Author:John Gardner
Published: 1971
Pages: 174
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In Grendel, the classic monster from Beowulf tells his own story and sees the world as a place ruled by chaos, accident, and inevitable death. Haunted by the Dragon’s cold philosophy, Grendel believes that nothing has meaning and that human ideas of heroism, morality, and faith are merely stories invented to mask a random universe.
But as he watches men shape their world through myth and legend, Grendel is forced to confront a troubling possibility: what if meaning, even if invented, still has power?
Complexity
CEFR: B2
Plot Complexity: light
Language Complexity: moderate
Ideas Complexity: dense
Blurb
When Grendel is drawn up from the caves under the mere, where he lives with his bloated, inarticulate hag of a mother, into the fresh night air, it is to lay waste Hrothgar’s meadhall and heap destruction on the humans he finds there. What else can he do? For he is not like the men who busy themselves with God and love and beauty. He sees the infuriating human rage for order and recognises the meaninglessness of his own existence.
Grendel is John Gardner’s masterpiece; it vividly reinvents the world of Beowulf. In Grendel himself, a creature of grotesque comedy, pain and disillusioned intelligence, Gardner has created the most unforgettable monster in fantasy.
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