Grendel
[[File:Stories of beowulf grendel.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Grendel be J.R. Skelton fram ''Spell of Beoƿulfe'']]
'''Grendel''' æglæca þærof ƿrāt se scop in [[Bēowulf|Bēoƿulf]] þæm geƿeorce.  He is ān þāra þrēora feondra þærƿiþ fēohteþ Bēoƿulf se beorn in þæm lēodƿeorces spelle: þā ōðran sind [[Grendles mōdor]] and [[Se Wyrn (Bēowulf)|ƿyrm]]).  Þes scopcræft ƿæs in þære ylde 700–1000 geƿriten ac his spell is of ealdyldum fore Englecyn ƿāt crīstendōm.

Grendel is brōga and þincþ man se is grim fīfel oððe [[eoten]].  Se scop ƿriteþ se he is onƿōcen onmiddan manigum æglæcancyn and ƿæs of [[Cain]]es cyn: "Ƿæs se grimma gǣst Grendel, Caines cyn, -- ðanon untydras ealle onƿócon, eotenas and ylfe and orcneas, sƿylce gigantas".  Eall men in þæm ƿeorce sindon acol of Grendle būten Bēoƿulf Æþeling.

==Spell==
''Bēoƿulf'' se lēodƿeorc is fint man in þære ''[[Nowell Codex|Noƿell Codex]]''. Ðærin us tealleþ se scop þe [[Hrōðgār]] [[Dēna Cyning]] timbrode [[Heorot]] his healle for his [[mēdosetl]]e.  Æglæca is Grendel, and þes sceadugenga acymþ of þæm fennum þan he is astyred be æþlinga dryhtes dynne, and þna sƿefað hie æfter symble cƿōm se unhǣlo ƿiht onmiddan him and slōg þā þegnas in Heorote.  Ðar fareþ he on nihte and slegeþ Hrōðgāres gesīþas þan slæpedon hie on Heorote.  (Heaðoƿylma bād láðan líges ne ƿæs hit lenge þā gēn þæt se ecghete.)

Bēoƿulf beebbeþe [[Geatland|Geatena]] rīce þe he meahte slēan Grendel, þone he abād on þæm heallrecede oð þder cƿōm se brōga.

Æfter lange fēoht, fang Grendel his deaðbenn of Bēoƿulf.  Grendel afliemede on fenne and þær in luh stearf he.  Æfterƿeard in þæm fennemere feahtede Bēoƿulf ƿiþ [[Grendles mōdor]] under brimƿylme, and hæfþ sige ofer hiere. Æfter hiere dēaþ fint Bēoƿulf Grendel licgan aldorlēasne sƿá him aér gescód hild æt Heorote, hrá ƿíde sprong, syþðan hē æfter déaðe drepe þrōƿade heorosƿeng heardn, ond Bēƿulf hine þā hēafde becearf.
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==Lār==
===Tolkien===
In 1936 wrāt [[J. R. R. Tolkien|J.R.R. Tolkien]] bēc benaman ''[[Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics]]'' and swylca geweorc wæs se forms lārmannes geweorc þærin wæs eald Englacynnes scopcræft was seriously examined for its literary merits—not just scholarship about the origins of the English language, or what historical information could be gleaned from the text, as was popular in the 19th century.

===Debate over description===
During the following decades, the exact description of Grendel became a source of debate for scholars. Indeed, because his exact appearance is never directly described in [[Old English]] by the original ''Bēowulf'' poet, part of the debate revolves around what is known, namely his descent from the biblical [[Cain and Abel|Cain]] (who was the first murderer in the [[Bible]]). Grendel is referred to as a ''Sceadugenga'' (plur. ''Sceadugengan'' — "shadow walker", "night goer") given that the monster was repeatedly described to be in the shroud of darkness.<ref>Thorpe, "Anglo-Saxon Poems", pg. 48</ref><ref>Heyne, "Beowulf", pg. 129; pg. 228, s.v. "genga"; pg. 298, s.v. "scadu-genga"</ref>

====Debate over Grendel's nature====
Some scholars have linked Grendel's descent from Cain to the monsters and giants of ''the [[Cain tradition]].''<ref>{{cite book|author = Williams|title = Cain and Beowulf: A Study in Secular Allegory|location = Toronto|publisher = University of Toronto Press|year = 1982|first = David|author-link = David Williams (medievalist)}}</ref>

[[Seamus Heaney]], in his translation of ''Beowulf'', writes in lines 1351–1355 that Grendel is vaguely human in shape, though much larger:

:ōðer earm‐sceapen
:on weres wæstmumwræc‐lāstas træd,
:næfne hē wæs māraþonne ǣnig man ōðer,
:þone on geār‐dagum Grendel nemdon
:folcbūende: nō hīe fæder cunnon,
:hwæðer him ǣnig wæsǣr ācenned
:dyrnra gāsta.<ref> ''Bēowulf'' lines 1351–1357</ref>

Heaney's translation of lines 1637–1639 also notes that Grendel's disembodied head is so large that it takes four men to transport it. Furthermore, in lines 983–989, when Grendel's torn arm is inspected, Heaney describes it as being covered in impenetrable scales and horny growths:

:ofer hēahne hrōfhand scēawedon,
:fēondes fingras,foran ǣghwylc;
:wæs stēde nægla gehwylc,stȳle gelīcost,
:hǣðenes hand‐sporuhilde‐rinces
:egle unhēoru;ǣg‐hwylc gecwæð,
:þæt him heardra nānhrīnan wolde
:īren ǣr‐gōd,þæt þæs āhlǣcan
:blōdge beadu‐folmeonberan wolde.<ref>Heaney, Seamus. ''Bēowulf'' lines 983–990.</ref>

Peter Dickinson (1979) argued that seeing as the considered distinction between man and beast at the time the poem was written was simply man's bipedalism, the given description of Grendel being man-like does not necessarily imply that Grendel is meant to be humanoid, going as far as stating that Grendel could easily have been a bipedal dragon.<ref>Dickinson, Peter. ''The Flight of Dragons'' ch.10 "Beowulf". New English Library, 1979.</ref>

Other scholars such as Kuhn (1979) have questioned a monstrous description, stating:
:There are five disputed instances of [[wikt:aglæca|{{unicode|āglǣca}}]] [three of which are in ''Beowulf''] 649, 1269, 1512...In the first...the referent can be either Beowulf or Grendel. If the poet and his audience felt the word to have two meanings, 'monster,' and 'hero,' the ambiguity would be troublesome; but if by {{unicode|āglǣca}} they understood a 'fighter,' the ambiguity would be of little consequence, for battle was destined for both Beowulf and Grendel and both were fierce fighters (216–7).

O'Keefe has suggested that Grendel resembles a [[Berserker]], because of numerous associations that seem to point to this possibility.<ref>[http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/berserke.shtml Berserker]</ref>

Sonya R Jensen argues for an identification between Grendel and Agnar, son of Ingeld, and suggests that the tale of the first two monsters is actually the tale of Ingeld, as mentioned by Alcuin in the 790s. The tale of Agnar tells how he was cut in half by the warrior Bothvarr Bjarki ('Warlike little Bear'), and how he died 'with his lips separated into a smile'. One major parallel between Agnar and Grendel would thus be that the monster of the poem has a name perhaps composed of a combination of the words ''gren'' and ''daelan''. The poet may be stressing to his audience that Grendel 'died laughing', or that he was ''gren-dael[ed]'' or 'grin-divid (ed)', after having his arm torn off at the shoulder by 'Beowulf', whose name means 'Bee-Wolf' or 'Bear'.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jensen|first=S R|title=Beowulf and the Monsters|year=1998|publisher=ARRC|location=Sydney}}</ref>
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==Frūman==
{{reflist}}

*Jack, George. ''Beowulf : A Student Edition''. Oxford University Press: New York, 1997.
*Jensen, S R. ''Beowulf and the Monsters''. ARRC: Sydney, corrected edition, 1998. Extracts available online.
*----. ''Beowulf and the Battle-beasts of Yore''. ARRC: Sydney, 2004. Available online.
*Klaeber, Frederick, ed. ''Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg''. Third ed. Boston: Heath, 1950.
*Kuhn, Sherman M. "Old English Aglaeca-Middle Irish Olach". ''Linguistic Method : Essays in Honor of Herbert Penzl''. Eds. Irmengard Rauch and Gerald F. Carr. The Hague, New York: Mouton Publishers, 1979. 213–30.
*[[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien, J.R.R.]] ''Beowulf, the Monsters and the Critics.'' (Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture, British Academy, 1936). First ed. London: Humphrey Milford, 1937.
*Cawson, Frank. "The Monsters in the Mind: The Face of Evil in Myth, Literature, and Contemporary Life". Sussex, England: Book Guild, 1995: 38–39.
*Gardner, John. "Grendel". New York, 1971.
*Thorpe, Benjamin (trans.). ''The Anglo-Saxon Poems of Beowulf: The Scôp or Gleeman's Tale and the Fight at Finnesburg'' Oxford University Press. 1885.
*Heyne, Moritz. Harrison, James A. Sharp, Robert. ''Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Poem, and The Fight at Finnsburg: a Fragment'' Boston, Massachusetts: Ginn & Company, 1895.

[[Flocc:Bēowulf]]
[[Flocc:Æglæcan]]
Grendel æglæca þærof ƿrāt se scop in Bēoƿulf þæm geƿeorce.  He is ān þāra þrēora feondra þærƿiþ fēohteþ Bēoƿulf se beorn in þæm lēodƿeorces spelle: þā ōðran sind Grendles mōdor and ƿyrm).  Þes scopcræft ƿæs in þære ylde 700–1000 geƿriten ac his spell is of ealdyldum fore Englecyn ƿāt crīstendōm.

Grendel is brōga and þincþ man se is grim fīfel oððe eoten.  Se scop ƿriteþ se he is onƿōcen onmiddan manigum æglæcancyn and ƿæs of Caines cyn: "Ƿæs se grimma gǣst Grendel, Caines cyn, -- ðanon untydras ealle onƿócon, eotenas and ylfe and orcneas, sƿylce gigantas".  Eall men in þæm ƿeorce sindon acol of Grendle būten Bēoƿulf Æþeling.

Spell
Bēoƿulf se lēodƿeorc is fint man in þære Noƿell Codex. Ðærin us tealleþ se scop þe Hrōðgār Dēna Cyning timbrode Heorot his healle for his mēdosetle.  Æglæca is Grendel, and þes sceadugenga acymþ of þæm fennum þan he is astyred be æþlinga dryhtes dynne, and þna sƿefað hie æfter symble cƿōm se unhǣlo ƿiht onmiddan him and slōg þā þegnas in Heorote.  Ðar fareþ he on nihte and slegeþ Hrōðgāres gesīþas þan slæpedon hie on Heorote.  (Heaðoƿylma bād láðan líges ne ƿæs hit lenge þā gēn þæt se ecghete.)

Bēoƿulf beebbeþe Geatena rīce þe he meahte slēan Grendel, þone he abād on þæm heallrecede oð þder cƿōm se brōga.

Æfter lange fēoht, fang Grendel his deaðbenn of Bēoƿulf.  Grendel afliemede on fenne and þær in luh stearf he.  Æfterƿeard in þæm fennemere feahtede Bēoƿulf ƿiþ Grendles mōdor under brimƿylme, and hæfþ sige ofer hiere. Æfter hiere dēaþ fint Bēoƿulf Grendel licgan aldorlēasne sƿá him aér gescód hild æt Heorote, hrá ƿíde sprong, syþðan hē æfter déaðe drepe þrōƿade heorosƿeng heardn, ond Bēƿulf hine þā hēafde becearf.

Frūman

Jack, George. Beowulf : A Student Edition. Oxford University Press: New York, 1997.
Jensen, S R. Beowulf and the Monsters. ARRC: Sydney, corrected edition, 1998. Extracts available online.
----. Beowulf and the Battle-beasts of Yore. ARRC: Sydney, 2004. Available online.
Klaeber, Frederick, ed. Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg. Third ed. Boston: Heath, 1950.
Kuhn, Sherman M. "Old English Aglaeca-Middle Irish Olach". Linguistic Method : Essays in Honor of Herbert Penzl. Eds. Irmengard Rauch and Gerald F. Carr. The Hague, New York: Mouton Publishers, 1979. 213–30.
Tolkien, J.R.R. Beowulf, the Monsters and the Critics. (Sir Israel Gollancz Memorial Lecture, British Academy, 1936). First ed. London: Humphrey Milford, 1937.
Cawson, Frank. "The Monsters in the Mind: The Face of Evil in Myth, Literature, and Contemporary Life". Sussex, England: Book Guild, 1995: 38–39.
Gardner, John. "Grendel". New York, 1971.
Thorpe, Benjamin (trans.). The Anglo-Saxon Poems of Beowulf: The Scôp or Gleeman's Tale and the Fight at Finnesburg Oxford University Press. 1885.
Heyne, Moritz. Harrison, James A. Sharp, Robert. Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Poem, and The Fight at Finnsburg: a Fragment Boston, Massachusetts: Ginn & Company, 1895.

Flocc:Bēowulf
Flocc:Æglæcan