Beowulf vs. The Dragon

Two characters in Grendel that are very similar are Beowulf and the Dragon because the both change Grendel and directly affect Grendel. The Dragon leads Grendel to start contemplating the meaninglessness of life. He says that things are simply “swirl[s] in the stream of time. A temporary gathering of bits, a few random dust specks, so to speak…..then by change a vast floating cloud of dustspecks, an expanding universe.” Grendel, although very confused, eagerly listened to the dragon, soaking up the news. The Dragon focuses on death and time passing. He even says that an apocalypse is “Not a real ending of course, nor even a beginning. Mere ripple in Time’s stream.” Grendel then believes that he is a “mere ripple” in the world, which is a pretty depressing thought. However, Grendel then seeks his own meaning. He wants to be a standard for the Danes. Later on, he even says that he doesn’t finish off all the Danes because then he wouldn’t have anything to do and won’t have any purpose.

However, when Beowulf comes, Grendel’s world is turned upside down. From the beginning, there are indications that Beowulf is different. Perhaps, Beowulf could even be a monster, at least to Grendel. Grendel has instances in which he is actually afraid of Beowulf begging the question: Who, or even what, is Beowulf? Is he a human? Is he the dragon? I become even more curious about Beowulf’s origins when he starts quoting the dragon. Specifically, he says, “A meaningless swirl in the stream of time, a temporary gathering of bits, a cloud…” Thus, Beowulf understands or at least appreciates the dragon’s words. Beowulf’s speech after he makes the statement shows that he doesn’t focus on death and passing that the dragon focused on. Instead, he claims, “The world will build green, sperm build again. My promise.” Beowulf brings up images of fertility and the environment instead of death and destruction. So then, I must wonder what Beowulf’s philosophy really is. Perhaps, he believes that there is no central meaning in the world but creation and life gives meaning. His philosophy is definitely harder to pinpoint that the dragon’s philosophy. One thing’s for sure though. Beowulf significantly affects Grendel. Grendel says, “I understand him all right, make no mistake. Understand his lunatic theory of matter and mind, the chilly intellect, the hot imagination…” Grendel believes that Beowulf’s theory is “lunatic” and continually attributes Beowulf’s win to “accident.” Thus, it seems as if Grendel is denial because he can’t believe that Beowulf is right. At the end, I feel like Grendel is closer to acceptance. Still, what really is Grendel accepting?

The last line of the novel is very significant as Grendel says, almost angrily, “So may you all” to the animals that gather around him. This is Grendel pondering the equality in the universe. The passing of time and death that the dragon talked about has finally taken Grendel, and it will take the animals around him. However, there is still the image of fertility and rebirth from Beowulf. Maybe, Grendel’s death isn’t really an end like Grendel though it would be.