Grendel's Lair : John Gardner's Grendel

This page will briefly discuss Grendel in John Gardner's 1971 novel Grendel. Much of this text is in progress. Any contribution, clarification, or correction that you might provide to the material here would be very much appreciated.

Contents:

• Plot Synopsis
• Characters
• Links
• Discussion Board (separate page)

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Characters

• Grendel -- (Anti)hero of the novel, Grendel narrates his war with the Danes. The reader follows Grendel's struggle to understand humanity and his frustrated (and eventually abandoned) effort to join society.
• Grendel's Mother -- an inarticulate (and unintelligent?) beast who Grendel alternately pities and resents.
• The Dragon -- Living in all times and spaces, the Dragon sits behind Grendel's story like an existentialist god. It gives Grendel his invulnerability to weapons.
• The Shaper -- The Danish bard serves to teach Grendel about the (in-)significance of language, its importance for shaping history, and through the listeners, for shaping the world.
• Beowulf -- Draconic for the few pages we see him, Beowulf is the antithesis of the Dragon's nihilism in much the same language. He kills Grendel.
• Priest(s) -- several priests figure into two of the chapters of Grendel. Grendel plays a god to them as he learns about religion.

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Links

Discussion, criticism, and analysis of the novel Grendel and pages/sites about John Gardner.

• http://www.gettysburg.edu/~s427979/Alienated.html -- the last point connects grendel to the 50's Beats
• http://members.aol.com/wachtrhein/science/index2.htm -- The original version of the essay now stored here at grendel.org, comparing Gardner's Grendel to Nietzsche's Antichrist
• http://ww2.netnitco.net/users/thall/critics.html#gardner --Topics for thought and discussion on Gardner's Grendel
• http://www.panix.com/~iayork/Literary/Grendel/index.html -- Literary discussion on Grendel
• http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2469/essays.html -- online essays on Grendel and Gardner
• http://www.nscds.pvt.k12.il.us/nscds/ms/tnelson/writing/gardner.html -- Gardner on writing
• http://dir.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Literature/Genres/Literary_Fiction/Authors/Gardner__John_C___1933_1982_/ --Yahoo Gardner page