Grendel suffers a fatal wound during his battle with the revered warrior Beowulf in Heorot Hall. While the warriors sleep inside of the magnificent Heorot Hall, Grendel arrives with bloody intentions. Grendel enters the mead hall and immediately kills an unsuspecting warrior before drinking his blood. The vicious monster then attempts to eat Beowulf, who suddenly grabs onto his arm and refuses to let go. Grendel begins to panic and attempts to escape from Beowulf's strong grip but cannot free himself. Beowulf and Grendel struggle for an extended period of time, trashing and destroying the inside of the mead hall.
When Grendel lets out a fierce outcry, the nearby warriors attempt to intervene but discover that they cannot use their weapons because Grendel placed a spell on them. Grendel finally manages to escape from Beowulf's grip but is fatally wounded after Beowulf rips the monster's arm from his body. Grendel then flees to his mother's lair, where he dies from his fatal wound. Grendel's claw, arm, and shoulder are then hung from the rafters at Heorot Hall as the Danes celebrate Beowulf's victory.
Beowulf and his men await Grendel in Heorot Hall, which is empty because Grendel has been terrorizing it. At night, Grendel strikes. Beowulf pretends to be asleep, but when Grendel attacks, Beowulf jumps up and grabs his claw. A fierce battle between the two follows, with Beowulf fighting Grendel barehanded. Beowulf's men try to attack and kill Grendel with their swords, but Grendel has put a spell on their weapons. None of their swords are able to penetrate Grendel's flesh. Beowulf is finally able to wrench Grendel's arm out of its socket at the shoulder. This mortally wounds Grendel, and he runs off to die. The claw, arm, and shoulder of Grendel are hung in Heorot Hall, and a great celebration follows.
At night, Beowulf and his men lie in wait for Grendel in Hrothgar's Mead Hall. When Grendel invades the hall, he kills and eats two of Beowulf's men, which gives him a false sense of security. As he reaches for his third vicitm, Beowulf, he is shocked to discover that his claw is being bent backward causing him immense pain. Their battle concludes with Beowulf's ripping Grendel's arm off, fulfilling his promise to Hrothgar to kill the monster with his bare hands. Beowulf nails Grendel's severed arm to the mead hall rafters and, although Grendel runs away, he is later found to have bled to death in his underwater lair.
Although the answer is never presented clearly, Grendel appears to die as a result of blood loss. Beowulf fatally injures Grendel in the meadhall and the beast skulks home to its mother to die.
Beowulf kills Grendel in a great battle, and as proof of his conquest, hangs the monster's arm and claw over the rafters of Hrothgar's Great Hall. Grendel had terrorized the kingdom for a dozen years and killed many, many warriors. There is no sympathy for the...
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monster and his defeat cements Beowulf's reputations as the greatest of the great.
Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic which features the hero, Beowulf, as he comes to save Hrothgar and his people from the marauder known as Grendel.
We only have a few clues about why Grendel is so outraged by Hrothgar and the typical Anglo-Saxon revelries which happen at his mead-hall, Heorot. None of them are enough to justify Grendel's twelve years of murderous marauding, however, and all of Hrothgar's people are thrilled that Beowulf has come to save them by killing Grendel.
Beowulf boasts that he will lie in wait for the monster and then fight him without weapons, just as Grendel does his killing; and that is what he does. Grendel arrives at Heorot, not knowing what is ahead for him.
Higelac’s hardy henchman and kinsmanHeld him by the hand; hateful to otherGrendel is sorely wounded.Was each one if living. A body-wound sufferedThe direful demon, damage incurableHis body bursts.Was seen on his shoulder, his sinews were shivered,His body did burst. To Beowulf was givenGlory in battle; Grendel from thencewardMust flee and hide him in the fen-cliffs and marshes,Sick unto death, his dwelling must look forUnwinsome and woful; he wist the more fullyThe monster flees away to hide in the moors.The end of his earthly existence was nearing,His life-days’ limits.
Chapter twelve of Beowulf describes the battle between Beowulf and Grendel. In this battle, Grendel realizes that he is outmatched by Beowulf's strength. Unfortunately, he realizes this too late and departs Heorot without one of his arms. Grendel, "sick unto his death," returns to his den in the dark recesses of the moors.
Later, in chapter twenty-three, Beowulf again faces Grendel. This time, Grendel proves to be of no worry. Grendel has died from the injuries Beowulf gave him during their battle in Heorot. Regardless of the lack of life in Grendel, Beowulf, wishing to "promptly repay" him for all of the hardships he put on Hrothgar, split the body of Grendel open and removed his head.
In the Beowulf story, where does Grendel go to die?
In the Beowulf story, where does Grendel go to die?
In the epic adventure of Beowulf, the monster attacks the mead hall for twelve winters. Eventually, Beowulf, a hero in his own right, who has heard of the problems of the Danes, travels across the seas to see if he can help.
On the night that Beowulf and Grendel finally face each other, the creature enters expecting to go unchallenged and have his way in the hall, unthwarted. Beowulf is something of a surprise not only because he resists, but because he is so strong. The monster manages to take the life of one unsuspecting warrior, but when he grabs Beowulf, the battle ensues. As the creature realizes he faces no ordinary man, he tries to flee, but Beowulf will not release him, and rips off Grendel's arm.
Bleeding "nigh unto death," the creature returns to his lair in the fens (swamps) to die.