Grendel Beowulf: Tone Analysis

Characterization Demon “Grendel was the name of this grim demon” “He was the Lord’s outcast” “God-cursed brute” “A fiend of hell” “From Cain, there sprung misbegotten spirits, among them, Grendel” It goes on…

Characterization Feared Cruel “It was easy then to meet a man shifting himself to a safer distance” Cruel “Inflicting constant cruelties on the people” “Corpse-maker” “Insensible to pain and human sorrow”

Characterization Basically, he’s evil and cursed by God “The captain of evil” “Malignant by nature, he never showed remorse” “The bane of the race of men” “Prowler through the dark” “The God-cursed brute”

Imagery Readers are shown that Grendel hates happiness “Then a powerful demon, a prowler-through the dark, nursed a hard grievance. It harrowed him to hear the din of the loud banquet every day in the hall.” Sound familiar?

Sounds like the Grinch! “Then the Whos, young and old, would sit down to a feast. . .They would feast on Who-pudding, and rare Who-roast beast. Which was something the Grinch couldn't stand in the least!”

Imagery Grendel uses his strength to cause pain “He grabbed thirty men from their resting places and rushed to his lair, flushed up and inflamed from the raid, blundering back with the butchered corpses.”

Imagery Grendel has a gruesome way of killing people “He grabbed and mauled a man on his bench, bit into his bone-lappings, bolted down his blood and gorged him on lumps, leaving the body utterly lifeless, eaten up hand and foot.”

Imagery And a dramatic ending. . . “With death upon him, he had dived deep into his marsh-den, drowned out his life and his heathen soul: hell claimed him there.”

Symbolism Represents evil/the Antigod Cast out by God Described as a demon (generally evil) Kills people (unholy) Called, “The captain of evil”

Symbolism Overall, represents good overcoming evil Beowulf (strong and righteous) kills Grendel “The man who had lately landed among them, proud and sure, had purged the hall”

Symbolism Also could symbolize Christianity overcoming Paganism Grendel cast out by God as Pagans cast out by Christians Beowulf (Christian) overcame Grendel as Christianity overcame Paganism

Tone Dark, negative, angry Always described with dark words (ex: “The shadow-stalker” ; “Corpse-maker”) People’s reactions and descriptions of him are negative His actions display anger