Chapter 1
This is the author of Grendel
Who is John Gardner?
The smell of this creature lures Grendel up to the human world
What is a newborn calf?
This is the term for someone who watches from the outside, which is the role Grendel takes as he sees the Danes begin to build their kingdom.
What is an observer?
Grendel is likened to this animal in this chapter as he retreats inwards (both literally back to his cave and metaphorically back into himself).
What is a crab?
This character is a foil to the Shaper because he represents a chaotic and meaningless worldview
Who is the Dragon?
Grendel finds the arrival of this season particularly contentious
What is spring?
This is how Grendel finds the human world
What is he breaks through the surface of the water and explores further each night?
Grendel takes on the narrative voice of this profession, someone who details the legacies of various people from the beginning of time until the present.
What is a historian?
Hrothgar builds this space because he is inspired by the Shaper's tales of greatness.
What is Heorot Hall?
This philosophical concept denies the existence of God and of meaning and is fully embraced by the Dragon.
What is Nihilism?
Grendel observes this creature standing looking over the rocks as he comments on the animal's stupidity
What is a ram?
Grendel gets his _______ trapped in a ___________ when he's out exploring the human world
What is his ankle in a tree?
Grendel watches this person gain power, as he has neighboring halls swear allegiance to him and as he gains military prowess
Who is Hrothgar?
This ancient story, told by the Shaper, impacts Grendel and "converts him" into believing he is evil
What is the tale of Cain and Abel?
The Dragon says that this character is the reason for mankind, and that he is the force against which humans learn to define themselves
Who is Grendel?
This character is called by Grendel a "fat, foul bulk rolling over, restless"
Who is Grendel's mother?
Grendel attempt to talk to this group of individuals for the first time in this chapter
Who are the Danes?
This old, wise figure arrives to Heorot and makes the men "weep like children" through his stories of Danish grandeur
Who is the Shaper?
When he finds a dead body and attempts to return it to Heorot, Grendel yells this word (said twice) to the Danes.
What is "Friend!" "Friend!"
The Dragon leaves Grendel with this final piece of advice
What is "to seek out gold and sit on it"?
Grendel refuses to kill this creature because it sees "all life without observing it"
What is a deer?
Grendel is disappointed because of _________ in this chapter.
What is the lack of his mother's presence?
Grendel recognizes the threat of / power of _________ as he hears false stories about himself and the Danes.
What is language / storytelling / narrative?
_________ is a "cold-blooded lie" that Grendel "wants" for himself
What is the Shaper's songs about him?
These two bits of evidence suggest that the Dragon is not real.
What is 1) the fact that Grendel has to "make his mind a blank" in order to approach him
and 2) the fact that the Dragon laughs like people Grendel has witnessed in Heorot: "Nyeh, heh, heh"