The Three Monsters In Beowulf And The Dragon

There are three monsters in the story of Beowulf. These being Grendel, the “lone walker” who kills indiscriminately, his Mother who after feeling the grief of the death of her son, seeks revenge, and The Dragon who ultimately defeated Beowulf. The author gives Grendel and his mother human qualities, and all of the monsters also have unique settings where they live. These aspects the author included give the reader insight into what each monster represents, and how that relates to the overall plot. All three of these monsters represent different things within the story. Starting out with Grendel,who is the scourge of the night, and kills without remorse or regret. Grendel is never precisely described in the book, and so the author leaves his image to the reader’s imagination. He uses no weapon, and has no father. In the story, we observe humans caring for and even going so far as to name their personal weapons. The objects are of great importance to them. Also, Grendel not having a father is significant because almost every human in the story is introduced as the son of someone. Grendel not having a weapon or a father suggests that he is deprived of happiness and gives a reason for his cruelness somewhat. Grendel is seen as the

Since an animal is incapable of feeling greed, the reader is left to assume that Grendel, and by extension his mother, are in fact human. This revelation introduces conflict when Beowulf slays them, because it is much harder to justify killing a human than killing a simple beast. The reader feels grief when Grendel’s mother dies, because in a sense, it was simply a mother avenging her lost son. When put this way, it creates uncertainty if the main character is truly “good” or not. By giving Grendel and his mother human qualities, the author has succeeded in creating a narrative that Grendel, or at least Grendel’s mother, had a logical reason to act the way they