Grendel Analysis

Because Gardner is playing around with the source material from Beowulf, we can say with confidence that Grendel frolics through the forests of Denmark. But the date? If the novel inherits the prob...

Gardner likes to play around with the conventions of narrative, and we can see that pretty clearly in his choice to show us the other side of the Beowulf story. It goes further than that, though. S...

Grendel has a lot going for it—and a lot going on in the narrative. The overarching genre for this tale clearly is tragedy (lots of people die here, and there is the promise of total annihilation...

Since the story is from the outcast's point of view, it's no surprise that the narrative oozes cynicism and manic dark humor. And it's not only Grendel's voice that comes across this way. Check out...

No one could ever accuse John Gardner of being intellectually lazy or stylistically sloppy. His prose cuts like a knife—straight down to the bone:It was a cold-blooded lie that a god had lovingly...

Beowulf? Nope. Beowulf and Grendel? Forget about it. This baby is called Grendel, and that's what it's all about: Gardner's title places the focus squarely on the monster. Why put that boasting, mu...

"And if the Babe is born a Boy / He's given to a Woman old, / Who nails him down upon a rock, / Catches his shrieks in cups of gold."Gardner chooses a quatrain from late 18th-century visionary poet...

Let's face it: we know that something bad is coming, and we don't have to be fans of Beowulf to figure that out. Something bad is coming to Daneland, and Grendel can feel it in his bones and in the...

It's a thin book, right? So why such a high rating?For one thing, Gardner likes to mess around with our expectations. You probably got that from the concept of the book alone: Gardner makes the tra...

(Monster) Boy Meets (Human) WorldIn a hellish kind of way, this is a "coming of age story": monster boy ventures away from his home and beastly mother, falls in love with the beauty of the natural...

Grendel starts off as a typical ill-fated hero. He's the son of a beastly mother—literally—who can't speak to him and therefore can't fulfill his desire to know more about himself and his place...

Grendel introduces his plight to us: he's been warring against Hrothgar and Co. for twelve years. He steps back to tell the story from the beginning (with a few intrusions from present time). We se...

John Gardner's "business card" lists "banjoist" among other quirky things as one of his official accomplishments. (Source.)Acclaimed director Julie Taymor's adaptation of Gardner's Grendel as an op...

It's mostly subtle innuendo here, but we do get full anatomic exposure at least once. Since Grendel spends most of his time in isolation, the only time you'll need to cover your eyes is when he for...

Beowulf (the entire novel; specifically 70, 41-42, 148, 160, 161-162, 168)These are all moments when Gardner consciously quotes or refers to the text of the poem. Some are more difficult than...