The story is set in Grendel?s twelfth year of attacks. Grendel encounters a ram, the ram doesn?t pay attention to Grendel and it upsets him. So Grendel throws rocks at the ram and stomps the ground, but the ram just stares at him, this reminds Grendel that Spring is almost there. Spring has begun and Grendel is angry and can?t resist it any longer, so he heads for the mead hall where he kills Hrothgar?s men and takes the bodies into the woods, where he eats them. This is the twelfth year of Grendel?s war. Then the story takes a turn and goes back to Grendel?s childhood, where it talks about how he found a way out of his cave, and was following a calf. When he tried to kill it a bull protected it, and charged at Grendel. Grendel soon made his

The main conflict of the story is that Grendel feels out of place and he doesn?t like the feeling of being lonely, so he seeks happiness by killing mankind. Grendel attacks Hrothgar?s mead hall every Spring. On the twelfth year of Grendel?s attacks he is bored with his yearly routine to the mead hall, and wants a challenge. He sees some warriors land on Hrothgar?s shore. Beowulf is leading the warriors and convinces Hrothgar that they can slay Grendel. So the main conflict is man surviving over monsters, and everything else in the world. Grendel shows another conflict however. His conflict is trying to find the meaning of life when he is an outcast. He can?t find out the meaning though and that is why he kills Hrothgar?s men every Spring, to make him feel like he does have a meaning.

Years after King Hrothgar has encountered Grendel he has expanded his territory, and builds a huge mead hall, that he calls Herot. He hires a harper to play at special occasions. Grendel loves the harpers music, and tries to join the humans, but he frightens the guards and they attack him so he has no option but to flee. Grendel becomes very lonely and visits an ancient dragon. He puts a charm on Grendel that makes him invulnerable to mortal blades. By doing this Grendel becomes a mother of pure destruction. At every Spring Grendel makes several raids to Herot, only leaving enough men behind for the next Spring.

Red Horse- Red Horse is Hrothulf?s counselor. He is an old peasant who preaches violence just because he likes violence. He is an anarchist.

Some topics in this essay:
Horse Hrothulfs, Hrothgar Beowulf, John Gardner, King Hrothgar, Grendel Grendels, Hrothgars Spring, Horse Hrothulf, Spring Spring, Dragon- Dragon, Hrothgar Hrothgar, mead hall, twelfth attacks, meaning life, king hrothgar, attacks hrothgars, attacks hrothgars mead, underneath swamp, world doesnt, kills hrothgars, twelfth grendels, convinces hrothgar, mead hall spring, hrothgars mead hall,