How we cite our quotes: (Page) Vintage Books, 1989
Quote #4
"In a billion billion billion years, everything will have come and gone several times, in various forms. Even I will be gone. A certain man will absurdly kill me. A terrible pity—loss of a remarkable form of life. Conservationists will how." He chuckled. "Meaningless, however..." (70)
Compared to the coolness of the dragon (ironic, we know), Grendel seems like a whining, emotional disaster. But consider this: though the dragon can speak dispassionately about the bare facts of existence, Gardner makes it pretty clear that this may not be the best way to go. After all, the best the dragon can do is to sit on a stack of gold and count it.
Quote #5
"Pick an apocalypse, any apocalypse. A sea of black oil and dead things. No wind. No light. Nothing stirring, not even an ant, a spider. A silent universe. Such is the end of the flicker of time, the brief, hot fuse of events and ideas set off, accidentally, and snuffed out, accidentally, by man. Not a real ending of course, nor even a beginning. Mere ripple in Time's stream." (71)
Dragons are mighty good at seeing the "long view" of things, mostly because they're traditionally given the ability to see all parts of the cosmic timeline. He uses his sight of the future to let Grendel in on a little secret: nothing really matters. The stuff that seems to matter (Grendel's life, his relationship with humanity) is nothing but a cosmic accident, and it will end in an equally stupid and meaningless way. Grendel can't bring himself to believe this until the moment he's staring death in the face.
Quote #6
"You improve them, my boy! Can't you see that for yourself? You stimulate them. You make them think and scheme. You drive them to poetry, science, religion, all that makes them what they are for as long as they last..." (73)
The dragon has a unique approach to Grendel's problem of identity and purpose. First, he tells the frightened monster to scrap his ideas of "destiny" and "the great scheme of things"—there's no such nonsense in this world. Next, Grendel has to choose a role for himself—any role will do. In the end, says the dragon, you might as well do what you're good at (like scaring the beejeebers out of human beings). The evil that he might do in that role will at least help humans define themselves in positive ways.