1. Grendel
Chapter 8

2. Hrothulf Shaper Grendel
“By deeds worth praise/ a man can, in any kingdom, prosper!”
Grendel
“theorem” [sic]: “Any action (A) of the human heart/ must trigger an equal and opposite reaction. (A1).” (Gardner 113).
Will repay king’s kindness with greed
Please Grendel

3. Hrothluf
"The law of the world is a winter law, and casual” (Gardner 115).
Tree shades plants and kills them
Symbolizes the power of Hrothgar
Peasants used to make king richer
They suffer injustices
Hrothluf can be as powerful as Hrothgar

4. Characterization Red Horse
“had a perpetually startled look, round, red eyes and mouth, white hair that flared around his high, empty dome like the beams of the sun…” (Gardner ).
Parallels the dragon
Hrothluf’s advisor
GRendel hates him

5. Red Horse
"If the Revolution comes to grief, it will be because you and those you lead have become alarmed at your own brutality" (Gardner 117).
Violence occurs when current events make it unavoidable, then violence becomes heroic.
He saw this as natural and good--it is sometimes the only way to change things.
Revolutions are another way of getting power.

6. Red Horse’s Views Kingdom
“[s]ave the values of the community [and] improve the quality of the commonwealth”
(Gardner 118)
A kingdom protects the power of the people in power and rewards the people who fit into the system
Represents Hrothgar’s Kingdom

7. Hrothluf & Red Horse
Hrothluf: no one would say that violence is good, no matter what the result of it was.
Red Horse disagrees that's just what he believed. "All systems are evil” (Gardner 120)
He said he didn't believe in justice.
Hrothulf says nothing, looking thoughtful.

8. Grendel’s Reaction Hrothgar now only worries about Grendel
Sees worry in Wealthow
She knows same worries and fears
"How, if I know all this, you may ask, could I hound him--shatter him again and again, drive him deeper and deeper into woe? I have no answer, except perhaps this: why should I not?" (Gardner 122).
Knows they will never be friends
He’s a monster, so he can act like one

9. Hrothgar’s Dream
“The Two trunks in their infinitesimal dance of growth/ Have turned completely about one another, their join/ A slowly twisted scar…” (Gardner 124)
Symbolism
Represents first time Grendel met humans
Hrothgar’s life
Good intertwined with evil
At end kingdom is destroyed with a sword

10. Grendel Chapter 9

11. Grendel’s Uneasiness Chapter focuses on death
The trees are dead now
The day’s an arrow in a dead man’s chest
Apocalyptic
Dead wolves
He senses that the end is near
His own end is near

12. Images of Death Image of hunter and deer
“December, approaching the year’s darkest night, and the only way out of the dream is down and though it. The trees are dead now. The day’s are an arrow in a dead man’s chest” (125).
Image of hunter and deer
“The image clings to my mind like a growth. I sense some riddle in it" (Gardner 127).

13. Foreshadowing
“Something is coming, strange as spring. I am afraid. I imagine muffled footsteps overhead” (126).
His end, Beowulf
Violence begets violence

14. Christianity Taking Over
Beginning to not like rituals
“In the old days they used to kill virgins. Religion is sick.” (128)
They only do rituals for showmanship
“The weak observe the rituals…” “The strong – old Hrothgar, Unferth- ignore the images.” (128)
Grendel and Hrothluf disgusted by rituals
When Grendel destroyed pagan idols, no one but priests cared.

15. The King of Gods ultimate limitation
no rational explanation b/c beyond rational thought
creates humans’ existence
"He is the eternal urge of desire establishing the purposes of all creatures" (132).
to be human is to be limited and eventually die
Ultimate wisdom is to know the way things are connected
Things fade and alternatives exclude
Nothing is lost

16. Ultimate Evil
“The ultimate evil is that Time is perpetual perishing, and being actual involves elimination” (132).
Everything in man’s is life is temporary
Whatever exists will be eliminated
Ultimate evil is not lasting
Grendel’s death

17. Ultimate Wisdom
“…lies in the perception that the solemnity and grandeur of the universe rise through the slow process of unification in which the diversities of existence are utilized, and nothing, nothing is lost” (133).
Natural process in the universe
life seems to end, but as it fades, it becomes part of the universe.
Conflict in life is necessary
discord creates new ways of being, which leads to the ultimate unification of all things.
Nothing is ever lost

18. Deals with the theme of the search for meaning:
Chapter 9 Overview
Deals with the theme of the search for meaning:
Grendel was once intimidated by a huge & accidental universe. His life was without meaning
He understands the basis of truth & life but still lives his life as if it were a machine- irrelevant
Weak humans search for truth in pagan gods
Strong humans search through violence & power- thinking themselves “god-like”
Shows their insecurity & uncertainty
Ork: god serves as his source of comfort & w/o god the world would lose order & become chaotic