Throughout Grendel, John Gardner utilizes the concept of time, revealing the past, present, and future of Grendel’s existence. Time is an incredibly important issue exploited in the narrative because its significance allows for the plot to unfold.
The opening pages of the story are told at the present, starting the twelfth year of Grendel’s raids on Hrothgar’s domain. Readers observe Grendel as a bitter and desolate character. Due to his violent nature and animosity towards mankind, he is alone, cut off from civilization. We learn that he was not al