Grendel

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Grendel is a monstrous figure of the early Anglo-Saxon heroic epic and is presented in Beowulf as one of the hero's three opponents, alongside Grendel's mother and the dragon. The epic was written between 700 and 1000. It is recorded in Codex Nowell , a composite manuscript that is now in the British Library .

Etymology of the name

Depiction of Beowulf's Grendel after Henrietta Elizabeth Marschall (1908)

The origin of the name "Grendel" has not been conclusively clarified. The proper name could refer to the Old English verb grindan , meaning “rub together, pound to dust, rub, scratch, crunch, grate” or forgrindan “destroy by crushing”. Others refer to the Old Norse word grindill which means “storm”. The Anglo-Saxon word grund , meaning “seabed, abyss, surface of the earth, soil” could indicate the fact that Grendel is a monster living in the swamp whose mother is also a “sea creature”. The word grendel or grindel appears in various Anglo-Saxon texts in connection with lakes, swamps and ponds. The Icelandic noun grandi with the meaning "sandbank" also fits this . A connection with the Middle English adjective gryndel , which can be translated as “angry”, would also be possible.

Grendel's role in the epic Beowulf

Grendel is described as a monster with superhuman strength, as a giant ( Jöte ), Thurse or troll , who has haunted and devastated the mead hall Heorot ( Hirschburg ) of the Danish king Hrothgar for 12 years and killed and ate the king's men. Heorot is near a bog where Grendel's cave is located; Grendel feels bothered by the celebrating men in Hrothgar and cannot stand the cheerfulness and music that echoes from the hall.

The hero Beowulf, who is friends with Hrothgar, from the land of the Gauten ( gods from Sweden?) Faces the fight with Grendel without a weapon and wounds him so badly that Grendel loses his right arm. The arm is hung up as a trophy in front of Hrothgar's mead hall while the giant dies of the injury. His mother, the sea woman, then tries unsuccessfully to avenge the death of her son. She is killed by Beowulf with the sword.

Christian interpretation

The monster who tormented Hrothgar's people for 12 years is a descendant of the biblical Cain , son of Adam and Eve , who kills his brother Abel out of jealousy (Genesis 4). Cain's name is Qayin in Hebrew, meaning "being, creature". In the Beowulfepos all monsters are descended from him. Grendel is jealous, angry and upset towards people because he probably feels that God is blessing them, but he is excluded from it. Above all, Grendel rejects light, joy and music, which he finds in Hrothgar's Methalle Herot. The bard's hymn of praise, "Song of Creation" (lines 90-98), upsets him as it tells of the beauty and light of divine creation. In this way the demonic - diabolical aspect of Grendel's nature should be made clear.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Old English-German dictionary: entry grund
  2. ↑ http://www.etymonline.com (Verb to grind)
  3. ↑ http://www.heorot.dk/beowulf-rede-notes.html (entry 102 ff)
  4. ↑ http://www.heorot.dk/beowulf-rede-notes.html (entry 102 ff)
  5. ↑ http://www.dict.cc (Geats)
  6. ↑ http://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/b/beowulf/character-analysis/grendel

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