What causes Grendel to attack the mead-hall Herot in Beowulf?
Grendel is the spawn of Cain, purely wretched by nature. His entire being is devoid of joy. Some think that when he hears the jubilant parties that take place at Herot he is filled with intense jealousy because he has never experienced anything happy. This jealousy may also be interpreted as hatred, which seems to present Grendel as pure evil, a rather one-sided view of the story. Some scholars prefer to present Grendel as a creature filled with bloodlust, but presenting him as a sad being without love experiencing envy seems to present a more complex story with more realistic emotions.
Yes, as an agent of evil Grendel does attack Herot because he hates/envies the happiness and prayers of the warriors who reside there. One additional comment to make is that Hrothgar and his people are shocked not by just Grendel's carnage and bloodlust but also because there is no way to make amends with him. There is nothing they can do to stop him. His motive are not clear. There is no price they can pay to stop the murders (note how Hrothgar once helped buy peace between Beowulf's father and rival people). This makes the attacks that much more difficult for Hrothgar and his people.
In order to understand Grendel's motivation for his attack on Heorot, we need to examine Grendel's origins. For example, within the first 120 lines of the poem, we learn
That fiend from Hell,/that grim spirit, was called Grendel. . . . With fulsome monsters/this sorrowful man had stayed awhile,/since the Shaper [God] had condemned him/as Cain's kinsman. (ll. 101-107)
Because Grendel is related to Adam's son, Cain, who killed his brother Abel and was therefore cursed by God, Grendel was also banished "away from humankind" (l.110). At the same time, the poet tells us that "misbegotten creatures came to life then," and Grendel, described as "this sorrowful man," spent his time among these monsters and, over time, became one of them.
The key to Grendel's nature, as well as his behavior, is that he was once a man who has been banished from the world of men and has lived with monsters so long--who are at war with God--that Grendel too becomes a monster at war with mankind. We see this in his approach to Heorot when Hrothgar's men, "the Ring-Danes after the beer-party," went to sleep:
The sinful creature,/grim and greedy, was instantly ready,/savage and spiteful. . . . (ll.120-122)
In other words, Grendel's attack on Heorot is simply an act of spite. He attacks men because he knows that he can no longer share in the camaraderie and celebrations of mankind. And this spite is all the stronger because Grendel knows that he was once part of mankind and is forever shut out of that fellowship.
What motivates Grendel to attack the men at Heorot?
Grendel is jealous of the people celebrating in Heorot. The warriors sing and make merry in the mead hall until one night Grendel decides to attack. Under the cover of darkness, while the warriors are asleep in a drunken stupor, Grendel attacks, and the monster takes away thirty men. The monster’s aim is to feed on the bodies.
He attacks again on the next night and every subsequent night until the mead hall is abandoned. Grendel is driven by evil, and he seeks to disrupt the Danes' way of life and cause them lasting torment. Grendel ensures that the feud lasts for a long time, and all attempts by the Danes to fight or appease him are met with increasing hostility. The monster is only interested in bringing death to the people.
How the monster relished his savage war / On the Danes, keeping the bloody feud / Alive, seeking no peace, offering / No truce, accepting no settlement, no price / In gold or land, and paying the living / For one crime only with another.
Grendel is frequently described as one of the descendants of Cain, and thus he is forced to wander the world in isolation, cut off from civilization and community. It's suggested that the light-filled joy of Heorot, with its many feasts and gatherings of large groups of people, anger Grendel, and so he attacks the mead hall in order to put an end to the merriment. This aspect of Beowulf is one of the most interesting parts of the poem. Grendel, for all his demonic cunning, is not necessarily pure evil; rather, he's an outcast, an isolated loner who seems to long for some kind of community and is unable to deal with the fact that others experience joy while he does not. Thus, even though he is one of the villains of the story, Grendel becomes almost sympathetic, as he attacks Heorot in order to put a stop to the joyful celebrations that remind him that he is alone.
This is actually an interesting question. From a characterization point of view, we don't really get a lot of insight into Grendel. On the other hand, from a plot point of view Grendel is the villain. There has to be someone for our hero to fight, and we'd probably think Beowulf was cruel if he attacked a fluffy defenseless creature as opposed to a man-eating monster!
There is a sense in which we can relate Grendel to a simple dichotomy of good/bad. Grendel at various points in the text is likened to a child of the devil and is described as being wicked and evil. By contrast, humans and in particular Beowulf are described as agents of good. Therefore, this creates an opposition. Grendel, having been shunned by the world and being an agent of the devil therefore will attack those who support the powers of good.
Basically, Grendel attacks humans for one reason. He, a descendant of Cain, has been exiled into darkness. Therefore, as a foe of God, Grendel is angered at the fact he cannot exist in light. Given that he cannot enact his revenge upon God himself, Grendel enacts his revenge upon God's people.
Why does Grendel hate Heorot in Beowulf?
The epic Beowulf exists as a text which portrays the ever present and consistent battle of good and evil. One of the evil beings in the text is introduced in the opening chapter of the epic. Grendel, a descendant of Cain, has been exiled by God (from his light) because of his ancestor. Given that Grendel took no true part in his banishment, he hates both God and those who worship God.
Hrothgar built Heorot to honor all that the Lord had blessed him with (being power, wealth, and success in battle). Given that Grendel was "tormented by the hall's jubilant revel day by day," his anger and hatred for the Dane people grew immensely. Not only did Grendel listen to the praise of God, he had to hear the people praise God for creating a beautiful world, filled with light, which they could worship in. Given his exile from God's light, Grendel hated what Heorot represented--God and his love. Since Grendel could not act out against God himself, he choose to act out against God's people and the place built for the worship of God, Heorot.
Grendel comes to Heorot to kill some of the people there. His motivation to do so goes beyond mere mindless bloodlust, however. Grendel is presented as the ultimate outsider. He is described as a descendant of Cain, a figure from the book of Genesis. In Jewish and Christian traditions, Cain is the eldest son of Adam and Eve, as well as the first murderer. As punishment, God makes Cain go into exile. Being a descendant of Cain, Grendel lives up to his ancestor's reputation: he is a murderer and lives in exile from human community. However, unlike Cain, Grendel has a slightly more sympathetic side, since the narrator hints that Grendel wishes his lot in life were different. In general, the monsters in Beowulf are social outsiders. While Grendel's mother is motivated by revenge and the dragon is greedy, Grendel is envious.
When he hears the music and revelry within the mead hall, Grendel experiences both pain, since he feels so lonely, and envious rage because he is unable to share in the communal comfort the mead hall provides everyone else. Being born from monsters, he can never be among people. As a result, Grendel lashes out at the people in Heorot, slaughtering warriors as they sleep.
How does Grendel plague Heorot in Beowulf?
We read very early in the poem that Hrothgar's men "dreamum lifdon," or lived in joy, until such time as Grendel came to disturb them. The Ring-Danes used their great hall after their "beorthege," or beer-feasts, to sleep, and they knew no sorrow there—until such time as Grendel decided to attack them. It is implied that Grendel quickly comes to recognize that the men he finds in the hall on these occasions are less able to defend themselves than usual, due to their inebriation. After each feast, then, Grendel begins to invade the hall and take home multiple bodies to eat in private. When the survivors wake up in the morning, they see that their fellow thanes have been killed and are naturally much aggrieved about it—Hrothgar most of all. But Grendel returns to the hall repeatedly to perpetuate this kind of villainy until, eventually, the thanes no longer feel safe to stay in the hall after their feasts and will not sleep there. Symbolically, Grendel has forced them out of their refuge and the protection of their lord.
After the King of the Danes, Hrothgar, builds a mead hall called Heorot, the Danes enjoy singing and playing the harp there. Their rejoicing evokes ire in Grendel, who was a "prowler about the borders of the homes of men, who held the moors, the fens, and fastness" (Clarence Griffin Child translation). Grendel is the descendant of Cain, doomed by God for Cain's slaughter of Abel. He prowls about the moors waiting to attack people.
Grendel spies about Heorot after the Danes are drinking, and he decides after their merrymaking to slay their men. Then, he heads homeward "exultant over his spoil." Night after night, Grendel waits until dark and then ambushes the men. Grendel returns to Heorot to again murder Danes, who endure this situation for "twelve winters' season." The Danes are desperate for help until Beowulf arrives from abroad to slay Grendel.
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