Grendel

Grendel is one of the three antagonists in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf (AD 700–1000). Grendel is usually taken to be some kind of monster, but he is like a human in some ways.

Grendel as drawn by J.R. Skelton

Beowulf's author often uses substitute phrases for Grendel's name like this one, the mearc stapa ("mark-stepper"), an inhabitant of the borderland.

In the poem, Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf, who kills him and his mother at the end of the poem. He is the descendant of the biblical murderer Cain.

Grendel, a novel by John C. Gardner, was published in 1971. It tells much of the Beowulf story as if Grendel himself were talking.