Line #26 Literature/Grendel


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/grendel_cover.jpg]]
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4	''Grendel'' is a novel by John Gardner, retelling the epic of ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' from the point of view of the monster Grendel.
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6	An Australian AnimatedAdaptation of the novel titled ''Grendel Grendel Grendel'' featuring the voice of Creator/PeterUstinov as the titular monster was released in 1981.
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8	!!This novel provides examples of:
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10	* AdaptationalVillainy: Beowulf in the animated movie is even more malicious and creepy than in the book [[spoiler: He even goes as far as murdering Unferth under orders from Hrothgar]].
11	* AffablyEvil: Beowulf in the animated movie.
12	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: [[invoked]]Grendel is a poor lonely misunderstood guy who can't communicate with humans despite not meaning them any harm. [[StartOfDarkness At first.]] Beowulf, on the other hand, is a cold-blooded killer.
13	* AmbiguousSituation: Is the dragon real, or is it just a figment of Grendel's imagination? Convincing arguments could be made for both.
14	* {{Angst}}: Lots of it - mainly of the "What's the purpose of it all?" vein. Leads to {{Wangst}}.
15	* AnimatedAdaptation: The Australian film ''Grendel Grendel Grendel'' made in 1981.
16	* AntiNihilist: While he's ruining Grendel's various body parts, Beowulf, according to Grendel's increasingly all-too-literally addled mind, begins chanting to him that, no matter how cruel and meaningless the suffering of the world may be, no matter what damage is inflicted, the world will always recover and regenerate in the end.
17	* ADogNamedDog: The Dragon's name is The Dragon, just like in [[Literature/{{Beowulf}} the source material]].
18	* AxCrazy: Grendel thinks that Beowulf is this, and it's kind of hard to argue with him.
19	* AlasPoorVillain: Grendel mourns the death of [[spoiler:the Shaper, the bard that created the myth of Grendel as a child of Cain]].
20	* BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: Just to make it clear that Grendel has fully stepped into villain territory, he throws rocks at a goat climbing up a rocky cliff, bludgeoning its skull until it dies.
21	* BlackComedy
22	* ButtMonkey: Unferth.
23	* ByronicHero: Grendel.
24	* DeadpanSnarker: Grendel himself has at least two such moments while [[spoiler: Beowulf is smacking his head against a wall]].
25	-->''"I sing for [[spoiler: the hardness of walls]]. Hooray for [[spoiler: the hardness of walls]]."''
26	* DeathByAdaptation: Poor Unferth gets stabbed in the back by Beowulf in the animated movie.
27	* DirtyOldMan: This version gives us the dragon that Beowulf fights at the end of the poem as one.
28	-->''"Boobies, hemorrhoids boils, slaver (nyeh heh heh)..."''
29	* [[spoiler: DownerEnding: [[ForegoneConclusion Grendel dies from his wounds after his fight with Beowulf]]. His final thoughts are about how, unlike the Shaper, his "funeral" will be attended by only the animals that he's grown to hate and shows that he seems to have completely accepted the dragon's hideous worldview.]]
30	* DoomedByCanon: Guess who.
31	* DraconicHumanoid: Grendel’s pained-induced hallucinations cause him see Beowulf as looking more like a dragon.
32	* DragonHoard: The dragon not only hoards gold, he also advises Grendel that the only point of life is to "find a pile of gold and sit on it."
33	* DyingCurse: "Poor Grendel's had an accident," I whisper. ''"So may you all."''
34	* DysfunctionJunction
35	* {{Epigraph}}: Opens with a quotation from "The Mental Traveller" by [[Creator/WilliamBlake William Blake]].
36	* {{Foreshadowing}}/DramaticIrony: In the animated movie, the shaper sings an ironically happy song about Grendel and mentions that 'Removal of an arm or two would benefit us all'. This alludes to the method Beowulf uses to kill Grendel near the end of the film.
37	* ForegoneConclusion: If you're familiar with the source material, you know Grendel dies at the end.
38	* TheFourLoves: Grendel seeks Storge and Phileo but can't find it because he can't communicate with the humans well.
39	* HeroicSacrifice: Unferth in Chapter 6 wants to do this so that his name will live on in poetry and songs and to avoid being labelled a coward, and he even visits Grendel's home hoping to be killed but Grendel decides to keep him alive as one of the few survivors of his raids to avoid giving him this satisfaction
40	* HeManWomanHater: Apparently being raised by a barely-sentient monster doesn't help one's view of women. Grendel might be applying little bit of HoYay jealousy to the king's wife as well.
41	* HorrifyingTheHorror: Doubles as a non-fatal version of AlwaysABiggerFish, the dragon notes to a terrified Grendel that he now he knows what it must feel like when humans see him.
42	* HumanoidAbomination: What Grendel perceives Beowulf as. Aside from his strength, Grendel can't help but notice something ''wrong'' about his face and shoulders, which isn't helped by Grendel's pain-induced hallucinations featuring Beowulf sprouting flaming wings.
43	* IdiotBall: It apparently never occurred to Unferth, after he followed Grendel back to his cave but failed to kill Grendel, to return to the cave with more warriors.
44	* InMediasRes: The story begins with Adult Grendel knocking on Hrothgar's door and kidnapping 7 men to eat, and then cuts back to his childhood.
45	* InnocenceLost: Grendel loses his when he leaves the Cave for the first time and gets trapped, his mother doesn't show up for days and he is attacked by an ox and a pack of humans. This experience gives him a more nihilistic worldview.
46	* KarmaHoudini: In the 1981 AnimatedAdaptation [[spoiler: Beowulf, under orders from Hrothgar, murders Unferth, while the film ends shortly afterwards with the death of Grendel (who will mostly likely be blamed for killing Unferth), we know from the original story that Beowulf will go on to be hailed as a hero and become a king, with no indication that he will answer for murdering Unferth.]]
47	* LighterAndSofter: The AnimatedAdaptation ''Grendel Grendel Grendel'' done in 1981 adds plenty of comic relief, cutesy moments and Disney-esque musical numbers. However, it does [[spoiler: have very brief moments of blood and even one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it bit of nudity and keeps the same unhappy ending of the novel.]]
48	* MookHorrorShow: The scene where Beowulf gets ahold of Grendel.
49	* NonMaliciousMonster: Grendel started of as this, it wasn’t until in his younger years when he became trapped in a tree and was [[HumansAreBastards attacked unprovoked by humans]] that became the turning point when he started becoming hateful and violent towards mankind.
50	* TheOmniscient: The dragon claims to know everything, past, present and future.
51	* PerspectiveFlip
52	* PrecisionFStrike: "you're crazy," I say. "If you think I created that wall that cracked my head, you're a fucking lunatic."
53	* StartOfDarkness: Grendel starts out simply being misunderstood. However as he endures more and after his talks with the Dragon (who is not a good role model to say the least), he starts becoming more violent, aggressive, and starts deliberately killing people instead of trying to make friends with them.
54	* StrawCharacter: A variety of viewpoints are mocked, particularly religion.
55	* StrawNihilist: The dragon, who also manages to convince Grendel to stop trying to make up with the Danes and just kill them instead.
56	* SympatheticPOV
57	* ThenLetMeBeEvil: Part of the reason Grendel turns on Humans despite relating to them a bit initially is that they keep attacking him and treating him like an abomination.
58	* TwiceToldTale
59	* UncannyValley: Lampshaded. Grendel notes repeatedly that there's just something... ''off'' about Beowulf.
60	* VillainProtagonist: Starts off as more of a ByronicHero and then becomes this shortly after Grendel's [[OneSceneWonder one chapter conversation]] with the Dragon.

Context Literature / Grendel