So what's a monster to do? Sulk in his cave all day? Or take action and create some 'fun' for himself? Thus begins 12 years of war against King Hrothgar and his thanes. Grendel quickly learns that he's going to be excluded from of all meadhall action forever. All the people he wants to admire behave in disappointing ways not only that, they also misinterpret his every little missteps (you know, like eating the humans who threaten him) as sure signs that he doesn't belong. That's a tough run for a tender young monster. We watch Grendel as he meets the cast of characters from Beowulf and tries to define himself in relation to these people who are everything he isn't. All that in one experimental, wickedly funny, awfully tragic narrative. Grendel is really just a sentimental, misunderstood bully who shows us that the 'heroes' of the story are a pack of ignorant, wasteful, violent, vengeful, superstitious bottom dwellers. As he tells the story from his point of view, we see more than just a miserable, cave-dwelling creep of a monster.

In this book, Grendel, Stalker in the Night, Mere Stomper, Slurper-Downer of Thanes, and General Terror to all Humanity gets a major makeover. And what better way to do this than to go back to Beowulf, the earliest epic poem written in (what passes for) English?īut this time, the boasters have to step aside and make room for the real star. In this Grendel, Gardner-a pretty challenging guy in real life, too-forces us to look closely at what we've believed about noble behavior since the earliest of times. No, really: what do you know to be true about them? Got it? Now collect all that up into a little mental sack and chuck it from your mind. Now is the time to ask yourself what you really know about heroes.

Grendel by John Gardner