Finally understanding who he truly is “Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings”, Grendel begins to lead multiple violent attacks on Heorot. Unstoppable, thanks to the dragon’s charm, Grendel easily carries off dozens of men without sustaining a single scratch. One day as Grendel is preparing to haul off another meal, a man by the name of Unferth stood up and faced our wretched beast. Heinous comments were exchanged and the battle ultimately resulted in a dodge-apple fight and Unferth knowing that the monster could speak. The next morning Unferth arrives at the mouth of Grendel’s cave, exhausted from swimming and fighting off the frightful sea monsters. Facing Grendel, Unferth knew he had no more than a chance, but he still came after the demon. Grendel being disgusted with Unferth’s state, close to tears, the two stood discussing the true meaning of a hero. That a hero must see what is beyond possible, towards the impossible and be willing to sacrifice his life, even if all he had was the slightest chance of winning, he must do what is right. All Unferth wanted was to be a hero, but Grendel found the whole idea silly that there was no such thing as a hero. A hero does the right thing and is not corrupted by greed or selfishness. A man spends his entire life trying to be a hero, but as one strives to be courageous he is driven by greed, the greed for fame and greed for gold. “…Its not unusual…to hear them contradict themselves…” After a few more exchanges, Grendel decides to sentence a cowering Unferth to a fate worse than death. Grendel denies him the chance to be a hero; he spares his life, brings him back to Hrothgar, and will spare him for as long as he shall live. Unferth was able to just barely touch, get a single glimpse at greatness, but he fell short disappointed by its true meaning. I feel more sympathy towards Unferth than I had in Beowulf. Instead of just being an arrogant bastard who was incapable of protecting his city, John Gardner paints him as a failed hero. In Beowulf I thought that he had simply ran from every fight, that he was a coward. But now I see that Unferth tried and still tries to fight Grendel, but it is not his fault that he continually fails to destroy the monster and fails to die. I sympathize with Unferth, he was denied the chance to be hero and it ultimately led him to be bitter and insane, he is cursed to live on and watch his comrades die as heroes and he live as a “coward”.
6. This chapter was not my favorite so far. This is due to Grendel giving in to his animal like instincts and letting the murderous fury of this now unbeatable beast thanks to the dragon’s charm. Grendel now raids Heorot truly becoming the monster he knows he is. It felt a little strange to me when Unferth is the only one who finds out that Grendel is capable of human speech. When Grendel enters the Mead hall, I really enjoy that Unferth, the coward in the book and movie, can actually show courage in the face of a monstrous force such as Grendel. Grendel in this chapter also shows something like sympathy and compassion, but something completely different. When Unferth enters Grendel’s lair trying to confront him, Grendel doesn’t out right attack him, which would have been his go to instinct earlier in the book. Instead, he allows Unferth to speak what he feels. Through this Unferth is shown that Grendel thinks there is no heroism in this world, because his only two sources of data on the matter, (The Shaper and the Dragon,) have shown him poetry can be used to warp the minds of men into thinking anything the story tellers want to be known. Grendel then carries Unferth back to his home, for reasons I don’t totally understand. Leaving his mark on Hrothgars kingdom, Grendel has turned into the monster he was trying to avoid. Trying not to become Grendel, “Ruiner of Mead halls, Wrecker of Kings.” ~Ben Moseley
At last, Grendel stumbles upon the verge of finding meaning/pleasure in his life, as he marches to the kingdom of Hrothgar ruthlessly yet timid from past experiences. Realizing that he now is impenetrable to the weapons they own, he walks in through the front door (killing the two guards quite casually while doing so) and wreaks havoc in their Hrothgar's kingdom. He continues with this raid tradition whenever he feels like doing so, and on one occasion, is challenged by a man named Unferth. He stands out from the other men as he is a small sum taller and is not totally intoxicated on mead, showing that he is brave and sober while he approaches Grendel. He fails to present any challenge to Grendel since he is invulnerable any weaponry, so all he can really do is slow Grendel down a tiny bit as he comes and goes with a few men. Grendel cracks up at the courageousness of this unthreatening little creature, and when Unferth follows Grendel back to his cave, we see that Grendel actually feels some sympathy for this disappointment of a man (when he ends up carrying him home). -julian
In this chapter, Grendel finally seems to have a decisive view on the world around him. Nothing is either complex or mindless, dreary or intriguing. Everything is now set in his mind as doomed, every action is futile with the fixed way of the world. Grendel finds out that he has been given the gift—or curse, depending on who looks at it and how—of immunity to weapons. With this in mind, he continues to raid Heorot Hall, becoming more and more daring while having to remind himself to push down this now irrational fear of injury (a force of habit).
His view on the Shaper has changed as well. Never again will Grendel be fooled by his trickery. He now despises what he sees from the Shaper and the people. “It enraged me… their hope.” (77)
Once again, we see the recurring theme of mechanism coming into the story. “I saw myself killing them, on and on and on, as if mechanically.” (81)
Finally, we meet the infamous Unferth, from both the movie and novel version of “Beowulf,” though he is not so known in this tale. He decides to take his own stand against Grendel during another of his raids, determined to die a hero. Grendel will not have it, leaving him to live and be laughed at. Something did come out of that experience for Unferth, however: he learned that both Grendel and himself spoke the same language. Though an intriguing development, it makes the event even more humiliating for him.
Days later, it seems that Unferth has tracked Grendel to his cave. He swims through the mere, scathed by scorch, and announces when washed ashore that he is here to fulfill his duty and carry out what was never finished. He is here to kill Grendel. We find out that to Unferth, a true hero is one who will act out of bravery and face the consequences despite a lack of onlookers. Being a hero is being one even when no one is looking. With no one to discern the cause of his death in the cave or any of his actions, he is still fighting to be heroic and die trying to kill Grendel. Grendel, of course, has none of that and drops him back at the steps of the meadhall after the hopeful hero falls asleep in the cave.
In chapter six of “Grendel”, Grendel becomes transformed into his new identity. Instead of living his lonely life without purpose or position in the universe, he now has a role as a great monster who destroys Hrothgar’s thanes and his mead hall. Chapter six also includes a significant portion of Unfurth’s history that is untold in the story of Beowulf. Grendel first encounters Unferth during his second attack on Heorot after receiving the charm from the dragon. Grendel’s immunity from weapons allows him to defeat the initial wave of retaliating humans easily. As Grendel releases his mind into a destructive frenzy, the tall and young Unferth emerges from the crown of drunken men, challenging Grendel with his sword raised. Unferth is prepared to die fighting Grendel, and does not care about the life ahead of him. His only desire is to become one of the heroes remembered for generations and sung by the shapers in future mead halls. If achieving his goal requires dying in combat with Grendel in Hrothgar’s name, he will do so without regret. When Unferth boasts to Grendel about his virtues and intentions, Grendel laughs and sees it absurd that one could care so much about reputation. Instead of killing Unferth and giving him what he wants, Grendel tries to taunt him in English, and eventually humiliates him in a barrage of thrown apples. Having been humiliated, Unferth follows Grendel to his cave, seeking out the glorious death he sought earlier. There Unferth and Grendel have an extended discussion of heroism. Unferth believes that heroes should seek to do the impossible with the little chance of success they already have. While the hero will eventually die as a result of his virtues, he is able to create more meaning and expression in his life than any surviving man. Grendel is tempted to crush Unferth out of disgust for believing in the lies of the shapers, but he refrains from doing so because he does not want to contribute to songs and ideas of the humans. This explains why Unferth has a negative attitude towards Beowulf. Beowulf intends to defeat Grendel just as Unferth wanted, but Unferth doubts this possibility and is jealous of the attention Beowulf receives upon boasting his plans.
In the sixth chapter, the Grendel we saw in the first chapter is starting to take form from the confused adolescence caused by his mother, his explorations, and man. The dragon, through his invulnerability charm and convincing, has shaped Grendel more than the Shaper ever did. Grendel has stopped wavering between hate of the humans and yearning for friendship, and settled on the hate, beginning his first year of raids against Heorot. During one of these, he meets Unferth, a character maligned in Beowulf as a shifty kin-killer. Here, he’s a virtuous and awkward self-proclaimed hero. This gives more context to Unferth’s criticism of Beowulf in the original tale as not a true hero, because Unferth has tried to be one, and failed. Who better to recognize a false hero than a failed one? What I find very interesting, however, are the occasional mentions of the dragon. “The dragon-scent in the room grew stronger, as if my teasing were bringing the old beast near. His presence appears to influence Grendel, egging him on into violence. This is even more support to the idea that the dragon is either entirely within Grendel’s head, or is influencing him from without like the Shaper did. Grendel believes the world revolves around him, and yet the dragon claims to see everything that will ever happen, proof that Grendel is not the center. Grendel fears chasms, and the dragon summons them, making Grendel feel like he will fall in. Grendel can’t balance his truth and the Shaper’s lies, and the dragon explains that all away. Grendel fears and hates man, and the dragon dismisses them. The dragon acts as Grendel’s devil on his shoulder, driving him to more brutal depths and twisted truths.
In chapter six we see Grendel change. He is becoming more of a monster. This all happened when he was given the charm of the dragon. He was no longer venerable to weapons. He didn’t realize how his power worked until he was being attacked by a group of men. When the men would stab him with their weapons nothing would happen to him. With his new charm he kept on going more frequently to the meadhall. He would sometimes grab 7 men and eat them or sometime less. This gave him a weird feeling of joy even though he knew this was bad. One day when he went into the mead hall he encountered a hero, which was weird because he thought heroes were a piece of fiction. It turns out this hero was Unferth. Before doing any harm Grendel listen to what this so called hero had to say. When Unferth talked he was saying that this could be a glorious day for either one of them. Unferth learned that Grendel could understand them and he can also talk. Grendel ended up leaving. He felt someone following him but ignored it. Once he was home Unferth was their talking to him. He had asked if Grendel could come out to fight he knew that it was a suicide mission for him but he didn’t want to go back in humiliation.
Grendel finds his nature. I mentioned before that he was a predator by heart and thus is compelled to attack and kill. Grendel, through his attacks, meets Unferth, a hero. The concept of a real life hero is alien to Grendel and when he inquires about this he is met with ideals, of striving for things out of reach and trying to obtain the impossible. However Grendel is, somewhat ironically, opposed to this. Grendel sees no value in striving for things out of reach and sees striving for something like this greedy, greedy to become better than someone else, to become rich through honor lavished upon them. However, Grendel has already become what he despises, he has been blessed (or cursed) with the dragons charm and now has invulnerability and thus becomes able to do whatever he wants which is obviously self-indulgent. Unferth defends himself but its clear that the reason why these two disagree so much is because they are complete polar opposites. A villain versus a hero, a protagonist against an antagonist. There is actually no way Grendel can understand Unferth unless he becomes the opposite of himself.
In Chapter Six we see Grendel become a thing he despises, a monster. He also gets super powers because......whatever. But because of his monster-ness he more or less accepts his role in the world and starts killing people in heorot. Then he meets Unferth, and unferth stalks him all the way home saying, "Hey, we can make peace, you can understand us." he follows Grendel and tells him he should come back and fight, to which Grendel replies, "screw off."
In Chapter 6 of "Grendel", Grendel experiences a personality change after visiting the dragon. Instead of the shaper’s music making him feel confused it makes him feel enraged. He also begins to attack the men in Hrothgar’s hall instead of just watching them. Unlike before he wasn’t killing to eat, he was killing to kill. Grendel got the courage to attack Hrothgar’s men after the dragon put a charm on him, making it so no weapons could hurt him. During one of his attacks, he encounters Unferth, Hrothgar’s best and bravest warrior. Unlike the other men that Grendel killed, Unferth did not charge Grendel with a sword, speaking world of self-absorption, but started battle of words with him. Unferth tells Grendel that he is prepared to die, and does not care if he does as long as he will be remembered as the hero who stood up to the bellowing beast in Hrothgar’s hall. Grendel finds this hysterical and then begins to mock the so-called noble warrior. He begins to say how a hero’s valor is always being measured, and that they are incredibly self-absorbed. They stand tall and think whatever challenges face them they can conquer. He explains how a hero can stop being seen as a hero just a virgin can suddenly loose her virginity. After his harsh words, Grendel began to throw apples at Unferth, smashing one into his nose, causing it to spew blood. Being the self-proclaimed hero he is, Unferth follows Grendel to his mere a few nights later. It is here that he tells Grendel he has come to die, since Grendel did not kill him before. He then starts to talk about heroism and how it is more than just language and dignity; it is being able face the truth and not needing the glorification by others. He says that he has self-heroism because he has come prepared to face death, and is satisfied with the fact that only God, Grendel, and himself will know how he died. Instead of granting Unferth’s wish and crushing him right then and there, Grendel decided to take him back to Hrothgar, not wanting to take the chance of granting Unferth a glorious death.
After meeting with the dragon, Grendel starts displaying some of the dragons characteristics by beginning to be frustrated with the humans and eventually, hating them. The dragons views of nihilism, which were that the world is pointless and meaningless now have an effect on Grendel, he is annoyed by the Danes having hope. He has a completely new view and relationship with the humans, it has now become nothing but war. Back in chapter 4, when Grendel finds a man laying dead on the ground and brings him back to his people as a way to become the humans friends, did not work and the Danes rejected him. As they deny him to be a friend, in chapter 6 he allows himself to become the enemy they see him as. The next time Grendel encounters the humans face to face, he bites off the head of one of their men which is a clear sign of war. As he does this, he feels like he has finally became something to the world. It is all that he has ever wanted. He is Grendel, “Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings”. When Grendel has his first full raid, as he kills men, he also inspires them to demonstrate heroism. For example, Unferth tries to become the hero and stand up to Grendel. Every man needs something or someone to encourage to become virtuous. In addition to learning much from the dragon, he also receives a “gift” from the dragon. It is the dragon’s charm which does not let Grendel be harmed by any weapon. He takes it as a curse and a blessing. In the beginning Grendel was happy because it was an opportunity to make him feel more superior than the humans. On the other hand, since he took on the name of “Ruiner of Meadhalls”, he becomes more lonelier than ever. As Unferth takes on Grendel, he shows the heroic code by telling Grendel of all his brave acts. Surprisingly, Unferth is astonished that Grendel spoke back to him. Unferth explains to Grendel that the true meaning of heroism is not about having glory and letting everyone know about his heroic acts but instead, it gives him something greater to aim for.
In Chapter six, Grendel changed from the timid, friendly side to the vicious, beast-like side of himself. He finds out that the dragon has put a charm on him. which made him invincible against the weapons the humans used. He realized this when he was being attacked by a group of men when he was "spying" at the mead-hall. When he found out he was invulnerable against their weapons, he went to their lair more often. All their attacks were harmless. A different man stepped up to him, and he was named Unferth. Unferth wanted to be known among his men as a hero, and he was acting like one when it was his turn to fight Grendel. This is when he realize that the "beast" talks. After the battle was over, Grendel returned to his home. Unferth was humiliated, since he did not fight the monster "heroically." Grendel felt like someone was following him and he found out that he was right three nights later. Unferth showed up at his cave exhausted and stated that he would be remembered as a "hero" since one of them would die that day. Unferth was distress because he was shameful about the battle that occurred last time between them. He explained to Grendel all about heroism and how he would be achieving it by either dying against him or killing him. Grendel was annoyed of the human thought of "heroism" and took Unferth home without harming him. He did this rather than giving Unferth what he wanted, which was death from him.
During this chapter, Grendel meets Unferth. Unferth truly want to be the hero that Beowulf becomes, but is physically unable. Unferth sadly does not have the strength of 30 men and does not have any past feats to boast upon. Grendel shames and plays with him like a cat that has already eaten several mice playing with a mouse. A cat so full that it would probably eat the mouse if it had any more space in its stomach. Grendel is baffled and amused at the way that Unferth will continuously attempt to take Grendel’s life but is unable to. By the time that he tracks Grendel to his underwater cave and makes it into the den where Grendel and his mother live, he passes out of exhaustion and is carried back home by Grendel. Since Grendel shamed Unferth so brutally he has now lost all respect and is probably not even considered to be a hero.
Grendel, embracing his viscous beast-like instincts and harnessing the full power of the charm the dragon bestowed upon, wrecks havoc on the humans of Hrothgar's meadhall. He encounters the man Unferth who while fighting Grendel, discovers that the beast can talk. Grendel leaves, not killing Unferth and returns to his cave. Three days later, Unferth shows up at Grendel's cave and attempts to explain the rules of heroism to him, saying that either he or Grendel must die that night. Grendel, seeing this heroism thing as stupid, picks Unferth up and carries him back to the meadhall where he leaves him to steep in shame for not dying.
In the chapter Grendel has a change in his character. Part of it is due to the charm that dragon has put on him, no weapon could hurt him. He took advantage of this and allowed a monstrous scary part of him be unleashed. He became more confident in going near humans because he knew they’d be no harm to him. There were many men who tried to attack him but failed. Unferth’s goal was to be seen as a hero among everyone. He wanted to prove this by defeating Grendel but it wasn’t possible for him. Unferth is humiliated instead but still is determined to be heroic. He went to Grendel’s cave and tried to explain to him what it meant to be heroic. Unferth went to Grendel in hopes of being killed by him so he could at least achieve a heroic glorious death since he couldn't kill him. Grendel refuses to grant him it and takes him back to Hrothgar. - Stephanie Medina
Dear Amy, In Chapter 6, Grendel discovers that the dragon had put a charm on Grendel, so no one could cut him. As as his heart grew darker, and he began to see the humans as powerless, Grendel decides to attack the meadhall. One day, Grendel realizes this when he walks to the meadhall to listen to the the tales, songs, poems by the Shaper. Hearing the shaper's words, and how he spoke of God who had been kind to them enrages Grendel. Grendel sees the people nodding in approval of god and raising their cups in honor of Grendel and Hrothgar. Grendel describes Hrothgar to be smiling with bits of food in his beard. Which shows that Hrothgar is just a sloppy, old, drunk man, who is not as great as he seems. When suddenly, Grendel gets distracted when a guard leaps up at him trying to stab him. Grendel who knows he could not escape the sword, goes limp and expects to feel pain. However, Grendel feels nothing when the guard plunges the swords across his belly. This is when Grendel realizes he is invulnerable, and carries the guard upside down, causing the men to gather up and attack Grendel. However, Grendel knowing he is an invincible simply laughs, and sends a message to them by biting off the guard's head and sucking the blood from the body. This marks the point of transformation of Grendel's monster instincts and natures. At this point, Grendel transformed into a true monster, who feels he has a purpose to life for and meaning in life. Grendel himself gives his own self a title, Grendel, "The Ruiner of Meadhalls, and Wrecker of Kings!" However, Grendel still could not stop feeling alone. Grendel, who feels he has a purpose and a reason to live for as a monster, starts to rage wars on Hrothgar's kingdom. Grendel who start to kill many men begins to feel trapped and alludes himself to be mechanical like a bull who attacked Grendel when he was a child. Until, Grendel is confronted by a weakling named Unferth. Sincerely, your student, Part 2 coming out!
Instead of being afraid, Grendel starts to have entertainment and is amused when Unferth comes up to him, and tries to kill Grendel. Grendel who senses fear in Unferth begins to laugh and mock him calling him a virgin. Unferth who tries to be a hero is seen by Grendel to be a belligerent, brave and arrogant man who wants to be a hero. Unferth who hears Grendel speak to him, fears Grendel the monster, to be related to humans and even as smart as humans. Grendel who realizes that mental abuse is more entertaining, mocks Unferth by calling him a virgin, and makes fun of Unferth for trying to be hero. Grendel acts and speaks in a sarcastic way by saying he never saw a hero, and thought they only lived in poetry. Grendel finds joy in abusing Unferth, begins to throw apples at Unferth causing Unferth to bawl in tears. Grendel who is entertained by making Unferth cry realizes that psychological warfare is more entertaining than killing. Leaving Grendel to return to the forest with joy in his heart. One day, Grendel finds Unferth traveling to the mere in despair and wanting to die. Grendel realizes that Unferth had come because he wants Grendel to kill him. Grendel hearing this, feels disgusted at this pathetic loser who wants to end his life. Unferth tells his own side of the story saying he only wanted to be a hero and gain a good reputation of himself. In the discussion, Unferth tells what it means to be a hero, which is seeing the beyond in life, and to save people, and to have courage. Grendel who laughs at Unferth's belief tells him about the Shaper who makes things up to make Hrothgar to look like a hero. This is what Unferth discovers what Grendel had discovered about the shaper, who tells lies. Grendel who feels a little pity or remorse carries the motionless, asleep Unferth back to the meadhall. However, Grendel kills two of the guards to keep his reputation as a monsters, however he spares Unferth because he is not worthy to kill. Therefore, Grendel and Unferth both share something common in this chapter, which is to have meaning in life, and have a purpose to life for. In conclusion, the reader learns a lot about Grendel and Unferth and their discovery of the lies of the Shaper. Chapter 6 teaches us a lot about Unferth and Grendel's point of view of each their purpose to live for, and the meaning of life, and also the reason why we are here, and who are we as individuals. Unferth who wants to be hero is just similar to the way how Grendel wants to be needed as an enemy to the humans. Sincerely, Dylan
In this chapter Its almost a continuation of the 5th chapter after Grendel meets the dragon and finds out the dragon made him not be able to get cut from swords and other weapons. He also meets unferth and spares his life when Unferth wants to be a hero to the city
6. This chapter was not my favorite so far. This is due to Grendel giving in to his animal like instincts and letting the murderous fury of this now unbeatable beast thanks to the dragon’s charm. Grendel now raids Heorot truly becoming the monster he knows he is. It felt a little strange to me when Unferth is the only one who finds out that Grendel is capable of human speech. When Grendel enters the Mead hall, I really enjoy that Unferth, the coward in the book and movie, can actually show courage in the face of a monstrous force such as Grendel. Grendel in this chapter also shows something like sympathy and compassion, but something completely different. When Unferth enters Grendel’s lair trying to confront him, Grendel doesn’t out right attack him, which would have been his go to instinct earlier in the book. Instead, he allows Unferth to speak what he feels. Through this Unferth is shown that Grendel thinks there is no heroism in this world, because his only two sources of data on the matter, (The Shaper and the Dragon,) have shown him poetry can be used to warp the minds of men into thinking anything the story tellers want to be known. Grendel then carries Unferth back to his home, for reasons I don’t totally understand. Leaving his mark on Hrothgars kingdom, Grendel has turned into the monster he was trying to avoid. Trying not to become Grendel, “Ruiner of Mead halls, Wrecker of Kings.” ~Ben Moseley
Finally understanding who he truly is “Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings”, Grendel begins to lead multiple violent attacks on Heorot. Unstoppable, thanks to the dragon’s charm, Grendel easily carries off dozens of men without sustaining a single scratch. One day as Grendel is preparing to haul off another meal, a man by the name of Unferth stood up and faced our wretched beast. Heinous comments were exchanged and the battle ultimately resulted in a dodge-apple fight and Unferth knowing that the monster could speak. The next morning Unferth arrives at the mouth of Grendel’s cave, exhausted from swimming and fighting off the frightful sea monsters. Facing Grendel, Unferth knew he had no more than a chance, but he still came after the demon. Grendel being disgusted with Unferth’s state, close to tears, the two stood discussing the true meaning of a hero. That a hero must see what is beyond possible, towards the impossible and be willing to sacrifice his life, even if all he had was the slightest chance of winning, he must do what is right. All Unferth wanted was to be a hero, but Grendel found the whole idea silly that there was no such thing as a hero. A hero does the right thing and is not corrupted by greed or selfishness. A man spends his entire life trying to be a hero, but as one strives to be courageous he is driven by greed, the greed for fame and greed for gold. “…Its not unusual…to hear them contradict themselves…” After a few more exchanges, Grendel decides to sentence a cowering Unferth to a fate worse than death. Grendel denies him the chance to be a hero; he spares his life, brings him back to Hrothgar, and will spare him for as long as he shall live. Unferth was able to just barely touch, get a single glimpse at greatness, but he fell short disappointed by its true meaning. I feel more sympathy towards Unferth than I had in Beowulf. Instead of just being an arrogant bastard who was incapable of protecting his city, John Gardner paints him as a failed hero. In Beowulf I thought that he had simply ran from every fight, that he was a coward. But now I see that Unferth tried and still tries to fight Grendel, but it is not his fault that he continually fails to destroy the monster and fails to die. I sympathize with Unferth, he was denied the chance to be hero and it ultimately led him to be bitter and insane, he is cursed to live on and watch his comrades die as heroes and he live as a “coward”.
ReplyDelete~Shelby
6. This chapter was not my favorite so far. This is due to Grendel giving in to his animal like instincts and letting the murderous fury of this now unbeatable beast thanks to the dragon’s charm. Grendel now raids Heorot truly becoming the monster he knows he is. It felt a little strange to me when Unferth is the only one who finds out that Grendel is capable of human speech. When Grendel enters the Mead hall, I really enjoy that Unferth, the coward in the book and movie, can actually show courage in the face of a monstrous force such as Grendel. Grendel in this chapter also shows something like sympathy and compassion, but something completely different. When Unferth enters Grendel’s lair trying to confront him, Grendel doesn’t out right attack him, which would have been his go to instinct earlier in the book. Instead, he allows Unferth to speak what he feels. Through this Unferth is shown that Grendel thinks there is no heroism in this world, because his only two sources of data on the matter, (The Shaper and the Dragon,) have shown him poetry can be used to warp the minds of men into thinking anything the story tellers want to be known. Grendel then carries Unferth back to his home, for reasons I don’t totally understand. Leaving his mark on Hrothgars kingdom, Grendel has turned into the monster he was trying to avoid. Trying not to become Grendel, “Ruiner of Mead halls, Wrecker of Kings.”
ReplyDelete~Ben Moseley
At last, Grendel stumbles upon the verge of finding meaning/pleasure in his life, as he marches to the kingdom of Hrothgar ruthlessly yet timid from past experiences. Realizing that he now is impenetrable to the weapons they own, he walks in through the front door (killing the two guards quite casually while doing so) and wreaks havoc in their Hrothgar's kingdom. He continues with this raid tradition whenever he feels like doing so, and on one occasion, is challenged by a man named Unferth. He stands out from the other men as he is a small sum taller and is not totally intoxicated on mead, showing that he is brave and sober while he approaches Grendel. He fails to present any challenge to Grendel since he is invulnerable any weaponry, so all he can really do is slow Grendel down a tiny bit as he comes and goes with a few men. Grendel cracks up at the courageousness of this unthreatening little creature, and when Unferth follows Grendel back to his cave, we see that Grendel actually feels some sympathy for this disappointment of a man (when he ends up carrying him home).
ReplyDelete-julian
In this chapter, Grendel finally seems to have a decisive view on the world around him. Nothing is either complex or mindless, dreary or intriguing. Everything is now set in his mind as doomed, every action is futile with the fixed way of the world. Grendel finds out that he has been given the gift—or curse, depending on who looks at it and how—of immunity to weapons. With this in mind, he continues to raid Heorot Hall, becoming more and more daring while having to remind himself to push down this now irrational fear of injury (a force of habit).
ReplyDeleteHis view on the Shaper has changed as well. Never again will Grendel be fooled by his trickery. He now despises what he sees from the Shaper and the people. “It enraged me… their hope.” (77)
Once again, we see the recurring theme of mechanism coming into the story. “I saw myself killing them, on and on and on, as if mechanically.” (81)
Finally, we meet the infamous Unferth, from both the movie and novel version of “Beowulf,” though he is not so known in this tale. He decides to take his own stand against Grendel during another of his raids, determined to die a hero. Grendel will not have it, leaving him to live and be laughed at. Something did come out of that experience for Unferth, however: he learned that both Grendel and himself spoke the same language. Though an intriguing development, it makes the event even more humiliating for him.
Days later, it seems that Unferth has tracked Grendel to his cave. He swims through the mere, scathed by scorch, and announces when washed ashore that he is here to fulfill his duty and carry out what was never finished. He is here to kill Grendel. We find out that to Unferth, a true hero is one who will act out of bravery and face the consequences despite a lack of onlookers. Being a hero is being one even when no one is looking. With no one to discern the cause of his death in the cave or any of his actions, he is still fighting to be heroic and die trying to kill Grendel. Grendel, of course, has none of that and drops him back at the steps of the meadhall after the hopeful hero falls asleep in the cave.
—Haven
In chapter six of “Grendel”, Grendel becomes transformed into his new identity. Instead of living his lonely life without purpose or position in the universe, he now has a role as a great monster who destroys Hrothgar’s thanes and his mead hall. Chapter six also includes a significant portion of Unfurth’s history that is untold in the story of Beowulf. Grendel first encounters Unferth during his second attack on Heorot after receiving the charm from the dragon. Grendel’s immunity from weapons allows him to defeat the initial wave of retaliating humans easily. As Grendel releases his mind into a destructive frenzy, the tall and young Unferth emerges from the crown of drunken men, challenging Grendel with his sword raised. Unferth is prepared to die fighting Grendel, and does not care about the life ahead of him. His only desire is to become one of the heroes remembered for generations and sung by the shapers in future mead halls. If achieving his goal requires dying in combat with Grendel in Hrothgar’s name, he will do so without regret. When Unferth boasts to Grendel about his virtues and intentions, Grendel laughs and sees it absurd that one could care so much about reputation. Instead of killing Unferth and giving him what he wants, Grendel tries to taunt him in English, and eventually humiliates him in a barrage of thrown apples. Having been humiliated, Unferth follows Grendel to his cave, seeking out the glorious death he sought earlier. There Unferth and Grendel have an extended discussion of heroism. Unferth believes that heroes should seek to do the impossible with the little chance of success they already have. While the hero will eventually die as a result of his virtues, he is able to create more meaning and expression in his life than any surviving man. Grendel is tempted to crush Unferth out of disgust for believing in the lies of the shapers, but he refrains from doing so because he does not want to contribute to songs and ideas of the humans. This explains why Unferth has a negative attitude towards Beowulf. Beowulf intends to defeat Grendel just as Unferth wanted, but Unferth doubts this possibility and is jealous of the attention Beowulf receives upon boasting his plans.
ReplyDeleteIn the sixth chapter, the Grendel we saw in the first chapter is starting to take form from the confused adolescence caused by his mother, his explorations, and man. The dragon, through his invulnerability charm and convincing, has shaped Grendel more than the Shaper ever did. Grendel has stopped wavering between hate of the humans and yearning for friendship, and settled on the hate, beginning his first year of raids against Heorot. During one of these, he meets Unferth, a character maligned in Beowulf as a shifty kin-killer. Here, he’s a virtuous and awkward self-proclaimed hero. This gives more context to Unferth’s criticism of Beowulf in the original tale as not a true hero, because Unferth has tried to be one, and failed. Who better to recognize a false hero than a failed one? What I find very interesting, however, are the occasional mentions of the dragon. “The dragon-scent in the room grew stronger, as if my teasing were bringing the old beast near. His presence appears to influence Grendel, egging him on into violence. This is even more support to the idea that the dragon is either entirely within Grendel’s head, or is influencing him from without like the Shaper did. Grendel believes the world revolves around him, and yet the dragon claims to see everything that will ever happen, proof that Grendel is not the center. Grendel fears chasms, and the dragon summons them, making Grendel feel like he will fall in. Grendel can’t balance his truth and the Shaper’s lies, and the dragon explains that all away. Grendel fears and hates man, and the dragon dismisses them. The dragon acts as Grendel’s devil on his shoulder, driving him to more brutal depths and twisted truths.
ReplyDelete-George
In chapter six we see Grendel change. He is becoming more of a monster. This all happened when he was given the charm of the dragon. He was no longer venerable to weapons. He didn’t realize how his power worked until he was being attacked by a group of men. When the men would stab him with their weapons nothing would happen to him. With his new charm he kept on going more frequently to the meadhall. He would sometimes grab 7 men and eat them or sometime less. This gave him a weird feeling of joy even though he knew this was bad. One day when he went into the mead hall he encountered a hero, which was weird because he thought heroes were a piece of fiction. It turns out this hero was Unferth. Before doing any harm Grendel listen to what this so called hero had to say. When Unferth talked he was saying that this could be a glorious day for either one of them. Unferth learned that Grendel could understand them and he can also talk. Grendel ended up leaving. He felt someone following him but ignored it. Once he was home Unferth was their talking to him. He had asked if Grendel could come out to fight he knew that it was a suicide mission for him but he didn’t want to go back in humiliation.
ReplyDeleteGrendel finds his nature. I mentioned before that he was a predator by heart and thus is compelled to attack and kill. Grendel, through his attacks, meets Unferth, a hero. The concept of a real life hero is alien to Grendel and when he inquires about this he is met with ideals, of striving for things out of reach and trying to obtain the impossible. However Grendel is, somewhat ironically, opposed to this. Grendel sees no value in striving for things out of reach and sees striving for something like this greedy, greedy to become better than someone else, to become rich through honor lavished upon them. However, Grendel has already become what he despises, he has been blessed (or cursed) with the dragons charm and now has invulnerability and thus becomes able to do whatever he wants which is obviously self-indulgent. Unferth defends himself but its clear that the reason why these two disagree so much is because they are complete polar opposites. A villain versus a hero, a protagonist against an antagonist. There is actually no way Grendel can understand Unferth unless he becomes the opposite of himself.
ReplyDelete- Not Alex.
Delete-Cameron
DeleteIn Chapter Six we see Grendel become a thing he despises, a monster. He also gets super powers because......whatever. But because of his monster-ness he more or less accepts his role in the world and starts killing people in heorot. Then he meets Unferth, and unferth stalks him all the way home saying, "Hey, we can make peace, you can understand us." he follows Grendel and tells him he should come back and fight, to which Grendel replies, "screw off."
ReplyDelete-alex da fish
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 6 of "Grendel", Grendel experiences a personality change after visiting the dragon. Instead of the shaper’s music making him feel confused it makes him feel enraged. He also begins to attack the men in Hrothgar’s hall instead of just watching them. Unlike before he wasn’t killing to eat, he was killing to kill. Grendel got the courage to attack Hrothgar’s men after the dragon put a charm on him, making it so no weapons could hurt him. During one of his attacks, he encounters Unferth, Hrothgar’s best and bravest warrior. Unlike the other men that Grendel killed, Unferth did not charge Grendel with a sword, speaking world of self-absorption, but started battle of words with him. Unferth tells Grendel that he is prepared to die, and does not care if he does as long as he will be remembered as the hero who stood up to the bellowing beast in Hrothgar’s hall. Grendel finds this hysterical and then begins to mock the so-called noble warrior. He begins to say how a hero’s valor is always being measured, and that they are incredibly self-absorbed. They stand tall and think whatever challenges face them they can conquer. He explains how a hero can stop being seen as a hero just a virgin can suddenly loose her virginity. After his harsh words, Grendel began to throw apples at Unferth, smashing one into his nose, causing it to spew blood. Being the self-proclaimed hero he is, Unferth follows Grendel to his mere a few nights later. It is here that he tells Grendel he has come to die, since Grendel did not kill him before. He then starts to talk about heroism and how it is more than just language and dignity; it is being able face the truth and not needing the glorification by others. He says that he has self-heroism because he has come prepared to face death, and is satisfied with the fact that only God, Grendel, and himself will know how he died. Instead of granting Unferth’s wish and crushing him right then and there, Grendel decided to take him back to Hrothgar, not wanting to take the chance of granting Unferth a glorious death.
ReplyDelete-Isabella McCormick
After meeting with the dragon, Grendel starts displaying some of the dragons characteristics by beginning to be frustrated with the humans and eventually, hating them. The dragons views of nihilism, which were that the world is pointless and meaningless now have an effect on Grendel, he is annoyed by the Danes having hope. He has a completely new view and relationship with the humans, it has now become nothing but war. Back in chapter 4, when Grendel finds a man laying dead on the ground and brings him back to his people as a way to become the humans friends, did not work and the Danes rejected him. As they deny him to be a friend, in chapter 6 he allows himself to become the enemy they see him as. The next time Grendel encounters the humans face to face, he bites off the head of one of their men which is a clear sign of war. As he does this, he feels like he has finally became something to the world. It is all that he has ever wanted. He is Grendel, “Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings”. When Grendel has his first full raid, as he kills men, he also inspires them to demonstrate heroism. For example, Unferth tries to become the hero and stand up to Grendel. Every man needs something or someone to encourage to become virtuous. In addition to learning much from the dragon, he also receives a “gift” from the dragon. It is the dragon’s charm which does not let Grendel be harmed by any weapon. He takes it as a curse and a blessing. In the beginning Grendel was happy because it was an opportunity to make him feel more superior than the humans. On the other hand, since he took on the name of “Ruiner of Meadhalls”, he becomes more lonelier than ever. As Unferth takes on Grendel, he shows the heroic code by telling Grendel of all his brave acts. Surprisingly, Unferth is astonished that Grendel spoke back to him. Unferth explains to Grendel that the true meaning of heroism is not about having glory and letting everyone know about his heroic acts but instead, it gives him something greater to aim for.
ReplyDelete- Metztli Garcia
In Chapter six, Grendel changed from the timid, friendly side to the vicious, beast-like side of himself. He finds out that the dragon has put a charm on him. which made him invincible against the weapons the humans used. He realized this when he was being attacked by a group of men when he was "spying" at the mead-hall. When he found out he was invulnerable against their weapons, he went to their lair more often. All their attacks were harmless. A different man stepped up to him, and he was named Unferth. Unferth wanted to be known among his men as a hero, and he was acting like one when it was his turn to fight Grendel. This is when he realize that the "beast" talks. After the battle was over, Grendel returned to his home. Unferth was humiliated, since he did not fight the monster "heroically." Grendel felt like someone was following him and he found out that he was right three nights later. Unferth showed up at his cave exhausted and stated that he would be remembered as a "hero" since one of them would die that day. Unferth was distress because he was shameful about the battle that occurred last time between them. He explained to Grendel all about heroism and how he would be achieving it by either dying against him or killing him. Grendel was annoyed of the human thought of "heroism" and took Unferth home without harming him. He did this rather than giving Unferth what he wanted, which was death from him.
ReplyDeleteDuring this chapter, Grendel meets Unferth. Unferth truly want to be the hero that Beowulf becomes, but is physically unable. Unferth sadly does not have the strength of 30 men and does not have any past feats to boast upon. Grendel shames and plays with him like a cat that has already eaten several mice playing with a mouse. A cat so full that it would probably eat the mouse if it had any more space in its stomach. Grendel is baffled and amused at the way that Unferth will continuously attempt to take Grendel’s life but is unable to. By the time that he tracks Grendel to his underwater cave and makes it into the den where Grendel and his mother live, he passes out of exhaustion and is carried back home by Grendel. Since Grendel shamed Unferth so brutally he has now lost all respect and is probably not even considered to be a hero.
ReplyDeleteAdam
Grendel, embracing his viscous beast-like instincts and harnessing the full power of the charm the dragon bestowed upon, wrecks havoc on the humans of Hrothgar's meadhall. He encounters the man Unferth who while fighting Grendel, discovers that the beast can talk. Grendel leaves, not killing Unferth and returns to his cave. Three days later, Unferth shows up at Grendel's cave and attempts to explain the rules of heroism to him, saying that either he or Grendel must die that night. Grendel, seeing this heroism thing as stupid, picks Unferth up and carries him back to the meadhall where he leaves him to steep in shame for not dying.
ReplyDeleteIn the chapter Grendel has a change in his character. Part of it is due to the charm that dragon has put on him, no weapon could hurt him. He took advantage of this and allowed a monstrous scary part of him be unleashed. He became more confident in going near humans because he knew they’d be no harm to him. There were many men who tried to attack him but failed. Unferth’s goal was to be seen as a hero among everyone. He wanted to prove this by defeating Grendel but it wasn’t possible for him. Unferth is humiliated instead but still is determined to be heroic. He went to Grendel’s cave and tried to explain to him what it meant to be heroic. Unferth went to Grendel in hopes of being killed by him so he could at least achieve a heroic glorious death since he couldn't kill him. Grendel refuses to grant him it and takes him back to Hrothgar.
ReplyDelete- Stephanie Medina
Dear Amy,
ReplyDeleteIn Chapter 6, Grendel discovers that the dragon had put a charm on Grendel, so no one could cut him. As as his heart grew darker, and he began to see the humans as powerless, Grendel decides to attack the meadhall. One day, Grendel realizes this when he walks to the meadhall to listen to the the tales, songs, poems by the Shaper. Hearing the shaper's words, and how he spoke of God who had been kind to them enrages Grendel. Grendel sees the people nodding in approval of god and raising their cups in honor of Grendel and Hrothgar. Grendel describes Hrothgar to be smiling with bits of food in his beard. Which shows that Hrothgar is just a sloppy, old, drunk man, who is not as great as he seems. When suddenly, Grendel gets distracted when a guard leaps up at him trying to stab him. Grendel who knows he could not escape the sword, goes limp and expects to feel pain. However, Grendel feels nothing when the guard plunges the swords across his belly. This is when Grendel realizes he is invulnerable, and carries the guard upside down, causing the men to gather up and attack Grendel. However, Grendel knowing he is an invincible simply laughs, and sends a message to them by biting off the guard's head and sucking the blood from the body. This marks the point of transformation of Grendel's monster instincts and natures. At this point, Grendel transformed into a true monster, who feels he has a purpose to life for and meaning in life. Grendel himself gives his own self a title, Grendel, "The Ruiner of Meadhalls, and Wrecker of Kings!" However, Grendel still could not stop feeling alone. Grendel, who feels he has a purpose and a reason to live for as a monster, starts to rage wars on Hrothgar's kingdom. Grendel who start to kill many men begins to feel trapped and alludes himself to be mechanical like a bull who attacked Grendel when he was a child. Until, Grendel is confronted by a weakling named Unferth.
Sincerely,
your student,
Part 2 coming out!
Instead of being afraid, Grendel starts to have entertainment and is amused when Unferth comes up to him, and tries to kill Grendel. Grendel who senses fear in Unferth begins to laugh and mock him calling him a virgin. Unferth who tries to be a hero is seen by Grendel to be a belligerent, brave and arrogant man who wants to be a hero. Unferth who hears Grendel speak to him, fears Grendel the monster, to be related to humans and even as smart as humans. Grendel who realizes that mental abuse is more entertaining, mocks Unferth by calling him a virgin, and makes fun of Unferth for trying to be hero. Grendel acts and speaks in a sarcastic way by saying he never saw a hero, and thought they only lived in poetry. Grendel finds joy in abusing Unferth, begins to throw apples at Unferth causing Unferth to bawl in tears. Grendel who is entertained by making Unferth cry realizes that psychological warfare is more entertaining than killing. Leaving Grendel to return to the forest with joy in his heart. One day, Grendel finds Unferth traveling to the mere in despair and wanting to die. Grendel realizes that Unferth had come because he wants Grendel to kill him. Grendel hearing this, feels disgusted at this pathetic loser who wants to end his life. Unferth tells his own side of the story saying he only wanted to be a hero and gain a good reputation of himself. In the discussion, Unferth tells what it means to be a hero, which is seeing the beyond in life, and to save people, and to have courage. Grendel who laughs at Unferth's belief tells him about the Shaper who makes things up to make Hrothgar to look like a hero. This is what Unferth discovers what Grendel had discovered about the shaper, who tells lies. Grendel who feels a little pity or remorse carries the motionless, asleep Unferth back to the meadhall. However, Grendel kills two of the guards to keep his reputation as a monsters, however he spares Unferth because he is not worthy to kill. Therefore, Grendel and Unferth both share something common in this chapter, which is to have meaning in life, and have a purpose to life for. In conclusion, the reader learns a lot about Grendel and Unferth and their discovery of the lies of the Shaper. Chapter 6 teaches us a lot about Unferth and Grendel's point of view of each their purpose to live for, and the meaning of life, and also the reason why we are here, and who are we as individuals. Unferth who wants to be hero is just similar to the way how Grendel wants to be needed as an enemy to the humans.
ReplyDeleteSincerely,
Dylan
In this chapter Its almost a continuation of the 5th chapter after Grendel meets the dragon and finds out the dragon made him not be able to get cut from swords and other weapons. He also meets unferth and spares his life when Unferth wants to be a hero to the city
ReplyDelete6. This chapter was not my favorite so far. This is due to Grendel giving in to his animal like instincts and letting the murderous fury of this now unbeatable beast thanks to the dragon’s charm. Grendel now raids Heorot truly becoming the monster he knows he is. It felt a little strange to me when Unferth is the only one who finds out that Grendel is capable of human speech. When Grendel enters the Mead hall, I really enjoy that Unferth, the coward in the book and movie, can actually show courage in the face of a monstrous force such as Grendel. Grendel in this chapter also shows something like sympathy and compassion, but something completely different. When Unferth enters Grendel’s lair trying to confront him, Grendel doesn’t out right attack him, which would have been his go to instinct earlier in the book. Instead, he allows Unferth to speak what he feels. Through this Unferth is shown that Grendel thinks there is no heroism in this world, because his only two sources of data on the matter, (The Shaper and the Dragon,) have shown him poetry can be used to warp the minds of men into thinking anything the story tellers want to be known. Grendel then carries Unferth back to his home, for reasons I don’t totally understand. Leaving his mark on Hrothgars kingdom, Grendel has turned into the monster he was trying to avoid. Trying not to become Grendel, “Ruiner of Mead halls, Wrecker of Kings.”
ReplyDelete~Ben Moseley