Ch. 2: Grendel’s first encounter with men occurs after he gets stuck in a tree. He wakes up and hears them speaking in the same language as his but in a different dialect. They see Grendel move and they aren’t sure if he is a “beastlike fungus” or a spirit. After Grendel yells “Pig!”, the men become frightened and the king throws an ax at Grendel which skims his shoulder lightly. After the king orders his men to surround Grendel, he becomes aware that Humans are the most dangerous things he’d ever met because they have intellect unlike the rest of the creatures in the world and they can use this intellect treacherously. Grendel’s mother saves him before the men can kill him. Grendel concludes that the men are insane.
Ch. 3: Grendel’s first reaction to the Shaper’s songs is awe. He believes that the songs are so beautiful they make the stories seem true. Grendel is “torn apart by poetry” because the Shaper made it seem as if humans were good people and he was bad for treating them badly. He couldn’t find it in himself to snatch a pig because he knew that he would be betraying these incredible creatures thus making him a monster. This shows Grendel’s disappointment at himself if he is considered to be bad by amazing humans then he thinks he is bad.
Ch. 4: After watching the Shaper sing the tale of Cain and Abel to other people, Grendel comes out with a previously dead body and asks for peace. The people freak out and try to attack Grendel and in response he throws the body at them and run away. Grendel wishes to have someone to talk to because he is very lonely. Two nights later he comes back because he claims he is “addicted”. This could be because he has a vengeance for the falseness of mankind or because he is intrigued with human affairs and the Shaper’s incredible musical skill.
Ch. 5: The Dragon tells Grendel that he should continue scaring the Danes because it brings the humans to greater things. The prey progresses from the