Their True Side

I thought the character shifts from Beowulf to Grendel were very interesting to observe, and that is why I chose to write my blog on it this week.

In Beowulf, Hrothgar is characterized as a man of great worth and respect. The mood when he was around was pitiful because of all the hardships that he had gone through. He was losing beloved friends and men, and his large mead hall that was compared to heaven was being torn to shreds by one monster. This is the tone that followed Hrothgar around throughout Beowulf. But when Grendel speaks of him, the reader sees how Hrothgar came into power. He overpowered all the other tribes of individuals living in the woods and made them pay tribute to him. The tribute was so large, that many had a difficult time paying for it, and had barely enough goods to manage themselves. Although Hrothgar offered comfort and safety for them, his character was not the same one that was seen in Beowulf.

Another character that changed quite a bit was Grendel. Even by the first few pages of the book, the reader understood more aspects of Grendel than an entire section of Beowulf. Grendel is described in such great depth, while in Beowulf, it is almost like a game to try and uncover small facts about Grendel. Yes he is the main character in this book and needs to be characterized, but the fact that so much of him was explained in less than half the time he had in Beowulf, shows that the character that he was personified to be in Beowulf, was not even close to the individual that he is.

Grendel’s mother was also different from Grendel to Beowulf. In Beowulf, the mood was fierce and full of revenge. But, as Grendel pointed out earlier, only individuals with thought and knowledge could process the act of revenge. In Beowulf, Grendel’s mother seems to have a plan of attack and knows what she must do in order to properly avenge her son. She seems almost human in this respect, because the Anglo- Saxons believed in avenging their dead and fallen kinsmen. But in the book Grendel, she is portrayed as a monster who has no understanding of language or reasoning. She sits in the corner of the cavern and does little to nothing during the day. Grendel, her own son, does not understand her and has a difficult time approaching her.

The characters started to show their true colors in the beginning stages of this novel. The discovery that Hrothgar was not as honorable of a king as he appeared to be in his later years, helped show how he came into complete power over all of the towns. The characterization of Grendel and his mother also seems switched. This adds more depth to character, in contrast to Beowulf where none of the characters were heavily described.