Original Anglo-Saxon Boast

My Anglo-Saxon Boast

I am Sarah, lover of challenges.

Sister of the strong Zack, the brave Kenny Jr., and whimsical Sheryl

Daughter of prosperous Lorie and Kenny Sr.

I dwell from that of Germanic descent,

Born and raised in the crescent city.

Runner of trails and taker of pain,

Writer of papers and studier of culture,

Taker of risks,

Giver of love,

Maker of Peace.

I remain loyal to my team and fight to the end,

Our win is crucial and always imminent.

I will work with my teammates,

Until we stand undeniably united.

Stands strong in the face of defeat,

And crushes his sorry, spiteful intention.

I look forward to the day,

Where I say I am the studier of humanity.

I will help mothers, fathers, and children

In every corner of our Earth.

Leaving life with the desolate.

Anglo-Saxon Riddle

I reach for the sky

Adding timber will only make me worse

I am the destroyer of armies

Man will use me as power

I am the reason of too many deaths

I lit the way for you and your ancestors for thousands of years

I work with the air

You have used my warmth on plenty bitter nights.

Journal 11(Grendel Final Test): What is Grendel’s philosophy at the end of his narrative?

              Grendel is a narrative told from the point of view from the monster from Beowulf. Since Grendel is now the narrator the reader has new insight into the thoughts and motives of the monster. Grendel embodies the philosophical views of existentialism. Gardner opposed the views of existentialism and by using a villain to embody these views it was easy to his hatred. Grendel tells his own life story through many flashbacks, about his childhood and lead all the way up to his death in the end. In his telling we see his many takes on life and philosophical views—the reader sees this more towards the end when his language is more developed.

                As a child he is solipsist; he believes he is the only real thing in the universe, he is God. As a child he expresses, “I understood then that the world was nothing: a mechanical chaos of brute enmity on which we stupidly impose our hopes and fears. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. All the rest, I saw, is merely what pushes me, or what I push against, blindly-as blindly as all that is not myself pushes back. I create the whole universe, blink by blink.-An ugly god pitifully dying in a tree!” This was when his foot got stuck in the tree.

                But even after this experience he changes his view a few times. One instance is when Grendel observes the Shaper and finds a human killed by his own kind; he loses his feeling of loneliness but only for a little while. This connection to the humans lasts until they attack him; he is again set apart from the humans. Grendel still sees the world as if he were God until he meets the dragon. Since the dragon is older and wiser he cannot maintain this viewpoint. Even though he know sees the humans as real, he believes he is still superior.

                Because of the dragon Grendel embraces the idea that humans exist with him, not because of him. However they are still not fellows, only enemies and toys. Grendel doesn’t have a place in the world yet but he holds onto the words of the dragon. The dragon tells Grendel, “You improve them, my boy! Can’t you see that yourself? You stimulate them! You make them think and scheme. You drive them to poetry, science, religion, all that makes them what they are for as long as they last. You are, so to speak, the brute existent by which they learn to define themselves.” This idea was easily accepted by Grendel because of how desperate he was to fit in even willing to be an evil villain.

                After Grendel loses his arm his final views on the world somewhat revert back to what he believed in the second chapter. He views the world more like a cold, logical, machine. These are the thoughts he returns to. Grendel’s speech starts to flee at the ending of the book but he still manages to speak. His last words were, “’It was an accident,’ I bellow back. I will cling to what is true. ‘Blind, mindless, mechanical. Mere logic of chance.'"

Journal 10: Grendel the Storyteller

               In Gardner’s Grendel the main character, Grendel, is the narrator. Grendel in Beowulf is the monster and that’s all he is. He is this mechanical and maniacal being of destruction; there is no story or dynamic behind him. His whole life he has been evil and the rest of his life he will be evil. However, in the novel Grendel the reader can see an emotional side to Grendel; he seems more like a “tortured soul.” Grendel the monster starts looking just as human as those he observes. But even with sharing lineage so close to humans, it still sets them so far apart. Using the monster to narrate the story will, by contrast, shows what it is like to be human. Even though he is grotesque and has disgusting eating habits he very similar to humans. Gardner will show, throughout the novel, that Grendel’s brutal nature is not unique to him; the humans are also violent and hate driven creatures.

                With his unique viewpoint Grendel can put himself in others shoes. Since his is a sort of “loner” he is not impressed by peers, like the humans. The humans have the “mob mentality” that if one of them is angry about something the others will feed off of their stories and also be angry about it. Grendel does not have this problem. With his point of view the story can be told in many different ways. Grendel will give insight into his own emotions and will also tell the story through other character’s point of views.

Journal 8: Grendel is a Parody

                  The story Grendel is a parody of the epic Beowulf. Both Grendel and Beowulf essentially tell the same story. They are told from different point of views. Beowulf is a more concise and quick tale of what happened between the Danes, Beowulf, and Grendel. Grendel goes more into detail noticing the times and seasons and placing different philosophies within the story. In Beowulf, Grendel is a monster that terrorizes Herot. However, in Grendel, he is a beast that only wants to be accepted into Anglo-Saxon society. John Gardner wrote Grendel to where the writer has to pity him. Grendel was shown as an evil monster who takes many lives. Also, in Beowulf, Beowulf is portrayed as the hero who saves Herot from Grendel. Grendel is the same character but placed in two different stories and given two different identities-- one identity that comes from the humans and one identity that he gives himself. Beowulf was created first; year’s later Gardner told the same story from a different perspective with more in the plot. Grendel is an imitation of Beowulf.

Journal 3: What is Grendel’s attitude toward language?

              In the beginning of Grendel, his language is very primitive. His vocabulary consisted of grunts and moans. He lived in linguistic isolation, in a cave with his mother. This linguistic isolation leads to emotional loneliness and frustration. Grendel soon sees language as an escape. When he starts to venture out of the cave he will mimic the language of the humans, making him feel less alone. Grendel begins trying to speak with humans but is sadden and angered when he is misunderstood, this deepens his feeling of loneliness and frustration. He is trapped in his own head not allowed to express his feeling to others.

                After hearing the Shaper’s epic poetry Grendel wants to be a part of their world. Grendel is willing to be an evil character as long as he is accepted. In the novel he is alone but desperately tries to be with the humans, as he watches and observes them, and at least be in the stories and literature. Slowly, throughout the story he will begin to understand the language the humans speak, therefore being able to speak it himself. The reader will see Grendel using verses, lines and brackets in his speech. He speaks from his own consciousness and ties the story in a modern sense.

Journal 1: Beowulf and the Modern Heroes

    Beowulf was a great hero, he proves himself to be the strongest warrior of his time. As a child Beowulf values the heroic culture and as an adult he makes a wise and effective ruler. Today soldiers could be compared to Beowulf. The men and women that serve in the United States military are heroic in many different ways. All members of the military will sign up for the service not knowing when or where they will be sent after training. Their training is intense and will take at least six weeks to complete. During this time they will be away from their family and will not be able to contact them except through letters. After training they can be sent anywhere in the world; the world is a very dangerous place. While fighting against the current enemy, they will most likely sustain injury from war, disease, fatigue, famine, dehydration as well as other things. However even after all they go through they will almost always re-enlist for another tour of duty. The men and women fighting in the military for our freedom are the epitome of courage, sacrifice and strength. These things suggest they are nothing less than heroes.