In Chapter 7, Grendel stated that he was capable of killing all of the men in Hrothgar's kingdom, but he chose not to do so. He started to make a song for himself if he were to do so. What would they call him? Grendel feels the dragon's scent grow heavier around him, like it was visible. He also kept a list of "blessing" in mind. Around Grendel's second year of attacking Hrothgar's kingdom, he saw a new army lead by a young prince, and this prince was growing stronger and was getting closer to Hrothgar's kingdom. The prince and his army entered Hrothgar's mead-hall and the prince was stating that he will ally with the king, but Hrothgar believed that it was just a trick, so that he will raid and kill them when they are unaware and drunk. The prince gave his own sister, Wealtheow so they can ally and they she was so beautiful that he took her. She was more of a servant even though she held the high rank of a queen. One winter, her brother visited and he was capable of playing the harp and singing. The instrument was like the one the harper used, but it was different. Grendel found their ideas ridiculous. "The Shaper's lies, the hero's self-delusion, now this: the idea of a queen!" One night, Grendel raced for the halls and grabbed her. He had his mind set on killing her, but then Grendel changed his mind, considering that it would be "meaningless" to kill her. While his mind was set on killing her, she was praying for help to the gods, but no one came. It was just a belief they had, but was ridiculous to him.
In the words of the dragon, “Things come and go…That’s the gist of it…even I will be gone ” if a dragon will one day die or be replaced, than surely this could happen to king Hrothgar. To the far east of Hrothgar’s kingdom a new young king is gaining fame and fortune, the same way Hrothgar came to power; by burning other halls. Since kings feel the need to defend or expand their kingdom; lengthen their power, Hrothgar goes to the new king in search for a bloody war. Knowing he can win, Hrothgar demands the new king, Hygmod, to surrender and submit to his power. Even though Hygmod promised an extensive amount of lavish gifts, Hrothgar would continually refused until Hygmod presented his sister, Wealtheow. Truly stunning and worth more than gold, Hrothgar accepts king Hygmod’s gift and returns home. Wealtheow had hair as bright as a ruby, lavish as gold, and a voice made of magic; she truly was a “Disney princess”. Do to her physical traits and her innocence, Grendel was continually drawn to her, he watched her, fascinated, she enchanted him and tore him apart like the Shaper’s songs had done before. Though Wealtheow was truly a brave woman, she willingly laid her happiness aside for that of her kingdom. During the first winter, her brother and some of his countrymen came to visit, having the time of their lives Wealtheow was truly happy and so was Hrothgar. Annoyed by their unreal faith, happiness, and unrealistic expectation of life, Grendel decided to kill the young queen. When Grendel had her in his grasp all of the men stood still, frozen by fear. Grendel set his heart on killing her, he would teach them a lesson, the lesson of reality. He would be given a new name “Grendel the truth-teacher”. But as simple as the fright had begun, it stopped. It would be meaningless to kill her, no lesson would be taught, he would only be killing her for the pleasure of it, and he would still be held a monster. Grendel described himself as a “creature of two minds” he was balanced. Torn between his monstrous and stubborn side and his love for the beauty of life: the shaper’s songs and queen Wealtheow. He could not make up his mind, he must kill the queen show them something new, no he cannot, he should kill himself, no he will not. A truly peculiar fellow, but one must remain balanced and open minded to avoid being a mechanical drone or a boring a creature of habit, balance is everything.
7. This chapter confused me a little bit. Grendel seems to be losing his mind, but at the same time, he’s calm, cool, and collected regardless of his situation and the horrible situation that he has put the people of Hrothgar’s kingdom in. Grendel has, I thought became the ravenous killer he wanted to be, until he saw the queen. When the young king, trading with Hrothgar, the young king offers his sister, the princess of their kingdom as a peace weaver. Grendel is confused. Why would he offer his sister? Why? He begins to cry when he sees that she has children. Two young members of her family, about to lose their mother to some stupid human traders. I think Grendel is not totally swallowed by the depths of his animal rage, but is sinking lower and lower by each day. I think that even though Grendel is slowly becoming a monster, their will always be that ray of light, that sliver of compassion making him separate from an animal, and more human. Grendel later in the chapter was going to rape and kill the queen. He was so set on this gruesome murder he could hardly contain himself! He then stops himself. He feels pity for the girls torched existence of this girl and her situation, it would be meaningless killing her, but at the same time he sees it as meaningless to let her live. It would be a flash of pleasure and nothing more. Grendel is becoming a vial creature in my opinion. At first he never wanted to be alone, but now he feels that no one is worthy to be with him. Grendel is a tortured soul, stuck between the pull of purity, and the pull of evil. ~Ben
In this chapter we see a softer side of Grendel. We see that he is falling in love with the Queen of the thanes. He sees her as pure beautiful and still a child. He feels bad for her at times as well to because she is still a child and she has to live with Hrothgar. Grendel stocks her and observes everything thing he does even when she is sleeping. I think he can relate to her since they both weren’t ever loved. Since Grendel is a monster and wants to prove a point to the people he kills her in a very disturbing way. He grabs her legs and pulls them apart.
The dragon seems to be in the back of Grendel’s mind even more now. He is a constant reminder of the life Grendel is to live, and Grendel knows it. He embraces it and finds himself unable to stand it at the same time. Hrothgar’s people continue to strike against Grendel, who sensibly realizes that his food supply will disappear if he kills them all at once. He finds himself becoming lonelier and lonelier, talking to himself more because of his unsocial and inactive behavior. A new meadhall begins to be built just down the way, and Hrothgar, sensing a threat, cobbles together an army to get the newcomers under his control. The king of the newcomers offers peace in the form of Wealtheow, his sister, to become Hrothgar’s wife in an act of peaceweaving. Grendel finds himself entranced with her just as with the Shaper. She is beautiful, too good to be true, but he resists. However, he follows her actions in the hall as he finds himself unable to raid during the winter. He becomes jealous, attacks, takes Wealtheow and prepares to kill her. But he does not. Something comes over him, the realization that it would be just as futile to kill her as to let her live. He drops her, returning to the mere unhappier than before, though that is not what he tells himself. He tells himself that he is “cured” of the curse that is Wealtheow.
During this chapter, Grendel comes to understand the true use of noble women at this time. Grendel sees a wonderful and beautiful women, who is portrayed as childlike, is married off to live with a disgusting old man so that the native tribe of the queen will not attacked and vise versa. Grendel stalks the queen and sees all that happens. He does not believe that this is how the world is or should work. He becomes quite fed up and enraged over the entire peace weaving and begins a large and brutal attack upon Hrothgar and his people. Grendel storms through the mead hall angrily killing without cause and brushes Unferth aside as he makes his way into the kings chamber. He takes the new bride by the ankles and ponders angrily over how to make the humans pay for their awful ways. Grendel contemplates whether or not to tear the queen apart and when he is about to, he decides that it will serve as no lesson the Hrothgar or his people. Part of the reason that Grendel has become so angry and violent in this chapter is because the influence that the dragon has on him is greatly increasing as the book goes on. Grendel is less sympathetic and becomes more monster like, still holding some human parts inside of him.
In this chapter, “balance is everything.” (Pg. 91) Grendel continues to watch over men, and this time observes something new. He sees the men prepare for a battle against the Helming’s'. The young king of Helmings however, offers Hrothgar many gifts, as he does not want to fight. After Hrothgar declines all the gifts the young king offers, saying he will be able to get money and gifts back if he invaded them, the king of Helmings offers one more gift. This gift is his sister. He offers Hrothgar his sister, having her act as a peace-weaver. This way neither Helmings nor Scyldings would invade each other, as they didn’t want to kill their own families. Hrothgar accepts this gift along with the other treasure and ventures home. He then starts to observe the Queen, Wealtheow. He observes how this young, child-looking lady has to lie with an old bony king. During the day she smiles, but at night is filled with sorrow, because of her forced departure of Helmings. When her brother comes to visit, her and Hrothgar experience true happiness for the first time since they have been together. This sense of happiness annoys Grendel, so he decides he should kill the queen, to teach them about the reality of life and not to live with a false sense of reality. He bursts into Hrothgar's hall, and into the queen’s room. He was set on killing her but within an instant he changed his mind. He decided that killing her would be just as pointless as letting her live, so he would let her live. Grendel decides that he has to balance his monster and human side and also discovers that if he wipes out Hrothgar and his men completely, he will have no purpose.
This chapter is very different from the rest because of the style that Grendel uses. It shows how he has grown as a narrator and has become more creative. As Grendel is greatly influenced by the dragon, he is still not completely converted to being nihilistic because of the feelings he has towards the beautiful women, Wealtheow. Although, Grendel says, “I changed my mind. It would be meaningless, killing her”. This contradicts what he had said earlier in the chapter about how killing the queen would have meaning because it would be the “ultimate act of nihilism”. Wealtheow is the most important women in the Danish community, everyone looks up to her beauty and generosity. She is a very good queen because she bring peace and balance to the people with her kindness. Unfortunately for her, she was brought to Hrothgar and his people to bring peace between the relationships of men. Towards the end, Grendel goes into the bedroom of Wealtheow and exposes her, after that he is able to withstand her beauty and wisdom. Metztli Garcia
This chapter is where Grendel reaches his lowest so far. Grendel becomes slightly unhinged, singing to himself (another trait left-over from the Shaper, perhaps) whereupon he sees Hrothgar’s new queen Wealtheow. He begins to obsess over here just as he did the Shaper, not seeing the danger that comes from wanting to be with a group that does not want him. The only creature that loves Grendel is his mother, and she is a dumb brute of a creature. He does not love her back, and so he seeks out companionship with someone or something that is intelligent, thinks like he does. His mother does not understand him, the dragon contradicts him, and all the men hate him. He has become young Grendel and the bull again: lost, without his mother (for she can’t ease his suffering) and stuck in a mechanical pattern of rage and loneliness. The symbol of this chapter as balance (seen by the repeated slogan “Balance is everything”) is made all the more ironic by the fact that Grendel couldn’t be more unbalanced.
I saw that in this chapter, the charm that the dragon had enchanted Grendel with began to really tamper with his sanity. Grendel murders those of Hrothgar's Kingdom incessantly, yet less and less without the aftermath of compunction. He seems to feel insolently empowered by his invulnerability. But his face is washed with cold water as Wealtheow's beauty overwhelms him, and he is returned to his previous state of acute distress and suffering. This was the loop he fell into by the end of this chapter. -julian
In the chapter eight of “Grendel”, Grendel recounts his views and experiences with Hrothgar’s queen, Wealtheow. The marriage between the two was initiated by Wealtheow’s brother, Hygmond, the young king of the Helmlings, who gave his sister to Hrothgar in exchange for woven peace between the two nations. Without this marriage, it is likely that the two nations would have gone to war, the expected and most probable outcome being the decimation of Hygmond’s kingdom. Upon seeing Wealtheow, Grendel’s thoughts and intentions are split apart by his emotions, just as the shapers songs had split apart his mind; he hates the humans for their lies about the greatness of queens, kings, and thanes, but is also fascinated and drawn to joy at the sight of the women. Over the years he continually watches Wealtheow’s actions and roles as the queen. He sees her sleep with Hrothgar, pass around the mead bowl to Hrothgar’s thanes, and peaceably settle conflicts between drunken men. He also listens to the shapers sing new songs about beauty, wisdom, and comfort, all which are meant to shape other peoples’ minds to recognize Wealtheow as a great queen. By creating the impression that Wealtheow is an excellent queen, the shaper is really just adding to the perceived greatness of Hrothgar. While Grendel realizes the idea of a queen to be a meaningless illusion meant only to contribute to Hrothgar’s false greatness and personal wealth, he cannot stop himself from believing that Wealtheow is truly magnificent. In this way Grendel is balanced between two minds. He is either against the queen and wants to kill her, thus teaching the humans a lesson of reality, or wanting to let the queen live because she is truly splendid. Grendel’s appeal towards Wealtheow is further enhanced by the parallel he feels between the queen and his mother. Grendel’s mother, while being a lazy, negligent parent, would be willing sacrifice her own livelihood for the better life of her son. In a similar way, Wealtheow sacrificed her free life as a maiden to save the kingdom of her brother from destruction by the Danes. Towards the end of the chapter Grendel decisively makes the decision to break into the chambers of Wealtheow and kill her to teach the ignorant humans a lesson. As he is ready to attack her, he comes to the conclusion that killing the queen would be meaningless and create no order into Grendel’s life. He releases the queen and leaves Heorot, recognizing how ugly she actually was. –Pity poor Grengar Ho, Ho, Ho!
Grendel's actions and thoughts in this chapter yet again prove my point that he is utterly crazy. After speaking to the dragon in a previous chapter, Grendel realizes that his life does indeed have a purpose. Although evil, he took great pride in his crusades against Hrothgar and his people. Without Grendel, the Thanes were nothing. They would have no meadhall, none of the Shaper's stories, and no reason to unite as a community in perseverance of Grendel's murders. After his explanation of this, he begins to act loony again. Grendel relentlessly attacked the Thanes so much that he began to feel dull and mechanical. He felt that because it was the only thing he had to do, he had no choice but to murder people. It was his only existence. But he keeps attacking them. It's the only thing he can do, the only thing he can enjoy. Later, it seems to be evident that Grendel falls in love with Wealtheow. At the marriage of she and Hrothgar, Grendel grows in rage that Hrothgar is marrying this beautiful, innocent woman. The emotion that is displayed by Grendel only eludes to the conclusion that he loves Wealtheow. But wait, he decides to go and attack the meadhall, and to murder the queen. The woman he is in love with! Like stated earlier, Grendel is crazy. Grendel was in the meadhall, dangling Wealtheow above a fire to kill her, but he just decided otherwise. Either I'm not reading the book correctly, but it is impossible for Grendel not to be a lunatic. Sebastian
Dear Amy, In Chapter 7, Grendel feels that his enemies define themselves in him. Meaning, the men make Grendel to be the enemy, and for once Grendel feels he has a purpose to life, a reason to live, and some meaning in life. Meanwhile, Grendel explains why he does not kill Hrothgar because what will we call the Hrothgar Wrecker when Hrothgar has been wrecked? In this chapter, Grendel narrates the story in a poetic, prose style rather than a diary. Weirdly enough, Grendel narrates just like it is a movie. Now back to the story, Grendel tells the readers that he has been attacking Hrothgar's kingdom for nearly 12 winters. In this chapter, not only does Grendel adopt a poetic language, he also creates his own law. HIs own law is " there is not limit to desire but desire's need." Meanwhile, a young king starts to become an enemy of Hrothgars, competing for fame. Hrothgar afraid that this young king would gain more fame than him, confronts this young king. The young king offers him gifts and treasures, which Hrothgar does not accept, paranoid that this young king is just trying to buy time and trying to trick him. The young king then offers his beautiful sister, Wealtheow to be Hrothgar's wife. Grendel, who is watching this the whole time, falls in love with Wealtheow. Grendel is enraged at his own feelings, and tries his best to ignore it, after all monsters are not supposed to have emotions and feelings. Grendel walks away, denying his feelings, while Hrothgar takes Wealtheow as his newly beloved bride. Grendel goes back to the forest, and feels lust, desire, and love for Wealtheow, and this is something he has not felt ever in his life. Grendel who has desires he can not have, cries that he could not have Wealtheow for the entire winter. Grendel who falls into depression is comforted by his mother, which even grieves more because his mother reminds him of Wealtheow. Grendel's mother who tries to make Grendel happy, reminds him the action of Wealtheow, and her forgiveness to Unferth. Sincerely, Dylan
Part 2 Just like Grendel's mother, Wealtheow would give up her life to end the suffering of people. Seeing Wealtheow's kindness to Unferth makes Grendel jealous, and wishes it was him whom Wealtheow forgives. Grendel sees kindness in Wealtheow, for not only forgiving Wealtheow, but for even talking to him, because according to Grendel and all men, Wealtheow was as ugly as a spider,,,, and looked down upon by the other man. This makes Grendel want what the queen has given to Unferth, forgiveness. One day, Grendel while sitting in his cave, realizes he sees everything, everything that the dragon had told him. So the next night, Grendel decides to go all out, and storms into Hrothgar's kingdom and kill the men. Grendel sees Wealtheow and snatchers her foot and holds her up by the legs. Wealtheow screams for the gods to help, but Grendel taunts her what gods?, and waits patiently, as if some god would appear to help. Seeing the people watch in horror, convinces Grendel to kill Wealtheow, and to teach people reality and that there are no gods! However, Grendel who loves Wealtheow changes his mind and lets Wealtheow go, and retreats back to his cave, realizing what he had done. Therefore, in this chapter, Grendel shows his own feelings had been hurt by trying to kill Wealtheow. Grendel, who loved Wealtheow, was heartbroken because he could not have her. And this causes Grendel to rampage and destroy the lives of men. However, something in Grendel convinces him not to kill Wealtheow. And we do not know if it is love or pity. But we do know that Grendel had noted in the beginning of this chapter of a balance in the mind. Grendel experiences a balance between his feelings for Wealtheow: love and compassion, and the dragon's point of view: nothing has value, and everything is meaningless. In conclusion, just like us, Grendel has feelings that create a balance in his head to decide what is right and wrong. Therefore, Grendel who is like us, feels conflicted with the balance between two beliefs just like in the previous chapters, between a hero, and the Shaper's lies. In conclusion, Grendel has feelings and is only just conflicted with two minds, the love and compassion, and the destructive force that nothing has value and everything is meaningless. So, Grendel is just proved to be a human, and there is some good in him that tells him to not kill Wealtheow, and to forgive her for his own happiness. And again, Grendel is not the monsters you think he is, he is a monster that we create as an enemy. Sincerely, Dylan
Grendel is affected by wealtheow much in the way he is affected by the shaper. Because he is stupid. First of all, he contradicts himself by continuously believing he does not possess the same traits as other animals, he acts on whims, when he is mad he becomes an animal, when he sees wealtheow he is driven mad with her beauty and innocence and everything that contradicts his nihilistic beliefs. So in short, Grendel is.....TADAAHHH......a spoiled three year old.
The reason for Hrothgar and Wealtheow’s marriage was to weave peace between the two nations, their marriage would prevent anyone from attacking because marriage would unite them as a family and nobody wants to hurt their family. Grendel hated the idea of arranged marriage because he knew the way Hrothgar was and knew the now queen was way too innocent and beautiful for him. His way of expressing what he was feeling was by attacking the mead hall and taking the queen. At first he didn’t know if he should take her life to show them all a lesson or allow her continue living because he knew she deserved it. Although he had the intentions of hurting her and potentially killing her he is love with Wealtheow because of her beauty and kindness. Grendel decides not to hurt her because he finds no actual purpose for that. In this chapter balance comes into play a lot. Stephanie Medina
In this chapter wealhtheow is finally introduced, however, she is being introduced as a peace weaver. To keep the Scyldings and Helmings from fighting each other wealtheow must marry hrothgar. As Grendel continues with his routinely check up on the humans, he firsts notices Wealtheow and realizes she beholds much beauty and kindness. Thankfully his fascination with wealtheow distracts him and Grendel ceases to murder the men in the mead hall until finally the dragon convinces him to as the way he was. A careless monster.
Grendal could distort the kingdom but he instead just weakens them. Killing enough so that he can be their monster and complete his role. He then first sees Weatheow as she is given as a peace weaver. He becomes obsessed with her and decides to kill her. He raids the mead hall and grabs Weatheow to kill her. He changes his mind an does not kill her. -Evan
Grendel becomes a role. Not literally but he slips into the role of monster, a definable character which, in a way make him like the humans. The humans are there to fill a role, the victims in Grendel's perspective and although they are not mechanical which is a huge distinction between the humans and animals in Grendel's eyes, they are all the same, all collectively dutiful to a list of commonly accepted laws: Humans believed in God, humans hate monsters, humans make plans, humans squabble, humans are prdeful and boastful, etc, etc. Thus Grendel slips into the role of the monster and, in this role, terrorizes the humans. Eventually, Grendel beholds a meeting between Hrothgar and his enemy and watches as Wealtheow destroys his definition of humans. As mentioned, humans are prideful and boastful according to Grendel, Wealtheow not only surrenders herself with dignity but also does the opposite of squabble and fight, she mends a feud. This is why Grendel not only loves her, which he does indeed, but why he feels so much pain when he sees her. She is good, the opposite of himself.
Grendel is torn between lust for the queen and wanting to kill her. He wants to kill everyone in the kingdom but at the same time wants to kill just enough to inflict terror and instill fear in the humans. After long contemplations, Grendel decides to commit the "ultimate act of nihilism," he decides to kill the queen. throughout this whole chapter Grendel has been coming back to the idea that balance is everything, this is why he only kills a certain amount of people as to keep the balance and not disrupt the natural flow of things. Once Grendel gets to the queen's chambers he changes his mind and decides that killing the queen would be without meaning, and leaves disgusted with hims4elf and the humans around him.
Grendal in this chapter is confused with mass amounts of feelings flowing all at once in a giant ball of emotion. an important word is balance grendal contemplates killing the queen. but doesn't go through with it ~osgood
In Chapter 7, Grendel stated that he was capable of killing all of the men in Hrothgar's kingdom, but he chose not to do so. He started to make a song for himself if he were to do so. What would they call him? Grendel feels the dragon's scent grow heavier around him, like it was visible. He also kept a list of "blessing" in mind. Around Grendel's second year of attacking Hrothgar's kingdom, he saw a new army lead by a young prince, and this prince was growing stronger and was getting closer to Hrothgar's kingdom. The prince and his army entered Hrothgar's mead-hall and the prince was stating that he will ally with the king, but Hrothgar believed that it was just a trick, so that he will raid and kill them when they are unaware and drunk. The prince gave his own sister, Wealtheow so they can ally and they she was so beautiful that he took her. She was more of a servant even though she held the high rank of a queen. One winter, her brother visited and he was capable of playing the harp and singing. The instrument was like the one the harper used, but it was different. Grendel found their ideas ridiculous. "The Shaper's lies, the hero's self-delusion, now this: the idea of a queen!" One night, Grendel raced for the halls and grabbed her. He had his mind set on killing her, but then Grendel changed his mind, considering that it would be "meaningless" to kill her. While his mind was set on killing her, she was praying for help to the gods, but no one came. It was just a belief they had, but was ridiculous to him.
ReplyDeleteIn the words of the dragon, “Things come and go…That’s the gist of it…even I will be gone ” if a dragon will one day die or be replaced, than surely this could happen to king Hrothgar. To the far east of Hrothgar’s kingdom a new young king is gaining fame and fortune, the same way Hrothgar came to power; by burning other halls. Since kings feel the need to defend or expand their kingdom; lengthen their power, Hrothgar goes to the new king in search for a bloody war. Knowing he can win, Hrothgar demands the new king, Hygmod, to surrender and submit to his power. Even though Hygmod promised an extensive amount of lavish gifts, Hrothgar would continually refused until Hygmod presented his sister, Wealtheow. Truly stunning and worth more than gold, Hrothgar accepts king Hygmod’s gift and returns home. Wealtheow had hair as bright as a ruby, lavish as gold, and a voice made of magic; she truly was a “Disney princess”. Do to her physical traits and her innocence, Grendel was continually drawn to her, he watched her, fascinated, she enchanted him and tore him apart like the Shaper’s songs had done before. Though Wealtheow was truly a brave woman, she willingly laid her happiness aside for that of her kingdom. During the first winter, her brother and some of his countrymen came to visit, having the time of their lives Wealtheow was truly happy and so was Hrothgar. Annoyed by their unreal faith, happiness, and unrealistic expectation of life, Grendel decided to kill the young queen. When Grendel had her in his grasp all of the men stood still, frozen by fear. Grendel set his heart on killing her, he would teach them a lesson, the lesson of reality. He would be given a new name “Grendel the truth-teacher”. But as simple as the fright had begun, it stopped. It would be meaningless to kill her, no lesson would be taught, he would only be killing her for the pleasure of it, and he would still be held a monster. Grendel described himself as a “creature of two minds” he was balanced. Torn between his monstrous and stubborn side and his love for the beauty of life: the shaper’s songs and queen Wealtheow. He could not make up his mind, he must kill the queen show them something new, no he cannot, he should kill himself, no he will not. A truly peculiar fellow, but one must remain balanced and open minded to avoid being a mechanical drone or a boring a creature of habit, balance is everything.
ReplyDelete~Shelby
7. This chapter confused me a little bit. Grendel seems to be losing his mind, but at the same time, he’s calm, cool, and collected regardless of his situation and the horrible situation that he has put the people of Hrothgar’s kingdom in. Grendel has, I thought became the ravenous killer he wanted to be, until he saw the queen. When the young king, trading with Hrothgar, the young king offers his sister, the princess of their kingdom as a peace weaver. Grendel is confused. Why would he offer his sister? Why? He begins to cry when he sees that she has children. Two young members of her family, about to lose their mother to some stupid human traders. I think Grendel is not totally swallowed by the depths of his animal rage, but is sinking lower and lower by each day. I think that even though Grendel is slowly becoming a monster, their will always be that ray of light, that sliver of compassion making him separate from an animal, and more human. Grendel later in the chapter was going to rape and kill the queen. He was so set on this gruesome murder he could hardly contain himself! He then stops himself. He feels pity for the girls torched existence of this girl and her situation, it would be meaningless killing her, but at the same time he sees it as meaningless to let her live. It would be a flash of pleasure and nothing more. Grendel is becoming a vial creature in my opinion. At first he never wanted to be alone, but now he feels that no one is worthy to be with him. Grendel is a tortured soul, stuck between the pull of purity, and the pull of evil.
ReplyDelete~Ben
In this chapter we see a softer side of Grendel. We see that he is falling in love with the Queen of the thanes. He sees her as pure beautiful and still a child. He feels bad for her at times as well to because she is still a child and she has to live with Hrothgar. Grendel stocks her and observes everything thing he does even when she is sleeping. I think he can relate to her since they both weren’t ever loved. Since Grendel is a monster and wants to prove a point to the people he kills her in a very disturbing way. He grabs her legs and pulls them apart.
ReplyDeleteThe dragon seems to be in the back of Grendel’s mind even more now. He is a constant reminder of the life Grendel is to live, and Grendel knows it. He embraces it and finds himself unable to stand it at the same time. Hrothgar’s people continue to strike against Grendel, who sensibly realizes that his food supply will disappear if he kills them all at once. He finds himself becoming lonelier and lonelier, talking to himself more because of his unsocial and inactive behavior. A new meadhall begins to be built just down the way, and Hrothgar, sensing a threat, cobbles together an army to get the newcomers under his control. The king of the newcomers offers peace in the form of Wealtheow, his sister, to become Hrothgar’s wife in an act of peaceweaving. Grendel finds himself entranced with her just as with the Shaper. She is beautiful, too good to be true, but he resists. However, he follows her actions in the hall as he finds himself unable to raid during the winter. He becomes jealous, attacks, takes Wealtheow and prepares to kill her. But he does not. Something comes over him, the realization that it would be just as futile to kill her as to let her live. He drops her, returning to the mere unhappier than before, though that is not what he tells himself. He tells himself that he is “cured” of the curse that is Wealtheow.
ReplyDelete—Haven
During this chapter, Grendel comes to understand the true use of noble women at this time. Grendel sees a wonderful and beautiful women, who is portrayed as childlike, is married off to live with a disgusting old man so that the native tribe of the queen will not attacked and vise versa. Grendel stalks the queen and sees all that happens. He does not believe that this is how the world is or should work. He becomes quite fed up and enraged over the entire peace weaving and begins a large and brutal attack upon Hrothgar and his people. Grendel storms through the mead hall angrily killing without cause and brushes Unferth aside as he makes his way into the kings chamber. He takes the new bride by the ankles and ponders angrily over how to make the humans pay for their awful ways. Grendel contemplates whether or not to tear the queen apart and when he is about to, he decides that it will serve as no lesson the Hrothgar or his people. Part of the reason that Grendel has become so angry and violent in this chapter is because the influence that the dragon has on him is greatly increasing as the book goes on. Grendel is less sympathetic and becomes more monster like, still holding some human parts inside of him.
ReplyDeleteAdam
In this chapter, “balance is everything.” (Pg. 91) Grendel continues to watch over men, and this time observes something new. He sees the men prepare for a battle against the Helming’s'. The young king of Helmings however, offers Hrothgar many gifts, as he does not want to fight. After Hrothgar declines all the gifts the young king offers, saying he will be able to get money and gifts back if he invaded them, the king of Helmings offers one more gift. This gift is his sister. He offers Hrothgar his sister, having her act as a peace-weaver. This way neither Helmings nor Scyldings would invade each other, as they didn’t want to kill their own families. Hrothgar accepts this gift along with the other treasure and ventures home. He then starts to observe the Queen, Wealtheow. He observes how this young, child-looking lady has to lie with an old bony king. During the day she smiles, but at night is filled with sorrow, because of her forced departure of Helmings. When her brother comes to visit, her and Hrothgar experience true happiness for the first time since they have been together. This sense of happiness annoys Grendel, so he decides he should kill the queen, to teach them about the reality of life and not to live with a false sense of reality. He bursts into Hrothgar's hall, and into the queen’s room. He was set on killing her but within an instant he changed his mind. He decided that killing her would be just as pointless as letting her live, so he would let her live. Grendel decides that he has to balance his monster and human side and also discovers that if he wipes out Hrothgar and his men completely, he will have no purpose.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter is very different from the rest because of the style that Grendel uses. It shows how he has grown as a narrator and has become more creative. As Grendel is greatly influenced by the dragon, he is still not completely converted to being nihilistic because of the feelings he has towards the beautiful women, Wealtheow. Although, Grendel says, “I changed my mind. It would be meaningless, killing her”. This contradicts what he had said earlier in the chapter about how killing the queen would have meaning because it would be the “ultimate act of nihilism”. Wealtheow is the most important women in the Danish community, everyone looks up to her beauty and generosity. She is a very good queen because she bring peace and balance to the people with her kindness. Unfortunately for her, she was brought to Hrothgar and his people to bring peace between the relationships of men. Towards the end, Grendel goes into the bedroom of Wealtheow and exposes her, after that he is able to withstand her beauty and wisdom.
ReplyDeleteMetztli Garcia
This chapter is where Grendel reaches his lowest so far. Grendel becomes slightly unhinged, singing to himself (another trait left-over from the Shaper, perhaps) whereupon he sees Hrothgar’s new queen Wealtheow. He begins to obsess over here just as he did the Shaper, not seeing the danger that comes from wanting to be with a group that does not want him. The only creature that loves Grendel is his mother, and she is a dumb brute of a creature. He does not love her back, and so he seeks out companionship with someone or something that is intelligent, thinks like he does. His mother does not understand him, the dragon contradicts him, and all the men hate him. He has become young Grendel and the bull again: lost, without his mother (for she can’t ease his suffering) and stuck in a mechanical pattern of rage and loneliness. The symbol of this chapter as balance (seen by the repeated slogan “Balance is everything”) is made all the more ironic by the fact that Grendel couldn’t be more unbalanced.
ReplyDelete-George
I saw that in this chapter, the charm that the dragon had enchanted Grendel with began to really tamper with his sanity. Grendel murders those of Hrothgar's Kingdom incessantly, yet less and less without the aftermath of compunction. He seems to feel insolently empowered by his invulnerability. But his face is washed with cold water as Wealtheow's beauty overwhelms him, and he is returned to his previous state of acute distress and suffering. This was the loop he fell into by the end of this chapter.
ReplyDelete-julian
In the chapter eight of “Grendel”, Grendel recounts his views and experiences with Hrothgar’s queen, Wealtheow. The marriage between the two was initiated by Wealtheow’s brother, Hygmond, the young king of the Helmlings, who gave his sister to Hrothgar in exchange for woven peace between the two nations. Without this marriage, it is likely that the two nations would have gone to war, the expected and most probable outcome being the decimation of Hygmond’s kingdom. Upon seeing Wealtheow, Grendel’s thoughts and intentions are split apart by his emotions, just as the shapers songs had split apart his mind; he hates the humans for their lies about the greatness of queens, kings, and thanes, but is also fascinated and drawn to joy at the sight of the women. Over the years he continually watches Wealtheow’s actions and roles as the queen. He sees her sleep with Hrothgar, pass around the mead bowl to Hrothgar’s thanes, and peaceably settle conflicts between drunken men. He also listens to the shapers sing new songs about beauty, wisdom, and comfort, all which are meant to shape other peoples’ minds to recognize Wealtheow as a great queen. By creating the impression that Wealtheow is an excellent queen, the shaper is really just adding to the perceived greatness of Hrothgar. While Grendel realizes the idea of a queen to be a meaningless illusion meant only to contribute to Hrothgar’s false greatness and personal wealth, he cannot stop himself from believing that Wealtheow is truly magnificent. In this way Grendel is balanced between two minds. He is either against the queen and wants to kill her, thus teaching the humans a lesson of reality, or wanting to let the queen live because she is truly splendid. Grendel’s appeal towards Wealtheow is further enhanced by the parallel he feels between the queen and his mother. Grendel’s mother, while being a lazy, negligent parent, would be willing sacrifice her own livelihood for the better life of her son. In a similar way, Wealtheow sacrificed her free life as a maiden to save the kingdom of her brother from destruction by the Danes. Towards the end of the chapter Grendel decisively makes the decision to break into the chambers of Wealtheow and kill her to teach the ignorant humans a lesson. As he is ready to attack her, he comes to the conclusion that killing the queen would be meaningless and create no order into Grendel’s life. He releases the queen and leaves Heorot, recognizing how ugly she actually was. –Pity poor Grengar Ho, Ho, Ho!
ReplyDeleteGrendel's actions and thoughts in this chapter yet again prove my point that he is utterly crazy. After speaking to the dragon in a previous chapter, Grendel realizes that his life does indeed have a purpose. Although evil, he took great pride in his crusades against Hrothgar and his people. Without Grendel, the Thanes were nothing. They would have no meadhall, none of the Shaper's stories, and no reason to unite as a community in perseverance of Grendel's murders. After his explanation of this, he begins to act loony again. Grendel relentlessly attacked the Thanes so much that he began to feel dull and mechanical. He felt that because it was the only thing he had to do, he had no choice but to murder people. It was his only existence. But he keeps attacking them. It's the only thing he can do, the only thing he can enjoy. Later, it seems to be evident that Grendel falls in love with Wealtheow. At the marriage of she and Hrothgar, Grendel grows in rage that Hrothgar is marrying this beautiful, innocent woman. The emotion that is displayed by Grendel only eludes to the conclusion that he loves Wealtheow. But wait, he decides to go and attack the meadhall, and to murder the queen. The woman he is in love with! Like stated earlier, Grendel is crazy. Grendel was in the meadhall, dangling Wealtheow above a fire to kill her, but he just decided otherwise. Either I'm not reading the book correctly, but it is impossible for Grendel not to be a lunatic.
ReplyDeleteSebastian
Dear Amy,
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 7, Grendel feels that his enemies define themselves in him. Meaning, the men make Grendel to be the enemy, and for once Grendel feels he has a purpose to life, a reason to live, and some meaning in life. Meanwhile, Grendel explains why he does not kill Hrothgar because what will we call the Hrothgar Wrecker when Hrothgar has been wrecked? In this chapter, Grendel narrates the story in a poetic, prose style rather than a diary. Weirdly enough, Grendel narrates just like it is a movie. Now back to the story, Grendel tells the readers that he has been attacking Hrothgar's kingdom for nearly 12 winters. In this chapter, not only does Grendel adopt a poetic language, he also creates his own law. HIs own law is " there is not limit to desire but desire's need." Meanwhile, a young king starts to become an enemy of Hrothgars, competing for fame. Hrothgar afraid that this young king would gain more fame than him, confronts this young king. The young king offers him gifts and treasures, which Hrothgar does not accept, paranoid that this young king is just trying to buy time and trying to trick him. The young king then offers his beautiful sister, Wealtheow to be Hrothgar's wife. Grendel, who is watching this the whole time, falls in love with Wealtheow. Grendel is enraged at his own feelings, and tries his best to ignore it, after all monsters are not supposed to have emotions and feelings. Grendel walks away, denying his feelings, while Hrothgar takes Wealtheow as his newly beloved bride. Grendel goes back to the forest, and feels lust, desire, and love for Wealtheow, and this is something he has not felt ever in his life. Grendel who has desires he can not have, cries that he could not have Wealtheow for the entire winter. Grendel who falls into depression is comforted by his mother, which even grieves more because his mother reminds him of Wealtheow. Grendel's mother who tries to make Grendel happy, reminds him the action of Wealtheow, and her forgiveness to Unferth.
Sincerely,
Dylan
Part 2
ReplyDeleteJust like Grendel's mother, Wealtheow would give up her life to end the suffering of people. Seeing Wealtheow's kindness to Unferth makes Grendel jealous, and wishes it was him whom Wealtheow forgives. Grendel sees kindness in Wealtheow, for not only forgiving Wealtheow, but for even talking to him, because according to Grendel and all men, Wealtheow was as ugly as a spider,,,, and looked down upon by the other man. This makes Grendel want what the queen has given to Unferth, forgiveness. One day, Grendel while sitting in his cave, realizes he sees everything, everything that the dragon had told him. So the next night, Grendel decides to go all out, and storms into Hrothgar's kingdom and kill the men. Grendel sees Wealtheow and snatchers her foot and holds her up by the legs. Wealtheow screams for the gods to help, but Grendel taunts her what gods?, and waits patiently, as if some god would appear to help. Seeing the people watch in horror, convinces Grendel to kill Wealtheow, and to teach people reality and that there are no gods! However, Grendel who loves Wealtheow changes his mind and lets Wealtheow go, and retreats back to his cave, realizing what he had done. Therefore, in this chapter, Grendel shows his own feelings had been hurt by trying to kill Wealtheow. Grendel, who loved Wealtheow, was heartbroken because he could not have her. And this causes Grendel to rampage and destroy the lives of men. However, something in Grendel convinces him not to kill Wealtheow. And we do not know if it is love or pity. But we do know that Grendel had noted in the beginning of this chapter of a balance in the mind. Grendel experiences a balance between his feelings for Wealtheow: love and compassion, and the dragon's point of view: nothing has value, and everything is meaningless. In conclusion, just like us, Grendel has feelings that create a balance in his head to decide what is right and wrong. Therefore, Grendel who is like us, feels conflicted with the balance between two beliefs just like in the previous chapters, between a hero, and the Shaper's lies. In conclusion, Grendel has feelings and is only just conflicted with two minds, the love and compassion, and the destructive force that nothing has value and everything is meaningless. So, Grendel is just proved to be a human, and there is some good in him that tells him to not kill Wealtheow, and to forgive her for his own happiness. And again, Grendel is not the monsters you think he is, he is a monster that we create as an enemy.
Sincerely,
Dylan
Grendel is affected by wealtheow much in the way he is affected by the shaper. Because he is stupid. First of all, he contradicts himself by continuously believing he does not possess the same traits as other animals, he acts on whims, when he is mad he becomes an animal, when he sees wealtheow he is driven mad with her beauty and innocence and everything that contradicts his nihilistic beliefs. So in short, Grendel is.....TADAAHHH......a spoiled three year old.
ReplyDelete-Not alex
The reason for Hrothgar and Wealtheow’s marriage was to weave peace between the two nations, their marriage would prevent anyone from attacking because marriage would unite them as a family and nobody wants to hurt their family. Grendel hated the idea of arranged marriage because he knew the way Hrothgar was and knew the now queen was way too innocent and beautiful for him. His way of expressing what he was feeling was by attacking the mead hall and taking the queen. At first he didn’t know if he should take her life to show them all a lesson or allow her continue living because he knew she deserved it. Although he had the intentions of hurting her and potentially killing her he is love with Wealtheow because of her beauty and kindness. Grendel decides not to hurt her because he finds no actual purpose for that. In this chapter balance comes into play a lot.
ReplyDeleteStephanie Medina
In this chapter wealhtheow is finally introduced, however, she is being introduced as a peace weaver. To keep the Scyldings and Helmings from fighting each other wealtheow must marry hrothgar. As Grendel continues with his routinely check up on the humans, he firsts notices Wealtheow and realizes she beholds much beauty and kindness. Thankfully his fascination with wealtheow distracts him and Grendel ceases to murder the men in the mead hall until finally the dragon convinces him to as the way he was. A careless monster.
ReplyDeleteGrendal could distort the kingdom but he instead just weakens them. Killing enough so that he can be their monster and complete his role. He then first sees Weatheow as she is given as a peace weaver. He becomes obsessed with her and decides to kill her. He raids the mead hall and grabs Weatheow to kill her. He changes his mind an does not kill her.
ReplyDelete-Evan
Grendel becomes a role. Not literally but he slips into the role of monster, a definable character which, in a way make him like the humans. The humans are there to fill a role, the victims in Grendel's perspective and although they are not mechanical which is a huge distinction between the humans and animals in Grendel's eyes, they are all the same, all collectively dutiful to a list of commonly accepted laws: Humans believed in God, humans hate monsters, humans make plans, humans squabble, humans are prdeful and boastful, etc, etc. Thus Grendel slips into the role of the monster and, in this role, terrorizes the humans. Eventually, Grendel beholds a meeting between Hrothgar and his enemy and watches as Wealtheow destroys his definition of humans. As mentioned, humans are prideful and boastful according to Grendel, Wealtheow not only surrenders herself with dignity but also does the opposite of squabble and fight, she mends a feud. This is why Grendel not only loves her, which he does indeed, but why he feels so much pain when he sees her. She is good, the opposite of himself.
ReplyDelete-Cameron
ReplyDeleteGrendel is torn between lust for the queen and wanting to kill her. He wants to kill everyone in the kingdom but at the same time wants to kill just enough to inflict terror and instill fear in the humans. After long contemplations, Grendel decides to commit the "ultimate act of nihilism," he decides to kill the queen. throughout this whole chapter Grendel has been coming back to the idea that balance is everything, this is why he only kills a certain amount of people as to keep the balance and not disrupt the natural flow of things. Once Grendel gets to the queen's chambers he changes his mind and decides that killing the queen would be without meaning, and leaves disgusted with hims4elf and the humans around him.
ReplyDeleteGrendal in this chapter is confused with mass amounts of feelings flowing all at once in a giant ball of emotion. an important word is balance grendal contemplates killing the queen. but doesn't go through with it
ReplyDelete~osgood