How we cite our quotes: (Page) Vintage Books, 1989
Quote #10
My whole arm's on fire, incredible, searing pain—it's as if his fingers are charged like fangs with poison. I scream, facing him, grotesquely shaking hands—dear long-lost brother, kinsman-thane—and the timbered hall screams back at me. I feel the bones go, ground from their sockets, and I scream again. I am suddenly awake. (169)
The kind of suffering Grendel feels up to this point dulls his senses and makes him crazy with the boredom of it all. But this encounter with Beowulf's grip is something completely different. Now, Grendel is actually convinced there's a world out there beyond his own creation—and it's pretty freaky. The dragon had promised him that total annihilation would come—and that suffering would be pointless—but Grendel had done his best to wiggle out of that reality. Here we can see there's no wiggle room left.