Introduction

This Exhibit will focus on the monster Grendel, a vicious monster depicted as a “creature of darkness, exiled from happiness and accursed of God, the destroyer and devourer of humankind”, from the poem Beowulf (Jones, 12). The focus will be on the analysis of Grendel and his depiction in Beowulf  by comparing different passages within the poem, the artifact, and the secondary objects. The artifact being used is a 10th Century Viking Sword, the first secondary object is a Seal from 1213, and, finally, the other secondary object is from an illuminated manuscript from 1110 titled Moralia in Job. It will be argued that Grendel is a man in ruins and the monster within Grendel was created by people because you become what everyone perceives you to be.