In the Epic poem Beowulf, the author presents a glorifying image of Anglo-Saxon culture and values, specifically heroism, fate, gift-giving, loyalty, vengeance, and manliness. Just as much as the author of Beowulf tries to eulogize these values, John Gardner, the author of Grendel, attempts to ridicule them as much as possible. This is just one of the many differences between Beowulf and Grendel. Written in the first person point of view of Grendel, Grendel retells the story of Beowulf's famous fight that propelled him to recognition with a new and fresh perspective.
Along with this new perspective come different and conflicting opinions regarding certain characters and ideals. Undoubtedly, Grendel shows a much more negative view of the characters Hrothgar, Unferth, and Beowulf.
One of the first humans characters introduced in both Beowulf and Grendel is Hrothgar. In the famous epic poem, Horthgar is first described as a king who brings much glory and power to his people, so much that he resolves to build a great mead hall to display his power and he follows through his boast. Additionally, he is shown as respected, kind to those he defeated, his people loves him, and having the protection of God: “Then Hrothgar, taking the throne, led the Danes to such glory that comrades and kinsmen swore by his sword … leaving the common pastures untouched and taking no lives.” (Beowulf ).
As shown, he leads the Danes to glory and people swear to join him, but he also leaves the land untouched and takes no innocent lives. Despite acknowledging his tactical genius, Grendel presents a much more antagonistic view of Hrothgar, mostly due to Grendel's personal prejudice against the Danish king, therefore presenting the king with a more hateful image. For example, according to Grendel, people obey Hrothgar more out of fear than respect. After fashioning himself as a bretwalda, he has his neighboring kingdoms swear allegiance to him, pay tributes, and attack other tribes if necessary. These tribal rulers obey him not out of respect or his glory, but because they fear what happens if they do not obey him.
Furthermore, the Hrothgar as portrayed in Grendel is not as eco-friendly or caring as he seems to be in Beowulf. Instead of “leaving the common pastures untouched”, Hrothgar and his men destroy the environment as shown: “They hacked down trees in widening rings around their central halls… till the forest looked like an old dog dying of mange. They thinned out game, killed birds for sport, set accidental fires that would burn for days. Their sheep killed hedges, snapped valleys bare, and their pigs nosed up the very roots of what might have grown”. Clearly not the protector of pastures, Hrothgar and his men kill all the animals in their area, over log the forests, and leave valleys bare, which Grendel shows in his narrative.
This darker and negative portrayal makes Hrothgar more flawed and despicable; clearly he is not like the Hrothgar in Beowulf. This adds to the overall more negative tone in the novel of all the elements that Beowulf honors.
Unferth also falls victim to this negative portrayal of characters in Grendel. Originally shown as a jealous and hateful warrior in Beowulf, he is not, however, entirely evil and the readers come to respect him more after he apologizes to Beowulf and gives him his prized and famous sword. Despite having at least a little respect from the audience, the Unferth that Grendel depicts is foolish, weak, cowardly, and jealous, deserving practically no respect.
In Gardner's novel, when Unferth first meets Grendel, he challenges him as everyone else does. Like everyone else, he easily loses and Grendel adds to his embarrassment when he throws apples at him. He then challenges Grendel again, but instead of actually fighting him, he falls asleep: “I waited for him to find an answer. Minutes passed. It came to me that he had quit… He was asleep”.
This is possibly Unferth's most embarrassing moment in the entire novel. Far from being the hero that he so wishes to be, he is weak and cowardly, because he falls asleep as he about to fight. Moreover, Grendel makes him to be a simpleton for he defeats Unferth verbally and even makes Unferth realize that he contradicts himself. To add to Unferth's already growing ridicule, when Unferth berates Beowulf, Beowulf fights back with harsh words. Although the Unferth in Beowulf simply becomes embarrassed when he meets Beowulf's harsh words, the Unferth in Gardner's novel actually cries and it makes him look more foolish and weaker than the readers would actually think he is. Being an unlikable character already in Beowulf, he is also pathetic in Grendel. This all adds to the Gardner's more negative portrayal of all the major human characters of Beowulf.
