Grendel: Chapter 6 Summary & Analysis

After his meeting with the dragon, Grendel felt an air of futility and doom around himself. Also, the dragon had put a charm on him so that no weapon could cut him. This newfound invulnerability drove him to visit Hart more often, but also isolated him further as the humans could no longer really fight with him.

In the summer of the first year of Grendel’s war with Hrothgar, Grendel was drawn to the meadhall though he had not yet begun systematic raids. He would wait at the edge of the forest, listening to the Shaper’s songs, which enraged him with their confidence and hope. He went up to the wall of the meadhall and peered in through a crack. The Shaper sang of how God had been kind to Hrothgar’s people, who were the richest and most powerful on earth.

One night as he was doing this, a stick snapped behind Grendel and a dog barked. A guard discovered him and struck him with a sword, but could not hurt Grendel. More men came and attacked in vain. Grendel laughed. He had meant them no harm. He walked off, carrying the guard with him, and ate the guard. He returned to the woods happily.

Three or four nights later, Grendel performed his first raid. He burst into the hall while the men were sleeping and ate seven of them, taking joy in the killing. He says that he himself became the mother he had once searched for. He felt as though he had finally “become something” and called himself “Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings.” But, Grendel notes, he also felt more alone than ever.

A few nights later, Grendel raided Hart again. The humans tried to attack him bravely, but their weapons were useless against the dragon’s charm. Grendel laughed as man after man attacked him, shouting about honor, Hrothgar, and God. Though laughing, Grendel felt empty and imagined himself going on killing without difficulty indefinitely. Filled with rage, he smashed and destroyed benches, tables, and beds.

Then, a man named Unferth appeared. Grendel calls Unferth his salvation. Taller than the other men, Unferth took on Grendel single-handedly and acted like a righteous hero, threatening Grendel. Grendel laughed at Unferth’s heroic posturing and spoke back to him. Unferth was shocked to learn that Grendel could speak and pledged to kill him. Grendel responded sarcastically, mocking Unferth’s heroism and saying that he thought heroes only existed in poetry. Frustrated, Unferth charged at Grendel, but Grendel picked up apples from a nearby table and threw them at Unferth, hitting him so that he bled. Unferth slipped on the bloody floor, making Grendel laugh. Unferth attempted to charge again, but Grendel tipped the table of apples over on top of him. Unferth was extremely angered, but Grendel simply left. He says that he got more pleasure from that fight than any other.

Grendel returned to his cave. Three nights later, Unferth arrived, having followed him. Grendel woke up startled, stopped his mother from going to Unferth, and went to see Unferth himself. Unferth was exhausted and injured by the firesnakes he had to swim by to get to Grendel’s den. He announced his arrival and said that his heroic acts would be sung in future songs. He waited for Grendel to kill him, but Grendel just watched him silently.

Frustrated, Unferth told Grendel that he was wrong about heroism, that it really did exist and that Unferth was a true hero, because no one would know whether he found Grendel and died heroically or simply fled. According to Unferth, this defines “inner heroism.” Unferth continued to refer to himself as a hero, which annoyed Grendel. Grendel decided to carry Unferth back to Hrothgar’s meadhall safe and unharmed.

Unferth fell asleep and Grendel carried him back home, leaving him at the meadhall door. Grendel says that Unferth still lives, challenging Grendel in vain, ashamed that he alone is spared in Grendel’s raids.