grendelbeo Epic of Beowulf Essay - The Evil of Grendel -- Epic Beowul

The Evil of Grendel in BeowulfThe story of Beowulf, written during Anglo-Saxon times, is a classic epic tale amidst good versus evil. It is a story that gives us insight into the values of the Anglo-Saxon people. The Anglo-Saxons glorified boosterism and the conquering of evil. In the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf, the character of Grendel symbolically represents evil through his setting and heritage, his hateful attitude toward men, and his vicious acts of murder. Grendels heritage and setting argon two things that attribute to Grendels evilness. In the story the author tells us that Grendel was a descendant of Cain(the son of Adam and Eve, who was cursed by God for killing his brother Abel). The poet writes, Conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain(line 42-43). The author makes the familiarity between the murderous Cain and the evil Grendel. Even Grendels lair is a pit of slime and filth. Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild marshes, and made his home in a nuthouse not hell but Earth. He was spawned in that slime(lines 39-41). When the author uses lines like, in a hell not hell but Earth(line 40), it unfeignedly helps to create this vivid image in your mind of this terrible lair that Grendel lives in. He not only lives in the swamp, but also thrives in the ugliness of the night. Out from the marsh, from the foot of misty hills and bogs, bearing Gods hatred, Grendel came, ...He moved quickly through the cloudy night, ...his eyes gleamed in the darkness, burned with a gruesome light(lines 363-367378-380). The poet shows how Grendel travels in the darkness of the night. The night is used to symbolically represent evil. The poets descriptions of Grendels evil and dark enviro... ...out legends, and that is why the story has survived through the ages. It tells us of a powerful, terribly evil monster. The descriptions of Grendel are so scary and evil that we can all draw our own vivid picture of him in our mind. This monst er represents all of the evil in the world, and the hero of the story represents everything good in the world. The story has survived because it is a story about good versus evil. It is a story that we can relate to even now in modern times. Sources Clark, George. Beowulf. Boston Twayne Publishers, 1990. Fry, Donald K. Introduction The Artistry of Beowulf. In TheBeowulf Poet, edited by Donald K. fry. Englewood Cliffs, NJ Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Robinson, Fred C. Grendels Evil. In Beowulf - Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea tin Publishers, 1987.