Beowulf was written in 1000 AD by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet. Beowulf tells in a third-person perspective about a warrior named Beowulf who helps a king named Hrothgar rid his kingdom of a monster Grendel who is terrorizing and killing his subjects. While the book Grendel by John Gardner tells in Grendel's perspective and how he sees similar events through his eyes. One story tells of a hero who has been showered with gold, glory and land through battle, saving but also killing people to get where he is and feels that what he is doing is right, while the other tells of a monster who he was put aside because of his monstrous appearance he kills and eats people just for the good he can. They both killed, but in their perspectives they feel differently about how their actions of killing were right or wrong. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Both stories are perceived differently depending on how they are told; each event is related to each other, but how Grendel or the Dragon felt and saw are just their feelings towards the event. In Beowulf, the dragon pledges not to let his treasure be touched after guarding it for over 300 years, until one day a slave ran away from his master only to stumble upon a cave. The cave was full of treasures of all kinds and so without knowing who the treasure belonged to he decided to steal a cup studded with gems to bring it back to his master and unfortunately the dragon noticed it and he was not happy because "the signs of his anger they flickered and shone in the darkness, visible for miles away, signs of his hatred and cruelty, spread as a warning to the Geats” (page 96 lls 2315-2317). The dragon is full of anger and wants revenge, so he tries to follow the slave by following his footprints but, after losing sight of the slave, the dragon becomes even more angry and does not sleep waiting for the opportunity to take revenge. At night that's when he decides to devastate the village by setting it on fire, for him he thought it was acceptable because the slave stole something that belonged to him it was right to set fire to their village. In Beowulf the dragons are portrayed as angry and uncontrollable because “as the flames rose; the angry monster intended to leave nothing alive” (page 96 lls 2314-2315). The dragon was childish in destroying and setting fire to a village for a cup, but his treasure means everything to him, so when the slave stole his treasure he felt the need to take revenge like a child who had his candy stolen by an older child. It was sneaky by only attacking at night because the dragon knew that the villagers would be asleep at that time, so it was an easy gateway to come and attack and scare the villagers. In Grendel, the dragon is described as the exact opposite of the prospect in Beowulf. To Grendel he described the dragons voice as loud as that of an old man and "his eyes were heavy-lidded, minutely veined, wrinkled like those of an old mead drinker" (Gardner 58). Grendel speaks of the dragon as if he were wise as an old man instead of a creature, the dragon was not like the others at the mead but treated Grendel as if he were human. While Grendel is shown to be afraid of the dragon and tries not to interrupt or touch his treasure, he actually respects the dragon's input and sits and listens to what he has to say even if he doesn't believe him or that what he is saying is True. all lies. He fears and respects the dragon and no matter how many times he thinks the dragon is lying to him or that he is wrong, he still tries to understand what it is trying to tell him, especially important information. The 105-108).
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