Beowulf
...example of this is the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. Beowulf weighs Christian values against the forces of evil. One perceives the malevolent monster Grendel as wicked and the God-like hero Beowulf as the possessor of all things good to man kind. In deeper meaning Beowulf isn't that God-like nor is Grendel that wicked. Both characters portray qualities of merit and immorality. Beowulf shows qualities that define the epic-hero such as defending the Danes from the feared monster Grendel. Beowulf is not the typical stereotype of a hero. First he battles for treasure and is boast-ful. The same is true for Grendel who is considered the menace to society but in reality has basic human needs and drives.
Grendel is described as being "so set on murder that no crime could ever be enough. No savage assault quench his lust for evil" (l.50-53). The creature slaughters thirty warriors and then is satisfied about the deaths; because of this the people of Herot Hall live in fear for twelve years of the appalling monster. The Herot Hall is ordinate and has "beautiful walls, shapped and fastened with ironÂ…artfully workedÂ…and gold-covered boards" (454-458). Grendel, himself, lives in a "miserable hole at the bottom of the marsh" (l.502), "where mist steams like black clouds at night that lkae burns like a torch, that heavens weep" (563). It is noted that Grendel's violence aroused from jeal-ously and loneliness, living outside of the Dane society and the view of the root to all evil. Grendel is hurt by his status, which is fabricated from Cain who murdered his brother Abel. Yes betrayal to one's family was considered evil in the Anglo-Saxon period but it's not Grendel's flaw that he was spawned into a clan of evil monsters. He wonders "what the warriors would do in that hall when their drinking was done" (31-32), and learns that he will never be accepted into this...
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