Storytelling: Grendel the not so terrible

Some say he’s as big as a mountain. Some say he can devour a dozen men in just one bite. They call him the scourge of the night. His name is Grendel, and he will haunt your dreams and put your town into utter chaos. These are some of the stories they tell about the creature Grendel, although no one really knows the truth. No one has ever actually seen the creature Grendel and lived, but they have seen the carnage that he has caused. The story of Grendel started out as an old urban legend, much like the boogie man or killer clowns. But for the people of Heorot, they found out the hard way that Grendel is very real. For over 12 years Grendel had cursed the town of Heorot. He would cast a spell upon the town that would put them all asleep, he would then steal people right out of their beds and devour them. Like I said before no one had ever seen the creature Grendel and lived to tell the tale, but every night someone new from the town would disappear and the only logical explanation was that it was Grendel. Many people of Heorot tried to leave, but never could cross into the next town without being hunted down by Grendel. The town was surely doomed to be forever cursed by this creature, that is until the day Beowulf arrived.

Beowulf was a fierce warrior of Geatsland, who had decided to come to Heorot to rid them of the terrible monster Grendel. Beowulf was considered to be a great warrior by his people, but was untested in battle. To prove to his people that he truly was a great warrior, he planned to slay the monster Grendel that had cursed the town of Heorot. Beowulf arrived at Heorot with fourteen of his finest men, not truly aware of the deadly task that they had gotten themselves into. The people of Heorot had heard of Beowulf and his brave men and were sure that they would save them from Grendel. They threw the warriors a great feast to honor them, and then left them in the Great Hall of the village to wait for the dreaded Grendel.

Beowulf and his men set up their defenses and prepare for the long night they had ahead of them. As the night rolled on the men, one by one, slowly started drifting off into a deep sleep. Beowulf knew that this must be the magic of Grendel, and resisted the urge to fall asleep by burning himself with a candle. It was then that Beowulf turned and realized that the massive door of the Great Hall had started creaking open, and he knew that Grendel was upon him. Beowulf drew and sword and prepared for battle, but what happened next caught him completely off guard.

Standing at the door of the Great Hall was not a monster as big as a mountain, nor terrifying enough to make you leave Heorot. What stood there was a troll like creature the size of a chiwawa. “You’re the monster Grendel?” said Beowulf in utter disbelief. Grendel was shocked that the warrior had not been effected by his spell, but responded “Yes, I am Grendel. The scourge of the night. Prepare to die.” Beowulf sat there in silence for a minute and then started laughing. Once he finally gathered himself he sheathed his sword, walked over to the “terrifying” Grendel, and started choking the creature. Grendel tried to fight back, but Beowulf was too strong and he died. Beowulf sat there, filled with joy that he had finally rid this town of Grendel. But little did Beowulf know Grendel was not only thing that had been cursing the town, his mother was a part of it too. Grendel was more or less just a pawn that was sent in first to make everyone fall asleep. Then Grendel’s mother, who was actually giant and terrifying, would come in and devour the townspeople. So as Beowulf sat there basking in glory, a giant shadowing figured suddenly swooped him off his feet. But what happens next is a story for another time.

Authors note: I kept fairly to the original story while writing this. Grendel was a giant monster that cursed the town of Heorot for 12 year until Beowulf came and killed Grendel by ripping his arm clean off him. Grendel's mother, who was much more terrifying than Grendel, found this out and started killing Beowulf's men. So Beowulf set out to end the creature and rid Heorot of these monsters once and for all. For my story I focused on just the Grendel aspect because it would take too long to talk about both. But I decided to make Grendel to be this terrifying myth that had everyone feared, when in reality he was just a puny little thing that was able to put people to sleep so that his mom could eat them. 

Bibliography: The Story of Beowulf- by Stafford Riggs

Grendel