GRENDEL

This is Grendel. Well, technically that’s my personal interpretation of the monster. Grendel appears in Beowulf, an Old English epic poem probably composed in the 6th/mid 6th Century. Grendel is the first monster that the main character has to deal with; the beast comes at nights and devours the Danish warriors in their sleep. This creature has terrorized Heorot, King Hrothgar’s splendid Mead Hall, for twelve years. Beowulf, the epic hero, is called to fight the monster. In the battle Beowulf rips the half-beast, half-human’s arm off leaving Grendel fatally wounded. Grendel returns to his den and slowly dies in pain. That’s pretty much the encounter between Beowulf and Grendel. Talking about the latter, I decided to draw it on his way to its hiding place, through the swamp, keeping a “sketchy-only few colours style” in order to highlight its monstrosity. It looks thin, and might be not as strong as one could imagine, that’s why I decided to draw it with unusually big hands and long and black claws. All its strength is put into those hands, able to destroy everything they grasp. It had been devouring humans for more than a decade, so I imagined a beast full of scars from many battles, with only one eye, the other lost during one of his “feastings”. The drawing captures the monster after the encounter with Beowulf.  Grendel is losing blood all over its dirty skin, even tears of blood are running from its remaining eye. Another detail is its hair, oily and greasy, existing only in a few patches in the back of its head. The monster is, human in some way, so I drew the heart in the middle of its chest, left uncovered by the rib cage. I believe it is a weak point but, difficult to reach. The long neck connects its skeletal head to the bony shoulders; the long and arched legs are now weak, since Grendel is bleeding to death.

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By

MATTIA ACCIARI

classe 3°I Liceo Anglocinese