Elements Of Evil In Beowulf Essay -- Epic of Beowulf Essays

In times before printed books were common, stories and verses were passed from generation to generation by word of m forthh. From much(prenominal) oral traditions come great epics such as Englands heroic verse epic, Beowulf. In Beowulf, the monstrosity Grendel serves as the evil character acting against the poems hero, as shown by his unnatural strength, beast-like qualities, and alienation from society.One of the stolon responses from a reader of Beowulf is their surprise at Grendels unnatural strength, unrivalled quality marking him as an evil character. His great strength is shown offshoot in his ability to carry enormous amounts of weight. There occur several(prenominal) instances in the story where Grendel lifts great amounts of weight. In Grendels first burst of Herot, a great mead-hall, he snatched up thirty men, smashed them . . . and ran out with their bodies to his lair (ll. 59-62). This amount of weight equals nearly 5,000 pounds a feat that no normal man (or cre ature) could accomplish. In addition to his ability to lift wide amounts of weight, Grendels unnatural strength appears in his merciless killing of humans. He proficiently tears his victims apart before devouring them. Moments before the monsters demise, Grendel grabs a sleeping Geat and ripped him apart, cut his body to bits with powerful jaws (ll. 393-394). solo a force of evil could accomplish an act so gruesome, with such facility. One earmark of an epic evil character is their unnatural strength, and Grendel for sure fits the bill for ...