Let's brainstorm Grendel!

First things first:

• As Grendel is repeatedly referred to as "eotan" in the original poem (cognate to Old Norse Jötunn), I've confirmed he is a giant. In my version of the story he is actually half-giant—the unwanted, disfigured, mentally challenged offspring of a human woman and a giant. (Yes, this means Grendel's mother is human.)

• I'm not entirely sure how big he is, but he should be big enough to easily pick up a human being with one hand, and yet small enough to be able to fit into a [probably exceptionably large] mead hall without utterly destroying it.

• He's not malicious and is in fact quite stupid. He attacks humans because they are food to him.

• Not entirely unlike Gollum, he almost always crouches, and very rarely stands up on his two legs unless threatened.

• I depict him with long unkempt hair that almost completely conceals his face in my artwork. The reason for this is actually because I seem incapable of drawing him without making him look sympathetic. He looks good enough with his face hidden anyway.

• I've been tossing around whether or not to give him pointed ears. They look good on him (I think he looks better with than without) but I don't associate giants with having pointy ears.

• He is also naked.

The thing that's been bothering me most about Grendel is the fact that he has to for seven years be so unbeatable that it takes an effeminate brat with magic tricks to take him down.

Is it plausible for Grendel to have skin thick enough to easily withstand the blow of a pointed or edged weapon? I don't know, and that's what bothers me.

edited 21st Aug '11 10:59:52 AM by annebeeche

Thick skin sounds good. I could buy that in that sort of creature.

No real comments apart from that. I like what you've got planned for him. (And darn but I want to read your Beowulf comic.)

Thank you for the link! This'll look great when finished.

edited 23rd Aug '11 12:45:37 PM by DoktorvonEurotrash

Beowulf is still very much in planning stages so you won't be seeing it for a while.

You can, however, look at the roughs for the first two pages, which I have scanned.

1◊ 2◊

See, the trouble with thick skin is that spears and arrows are powerful. They quite easily stick in wood, so they would definitely stick in skin, too.

It also isn't just one spear, either, but a whole town of pissed Danes. They can drive him off, I'm sure, but they shouldn't be able to defeat him. I'm worried about how much damage a town of spears, axes, and even the occasional bow and sword would cause which would make him possible to kill.

edited 21st Aug '11 1:21:23 PM by annebeeche

Even as (very) roughs, those are far better than I am capable of drawing. Good job.

Maybe give him thick skin and a bit of a Healing Factor? You could plausibly have spears/arrows get stuck in his skin and cause him pain, but not penetrate far enough to do real damage (especially since he's bigger in frame than a human). I should imagine he'd be smart enough to pull them out if they're causing him pain, and then if he's got a healing factor he can plausibly continue to be a threat.

I take it you're trying to avert Annoying Arrows?

Things can stick in wood, but skin is also flexible. I'm not sure if you could compare exceptionally thick skin to wood. Something like a spear may be powerful, and sure it may pierce him, but it might be like a bee sting. They might stick *so* well into his skin that the people fighting him aren't able to get them back.

Is he smart enough to make (or steal) fire?

From what I know it's actually not a good idea to tear out a weapon that's stuck in your body because you might do more damage—it's better to leave it in for now and have a medic carefully remove it later. Grendel may not understand that though, so he may try to take them out.

Grendel's mother is actually a powerful witch (this combined with her cunning and malice makes her a much more dangerous opponent for Beowulf, who in this version of the story is an ambitious but much less experienced witch) so if there is need she can heal.

Grendel does not know how to make fire, and while he may have the mental faculties to figure out how to transfer it, he hasn't learned it.

While humans (as you know) are very smart, and giants are also just as smart, Grendel is mentally retarded.

edited 21st Aug '11 3:14:42 PM by annebeeche

Have you ever read the book Grendel by John Gardner? It is a very good piece of existential fiction that portrays the story of Beowulf from Grendel's perspective.

It sounds like something you might be interested in.

It's not a good idea to pull a weapon out of you because it may actually be working as a plug to keep blood in — this is why triangular bayonets were banned by the geneva conventions.

The first instinct of people is to take out things that get stuck in them, which is why this is important to remember.

However, something small in comparison to your animal is not going to cause the same problems — unless you're actually obeying the Square-Cube Law, which considering you have a giant in the first place I'm guessing you're not.

Pentadragon: I was introduced to the book and I read an excerpt and enjoyed it, but I never read it in its entirety.

I do want to read it though.

Actually, the Square/Cube Law might be the reason why Grendel goes on fours. A full-blood giant would be able to stand fine on two legs because his frame is designed to support that much weight, but Grendel has a frame closer to that of a human so he has to go on fours.

He is a seriously stunted creature, and it's a wonder he manages to live as long as he has (which is about 30 years, as his mother is in her 50's).

edited 21st Aug '11 3:44:48 PM by annebeeche

http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/berserke.shtml The part about Berserkers.

I have heard something about a theory asociating him to the draug, the un-dead mound-dweelers. Weapons couldn't harm them, you had to lift them into the air and strangle him...

I was thinking along the lines of blood pressure. For a creature that big the blood pressure would have to be huge. So a puncture like from a spear, though tiny, could make it burst up like a geyser.

Or I don't know. My physics aren't the best.

I think I may have figure out a possible solution: Grendel's mother imbues him with protection whenever he goes out to attack Heorot. Naturally, because his opponents are supposed to be armed, he's given immunity to penetrating weapons. She completely oversights the possibility that some crazy kid with a magic spindle would be challenging Grendel unarmed.