It's not so much that Grendel is portrayed as the good guy and that the Danes are the bad guys. It's simply that by providing Grendel with a backstory in his retelling of the Beowulf legend, Gardner's trying to show us his side of the story. Naturally, that makes him a much more sympathetic character than the hideous, blood-thirsty monster of legend.
To that end, it's notable that Gardner emphasizes that it's Grendel who first reaches out to humans, indicating at least the possibility of peaceful coexistence between them. But the Danes cruelly rebuff Grendel; not only that, but they immediately establish that he represents a clear and present threat and so try to kill him. This unfortunate episode presents the Danes in an unflattering light, to say the least. They're judging Grendel purely on the basis of his unprepossessing appearance instead of making the effort to find out more...
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about him.
Even after all this unpleasantness, Grendel observes the Danes more closely, trying to learn as much as he can about their civilization and the principles on which it is based. And Gardner's Grendel shows a softer side than the original monster by his touching reaction to the sweet songs of the Shaper. But whatever Grendel does, however many times he tries to reach out, he will always be an outsider to these people. They have turned him into the Other: a strange, dark, exotic creature who must be at least controlled, and if possible, killed. That may not make Grendel a good guy as such, or his Danish antagonists evil, but it does at least make him more recognizably human than the supposedly civilized men hell-bent on destroying him.
This is a tricky question. It is traditionally accepted that Grendel is evil while Hrothgar and Beowulf are good. These aren't moral absolutes; Hrothgar kills many to maintain power, and Grendel attempts to change his nature, but they essentially fall on these sides. Also, Grendel recognizes himself as a monster. He repeatedly speaks of his bloodlust, his meaningless attacks and need to kill, etc. He also knows that he is apart from men, and can never be connected to them.
Despite all this, Grendel is also a nihilist. As he says "Nihil ex nihilo" or "Nothing from nothing." Because of this philosophy, he sees no real morality in the world. There is no purpose, no gods, just existence. So while he identifies as a monster, and often berates himself for his violence and slaughter, he doesn't really see himself as evil. Nor does he consider the men as necessarily evil either. Stupid, yes; delusional, certainly; but not forces of good or evil.