The first reason why Grendel is portrayed as evil in Beowulf is because he is categorized with Cain. It is told in the the Bible that Cain was the first murderer in the world. He killed his brother because he was jealous, and thus God condemned him and made him an outcast from the rest of the world. Being that the epic poem Beowulf was written in the Anglo-Saxon time period, everyone was very religious. One of the worst things to be associated with at that time (and still is today) is with fratricide, or the killing of a brother (Grendel).
The two main forms of violence are preformed by Grendel, the main antagonist of the poem and by Beowulf - the hero of the story. Due to the fact that Anglo-Saxon culture is immersed in violence and vengeance, these acts are accepted without question. The motivation for each character’s violence varies immensely. Grendel was an “unhappy creature” and this was “after God condemned [him] as kin of Cain”, this led Grendel to become a vengeful and wicked creature. When he attacked Herot his attack was, “grim, and fierce, was quickly ready, savage and cruel, and [he] seized from their rest thirty thanes.” Grendel kills to fulfill a blood lust and a deep hatred because he is alone in his
The anti-trinity In the epic of Beowulf, Grendel is presented as a coward, a monster, and an insensitive character. According to the story, Grendel was referred to as "spawned in that slime,” a biblical allusion to the story of Cain and Abel. Grendel was born as a monster into exile; his life was cursed because he was a distant offspring of Cain. According to the Bible, all of Cain’s decedents were punished by God because of Cain’s sin. Despite Grendel’s evil motives, he is determined to be the best and overcome any obstacle that interferes in his way.
This confusion has to do with the battle between Satan and God and how he deceived people while on earth. Satan’s sole purpose in life was to deceive everyone and have them come over to his side of evil. Satan wanted men to think that he was the victim from the beginning and that God was the evil one to him and to us all. He further wanted us to think that God was the one who was trying to deceive us from the beginning. However, on the day of the great controversy all was revealed that Satan was the true deceiver and God was indeed to be worshipped.
Grendel, his mother, and even Beowulf himself all use revenge during the fights that they engage in, in order to motivate themselves throughout the poem. Grendel is the first character in the poem that the reader can see inspired by revenge. It is stated that Grendel is believed to be one of the descendants of Cain, forever banished by God in punishment for Abel’s death. "…Since Cain had killed his only / Brother, slain his father's son / With an angry sword. God drove him off, / outlawed him…" (Beowulf, 1261 - 1264).
Section1 & 2 In the beginning, a furious and crazy dictating monster was heard growling impatiently. Everyday music was playing about “The ancient beginnings of us all” (Raffle, 21). Hrothgar’s men lived in a great friendly environment until the mean and Evil monster; Grendel came and haunted the warriors. He was conceiving by a pair of monsters, who were the blame for the death of Abel. The almighty kept the demons out, but soon split into different forms of evil.
Cain was the oldest. They both appeared before god bearing their offerings. Abel offering was accepted while Cain offering was rejected by god. Cain Killed Abel, bearing his blood. Because of Cain improper attitude, and lack of true faith God sentenced Cain to life of a vagabond.
John heard of this and in his fury had Geoffrey imprisoned in chains, clad in a cope made of lead and starved. Geoffrey died an agonising death.’ I don’t think this source is a trustworthy source because he can’t tell us the name or the whereabouts of the sheriff. Roger tells us that John let a robber that murdered a priest go because it was an enemy of his but government records show that John ordered anyone killing a priest
Life was long and hard. This was the time of Enoch and Methuselah, who had tremendous demonic influences within their cultures. They fell further and further away from God, and deeper and deeper into darkness. “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The earth was corrupt in the sight of God, and filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:5-11) Then approximately one thousand years after the creation of Adam, a man who was a type, a foreshadowing of the Messiah was born, Noah.
Christians believed that after death, the soul of the individual would either ascend to Heaven or descend to Hell based on their past sins. In addition, the story of the mark of Cain is a famous biblical tale: Cain, the eldest son, murdered his younger brother Abel out of jealousy. This resulted in a mark put on Cain as a reminder of God’s revenge. The allusion of the mark of Cain is significant because this tale is similar to the event of Claudius killing Old Hamlet out of jealousy. With this reference, Shakespeare reminds the audience of Claudius’ sin and advances the theme of betrayal.