... winters killing the warriors, until a fearless warrior, named Beowulf, comes to the rescue. The bravest warriors have attempted to defeat the monster with conventional weapons, however, they have all failed. Beowulf assesses the situation realizing that conventional weapons had not killed the beast, and ... a social obligation to protect Hrothgar, because after he defeated Grendel he promised his continuous protection against evil. "In order to battle the monster Beowulf had to swim for hours in the mere, the serpent infested water" (Pera). As he was swimming Grendel's mother grabbed B...

• Word Count: 2051
• Approx Pages: 8

... community and struggles to find the meaning of life. Beowulf acts as a "superhuman" which Grendel wouldn't overcome. The theme of hero and monster is claimed throughout the poem. Grendel's mother longs for revenge against Beowulf. She acts against gender codes of the Anglo-Saxon society. The overall fight ... sin of all, believing that Cain was the reason sin and evil had existed. Grendel, having this appearance of repugnance, was perceived as an evil monster making him an outcast to the Danes. As being said, Cain and Grendel share this idea of a hostile behavior because of the feeling o...

• Word Count: 1577
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... name and makes you picture it in your head what Grendel actually looks like. When you think about monster's you usually think about heroes also, so John Gardner wrote the story to make you think about Grendel as the monster, so in your head you can think about what the hero has to be capable of in order ... to slay or defeat the monster. 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 ... soon arrived and all the men scattered. From this point on the story builds up until it reaches the twel...

• Word Count: 1613
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... on his super strength. During the fight, Beowulf's strength takes over and Beowulf wrestles with Grendel until he is able to rip one of the monster's arms out of its socket. Superhuman feats also appear in the fight with Grendel's mother. When Beowulf enters the water, he swims downward for an ... that Unferth's sword is useless against the monsters thick skin. He grabs an enormous sword made by giants, almost too heavy to hold and slashes through the monster's body. This superhero strength continues into the battle with the dragon. By this time, Beowulf is an ! old man. He stands up to ...

• Word Count: 1523
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... Grendel comes and brings misery to the Danes: And then as now warriors sang of their pleasure: so Hrothgar's men lived happy in his hall till the monster stirred, that demon, that fiend, Grendel, who haunted the moors, the wild marshes, and made his home in a hell not hell but earth. He ... it is told in stories: His (Hrothgar's) misery leaped the seas, was told and sung in all men's ears: How Grendel's hatred began, how the monster relished his savage war on the Danes, keeping the bloody feud alive, seeking no peace, offering no truce, accepting no settlement, no price in gold or ... '...

• Word Count: 1278
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... on the character of Beowulf; the story is a fantasy. It is hard to believe that the character of Beowulf would be able to kill a monster like Grendel with his bare hands. Beowulf possesses many superhuman abilities, such as the amazing power to hold his breath under water for an unlimited period ... from the way he fought in battle until the day he died. Beowulf showed his honor as he traveled from his homeland to battle the vicious monster Grendel, who was terrorizing the Danes. Grendel raided and ravaged the mead hall, showing no honor by killing intoxicated men in their sleep. Beowu...

• Word Count: 1723
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... the equivalent to thirty men. Beowulf also shows the qualities of loyalty, confidence, and wisdom which all make him a hero. Grendel is considered a monster because he lacks compassion for the human race. Grendel has no sympathy for the innocent and shows this by attacking the "Ring-Danes " when they ... time that is why their patriarchal history was so important. 4. Grendel is a descendent of Cain. The characters in the poem know Grendel is a monster that attacks the men in the mead hall at night and lives in a swamp den. The characters do not realize Grendel is attacking the Danes ......

• Word Count: 2142
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: High School

... the queen of the Danes, represents a typical subservient Anglo-Saxon woman. As a foil to Wealhtheow, Grendel's mother is a strong and combative monster whom Beowulf must kill. By analyzing these two characters in Beowulf, we can understand the treatment and mistreatment of women in Anglo-Saxon society. ... of Grendel's mother. Grendel's mother is a descendant of Cain and "damned to hide in a dark water-home / cold wildwood stream" (ll.1260-1). Being a monster, Grendel's mother possesses "great warrior-strength" (l. 1282); however, since she is female, her strength is "less than her son's ...

• Word Count: 1587
• Approx Pages: 6

... a bear protecting its cubs as a feeling of obligation towards the safety of the new generation of bears. In Grendel this idea is reoccurs more than once as the monster often acts more human than monster while at other times his animal instincts are predominate. Many times Grendel seems to be walking a fine line between the two. It seems that throughout the book ... , Grendel displays such human qualities such as hatred and loneliness while at other times he displays some of his more animalistic traits such as blood lust. In the book the monster displays the human characteristic of hatred...

• Word Count: 1512
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

He looked out the window, to see whether any handicapped, helpless person was down there in need of his help. He saw two monster-sized creatures gather up on to a street full of people. Not bothering about the consequences, he jumped onto the creatures, put his arms around ... did our super hero jump from the top of the building to attack the enemy. To save his people from danger? To rescue the city from the deadly monster? So that his people can "live happily ever after"? Or to make himself look like a hero and get worshiped by his people? An ideal epic ... fingers into a socket, gets hims...

• Word Count: 1329
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... he's the only one she intended to kill; a life for a life, and I can't know for certain because the author never wrote from her point of view. Thirdly, is Grendel's mother, a monster kin to Cain, following the honor code? According to the honor code the death of a family member must be avenged. Now there is a permeable boundary line between right and wrong ... with his emotions, a king, in Beowulf's mind, should be strong for his people. His despair is like a cancer to his community, who after years of horror at the hands of a monster, finally have a small glimmer of hope to cling to. "...

• Word Count: 1647
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: High School

... adventures, which includes fighting monsters and slaying a dragon. After being asked for help by the Danish king Hrothgar to defeat a terrible monster named Grendel, Beowulf decides to depart for Denmark with fourteen followers to rescue the Danes from this monster and descendant of the Biblical character Cain from the book of Genesis, which clearly shows the Christian aspects and influences in the ... , namely Grendel's mother. She attacks Herot, once again while they are asleep, and manages to take one of Hrothgar's closest friends and advisor, Esher. Beowulf is furious, and chases the...

• Word Count: 1462
• Approx Pages: 6

... end, Beowulf was able to defeat Grendel's mom by cutting her head off with the biggest and strongest sword he could find that would have typically been used for a giant monster. Returning the head of Grendel's mother and the corpse of Grendel to Hrothgar showed that the Danish village was seized of its monsters. Over fifty years later, Beowulf, who had ... an early age and even though, boastful at times, he showed to be noble and protective for his country. Beowulf faced battles with strength by conquering the most known demon monster of the land with no issues, his weakness by fighting...

• Word Count: 1294
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... a reader to believe that the "monsters" may not be so monstrous after all. This ultimately evokes traces of sympathy in the reader for the plight of these "monster" figures, and blurs the fine line between good and evil within the poem The first opponent Beowulf must face in the land of the Danes is Grendel, textually described ... unpunished. The black and white portrayal of good and evil is questionable after seeing this unfair outcome. Even though the dragon is by far the least human of all "monster" figures," we can still feel somewhat sympathetic for it. Similarly to Grendel's moth...

• Word Count: 1275
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... only Achilles. They show a number of similar caritaristics and also a number of differences. Beowulf comes to the aid of King Hrothgar to kill the Grendel monster that lives in the bottom of a swamp. The Grendel monster has already killed 30 of Hrothgar's men. Beowulf takes 14 of his best men and brings them to Herot, which is Hrothgar's castle. The men arrive ... ...

• Word Count: 1458
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... his weapon are described, "warriors and battles." The supernatural element is the element in the story that is above mankind. It could be a human with super strength or anything extraterrestrial, a monster, etc. Many grand speeches are made at the climax or turn of the story. There are often many warriors in heroic epics, both good and bad. The battles they have ... all." in which the sound made by the se and sw are similar. A metaphorical phrase or compounds are found throughout the story as well. Three examples of this are a "powerful monster," "shepard of evil" and "guardian of crime...

• Word Count: 1388
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... was sent to do the job of the king who portray as God in the poem.. Jesus faces much tribulation and hatred so also is Beowulf who fought with different monster and fairy to deliver his loving people from the death. The inducing part of the story was the death of Jesus Christ, who voluntarily gave up his life to his ... ...

• Word Count: 1284
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... elements within this Anglo-Saxon backdrop. Klaeber elaborates, "The figure of Grendel at any rate, while originally an ordinary Scandinavian troll, and passing in the poem as a sort of man monster, is at the same time conceived of as an impersonation of evil and darkness, even an incarnation of the Christian devil. Many of his appellations are unquestionable epithets of Satan ... ...

• Word Count: 2211
• Approx Pages: 9
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

... goodness, for his opponents will be representations of evil and despair. One example of such an opponent, Grendel, is called the "captain of evil" (749). It is possible that this monster represents the unknown that outside of Heorot, for he is shown "haunting the marshes, marauding round the heath and the desolate fens" - places beyond the power of Heorot and the ... ...

• Word Count: 1257
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School