Grendel

One of the classic novels about monsters having internal lives. Grendel doesn’t even survive the first half of the Beowulf poem.

But what was his life like? This creature who went into rages over music and merriment? This outsider who clearly had no one to commune with? Where there could just be pathos, Gardner injects surprising dorkiness and humor that further round out Grendel’s existence. And there’s a huge bonus in the poem’s dragon also showing up as an utter weirdo neighbor.

Grendel is the original monster from English literature who killed many warriors and did battle with Beowulf. 

This poignant book tells the story from his point of view. It’s never completely clear what Grendel is, only that he seems to exist somewhere between humans and beasts. He is frustrated by how emotionally drawn he is to the singing he hears in the humans’ mead hall but is equally frustrated by the stupidity of the animals he encounters. 

He knows from first-hand experience how cruel men can be but because he is so alone in the world, he can’t stop himself… show more.

I first encountered John Gardner on the recommendation of my mentor, the late Canadian novelist Paul Quarrington, as he was teaching me about voice.

I love all of Gardner's work, but Grendel is my favourite. It's set in northern Europe in the 6th century CE. Through the eyes of the monster of the old poem "Beowulf", we see a natural world punctuated by the graves of dead kings and the halls of living ones.

It's a book about what it means to exist, told in precise, unnerving sentences. Grendel's voice is a howl on the wind, and it… show more.

“And so begins the twelfth year of my idiotic war.” Gardner packs a lot into this slim beautiful volume about a monster’s quest for the point of it all. Grendel’s consciousness starts evolving the moment he realizes that he is a thing apart from the rollicking Danes and the Geatish hero, Beowulf. But what? He tries to discover a purpose to his otherness. (“My advice to you, my violent friend, is to seek out gold and sit on it,” is the rather unhelpful advice of the all-knowing dragon.) Poignant, funny, brutal, and poetic, this was my first introduction to stories… show more.

In Grendel, the monster from Beowulf tells his version of the classic story. But Grendel (like the Creature in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein), is not a shambling inarticulate demon but an ironic, witty observer of human beings and their idiocies. He’s an egomaniac, the ultimate outsider, but frequently hilarious. 

In the course of recounting his life leading up to his battle with Beowulf, Grendel comments on the different things humans focus on to make their lives meaningful. This was the book that first made me realize how a writer could flip a classic text upside down and in order… show more.

Like To Reign in Hell, this is a retelling of a classic story from the viewpoint of the "villain". In this case, the classic story is Beowulf, and the villain is, of course, Grendel. This was another book that made me want to do a revision of the Loki myth, but Grendel is a different kind of character than Loki, Satan, or Lucifer. To start with, he’s a monster, so there isn’t tons of introspection. But it’s fascinating to see him as the victim when he’s really nothing more than a monster or a force of nature in the… show more.