Important Characters in the Chapter:
Grendel: Grendel, now having encountered the dragon, moves through the chapter with a completely different attitude than in prior chapters.
The Shaper: Still the character that gives voice to the mythologies and values in Hart, Grendel is now impervious to his words.
Unferth: A Thane in Hrothgar's hall that attempts to challenge Grendel, mimicking all of the heroic qualities that readers would be familiar with in traditional heroic epics.
Plot Synopsis:
Grendel, having been philosophically swayed by the dragon, returns to Hart as he normally would, but instead of being conflicted by the Shaper's words, he is angry at every person in the hall for believing in the rhetoric. He is found by guards, and upon being attacked, realizes that the dragon has cast magic upon him so that he can no longer be harmed.
As Grendel begins his systematic raids of Hart, he is challenged by a man named Unferth, who introduces himself as one might in an epic poem. Grendel speaks to him on what it means to be a hero, but the words don't impact Unferth at first, so shocked is he that Grendel can actually speak. To insult Unferth's perceptions of his own heroism, Grendel bests him by pelting him with apples.
Grendel is attacked three days later in his cave by Unferth, who Grendel assumes trailed him from Hart. They exchange words again, in which Grendel only sees Unferth's desire to be a hero to be self-serving as opposed to altruistic. As a means of tormenting Unferth, every time he attacks, Grendel spares him and only him.
Moral Philosophy:
"I had become something, as if born again. I had hung between possibilities before, between the cold truths I knew and the heart-sucking conjuring tricks of the Shaper; now that was passed: I was Grendel, Ruiner of Meadhalls, Wrecker of Kings!" (80).
Grendel, upon realizing he has the Dragon's enchantment, begins to fill his deterministic role of the antagonist of Hart. He initially believes that he is filling some sort of mechanical obligation to the universe.
"I saw myself swelling like bellows on their blood, a meaningless smudge in a universe dead as old wind over bones, abandoned except for the burnt-blood scent of the dragon." (81-82)
The dragon's influence weighs heavily on Grendel as he loses sight of meaning. The dragon's presence is always indicated when Grendel is feeling his influence, often as smell.
"But no doubt there are compensations . . . The pleasant feeling of vast superiority, the easy success with women--" (84).
When encountering someone who claims to be a hero, Grendel refuses to acknowledge that they have any of the intrinsic, virtuous qualities from the Shaper's songs, instead attributing it all to well-concealed selfishness. Gardner is demonstrating the difficulty of separating altruism from selfishness if society rewards altruistic behavior.
"I nodded in the darkness. ' And breaks up the boredom,' I said" (89).
As Unferth challenges Grendel again and again, Grendel continues to cynically dismantle Unferth's beliefs. He is, as he believes Unferth is, finding a selfish way to exist in a universe that isn't necessarily linked to what he thinks his purpose to be.
"A few minutes from now I'm going to carry you back to Hrothgar, safe and sound. So much for poetry" (90).
Grendel makes a choice that is antithetical to what the dragon indicated his role should be. Grendel decides to spite this individual because it brings him joy. Instead of fitting mechanically into Hrothgar's system as a villain, he makes a personal choice that compromises his belief in the dragon's philosophy.
"So much for heroism. So much for the harvest-virgin. So much, also, for the alternative visions of blind old poets and dragons" (90).
Grendel ends the chapter more certain of himself, closer to the dragon in worldview than the Shaper, but not quite nihilistic to the same degree. He is instead a cynic, living for temporary moments of amusement where his decisions consistently violate expectations because that is one of the only ways he feels he can rebel.
Chapter Analysis:
Grendel works through his indecisions in this chapter, arriving at a philosophy that disregards both the Shaper and the dragon's perspectives, while taking inspiration from both. One of the most consistent aspects of Grendel's views in this chapter is the radical cynicism that he displays at every opportunity. He believes that all persons are ultimately self-interested through his encounters with Unferth. He refuses to believe that Unferth is a hero, only seeing a young boy who is playing pretend as to be more successful with women or to make his life more exciting. Gardner is exploring how the premise of ethical egoism can have a negative side to it, with Unferth (positives) serving as a foil to Grendel (negatives).
Grendel ends the chapter fully believing in the moral perspective afforded by ethical egoism. The moment Grendel takes pleasure in what he does in Hart, he no longer is the mechanical, nihilistic force that the dragon claims he should be, which allows the chapter to function in two separate ways. In one line of thinking, this chapter functions as a counterpoint to chapter five's nihilism - people will always take pleasure in something, and there is a counterpoint to meaninglessness in that premise. In the other line of thinking, Gardner is exploring what happens when immoral agents are egoists. While society might function well if moral agents (people who align with society's vision for them) operate under the assumptions of ethical egoism, like Unferth, the second someone who does not agree with society, like Grendel, participates in the same moral framework, society begins to fall apart, and, more tragically, they can break the willpower and desires of the moral agents.