotes below are all either spoken by The Shaper or refer to The Shaper. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 3
Quotes
So he sang—or intoned, with the harp behind him—twisting together like sailors’ ropes the bits and pieces of the best old songs. The people were hushed. Even the surrounding hills were hushed, as if brought low by language.
Related Characters:
Grendel (speaker), The Shaper
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4
Quotes
It was a cold-blooded lie that a god had lovingly made the world and set out the sun and moon as lights to land-dwellers, that brothers had fought, that one of the races was saved, the other cursed. Yet he, the old Shaper, might make it true, by the sweetness of his harp, his cunning trickery. It came to me with a fierce jolt that I wanted it. As they did too, though vicious animals, cunning, cracked with theories. I wanted it, yes! Even if I must be the outcast, cursed by the rules of his hideous fable.
Related Characters:
Grendel (speaker), The Shaper
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Shaper Character Timeline in Grendel
The timeline below shows where the character The Shaper appears in Grendel. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 1
...Each time, people cry out and an old blind man with a harp, called the Shaper, flees out a back window. Hrothgar’s men try to fight Grendel but never succeed. This...
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Chapter 3
...the very landscape hushed “as if brought low by language.” The harp-player, known as the Shaper, offered to sing of Hrothgar’s glory for pay.
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Grendel was swept up in the song and music of the Shaper even though he knows that the Shaper’s version of a heroic history is false. Grendel...
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Grendel fled from the meadhall crying, feeling ridiculous and pained by the Shaper’s poetry. He attempted to reason about how true or false the Shaper was. From the...
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Chapter 4
In the present day, the Shaper still sings, as Grendel continually spies on Hrothgar’s greatest meadhall, Hart. Grendel says that the...
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Grendel knew the Shaper was lying but his words sounded true. Hrothgar gathered a slew of workers to construct...
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Talking to himself out in the wild, Grendel thought about how the Shaper was able to reshape the world and change it. As he thought, Grendel thought he...
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...settlement, he accidentally stepped on a dead man, whose clothes had been stolen. As the Shaper began to play, Grendel picked up the body and went closer to the hall to...
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The Shaper sang of how the earth was first created by the greatest of gods and how...
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Grendel then rushed into the hall crying out “mercy!” and “peace!” The Shaper stopped playing and the men screamed and attacked Grendel. Grendel dropped to his knees, saying...
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Two nights later, Grendel went back to hear the Shaper, addicted to his singing. The Shaper sung lies about how men had fought heroically against...
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Back in his cave, Grendel was convinced that the Shaper’s songs about the creation of the world and the feud between two ancient brothers were...
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Chapter 5
...their crackpottheories!” When the humans realize that their theories are flawed, the dragon explained, the Shaper helps by providing a pleasing illusion of reality.
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...all of his treasure. He advises Grendel, “know thyself.” Grendel told the dragon of the Shaper’s story of the world’s creation, which the dragon called ridiculous. The dragon reiterated the unimportance...
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Chapter 6
...begun systematic raids. He would wait at the edge of the forest, listening to the Shaper’s songs, which enraged him with their confidence and hope. He went up to the wall...
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Chapter 7
Grendel sings, influenced by the language of the Shaper. He thinks he might be crazy but keeps singing. He narrates in third-person how he...
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...go to the meadhall and watch Wealtheow serve all the tables, charming Hrothgar like the Shaper. She softened tempers and mediated arguments, her beauty resolving men’s disputes. She calmed Unferth when...
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...winter, Wealtheow’s brother came to Hart. All the men ate, drank, and listened to the Shaper. Grendel watched through the crack in the wall. The humans were all merry, though Grendel...
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Chapter 8
...have thoughts of challenging Hrothgar’s authority. Grendel presents a theorem that he ascribes to the Shaper: “Any action of the human heart must trigger an equal and opposite reaction.”
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Chapter 10
The Shaper is sick. Grendel watches as Hrothgar, Wealtheow, and Hrothulf go to visit the Shaper’s sickbed....
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...When they sleep, she buries him under her fur. Prompted by the death of the Shaper, Grendel ponders the impossibility of going back to the past and remembers his youth.
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Grendel decides to attend the Shaper’s funeral. His mother attempts to prevent him from leaving the cave. Grendel considers that she...
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