The Chosen Passage and the Relevant Poem

Grendel, the ellengæst, shows up as one of the greatest monstrous enemies in the poem, in contrast to the primary figure Beowulf. The author uses a diversity of expressions to fully depict the same features of the ellengæst -- being violent, grumpy, scary and supernatural. [1] This tone is persistent throughout the poem. Although the word ellengæst only appears in the poem once, on line 86, there are four other occurrences of ellorgāst beyond the chosen passage. Except for the one on line 807 and line 1621, which remains the same formation, its two other forms of cases appear separately on two different lines of the poem:[2] Ellorgast appears on line 1617, while ellorgæstas on line 1349. By and large, these uses of the word suggest that the monster is an evil life-form with great strength, but they do not further depict his magnitude. Even though the editor in Norton comments that he is humanized, which means his sharing certain features with humans,[3] ellengæst greatly distinguishes Grendel from humankind due to his special nature and physical condition. His being “powerful” is explained in detail beyond the passage. Victoria Symons attempts to bring all his characteristics together: he is a shadowy figure(l. 103) with eyes glowing with a ‘leoht unfæger’ [‘grim light’], (l. 727), ‘weres wæstmum’ [‘in the shape of a man’], (l. 1352), but he is much larger than humans: it takes four warriors simply to lift his head (l. 1637).[4]

Peter S. Baker emphasizes the traditional Germanic “warrior ethic” (everyone is able to fight) to be one of the primary elements to be considered in the study of Old English.[5] He also points out that they produced abundant vernacular literature associated with Christianity, after having converted to Christianity since the late sixth and seventh centuries.[6] In this sense of mixing with the mindset of pre-Christianity, this story plays with a Medieval good / evil dual setting of storytelling, and Grendel is an evil figure bringing a disaster. As Professor Alexandra Bolintineanu explained in class on September 24^th, he is “a twisted version” of the hero Beowulf. They are both powerful, smart and nearly fearless, while their differences symbolize typical Christian notions—Beowulf cares about humans and is mindful of etiquette, but Grendel ignores morality and enjoys eating people. Let alone their ancestors fall into the dual setting, too. Beowulf’s father, Ecgtheow, is a world-famous noble warrior.[7] On the contrary, Grendel’s families are isolated by God.