Important Characters in the Chapter:
Grendel: A silent observer for most of the chapter, when discovered by Ork, Grendel assumes the role of "The Destroyer," pretending to be a god in the Danish pantheon to mess with the priest.
Ork: An old priest who discovers Grendel in the woods, Ork, mistaking Grendel for a god, is brought to what he perceives to be a religious revelation.
Plot Synopsis:
Grendel, in the beginning of the chapter is yet again a passive observer of Hart. The only main difference between this time and other times is a pressing fear that Grendel cannot shake.
After observing Scylding religious rituals, Grendel lies to a priest, pretending to be a member of the priest's religious pantheon as he inquires about the nature of his religion. After listening to his theological developments, Grendel returns home.
Moral Philosophy:
"The old peasant, friend of Prince Hrothulf, whispers crossly: 'In the old days they used to kill virgins. Religion is sick.'" (128)
Grendel is seeing in real time that religion, despite the strength and fervor with which the Shaper established it, is waning as a force in Hart.
"No one in the kingdom is convinced that the gods have life in them. The weak observe the rituals--take their hats off, put them on again, raise their arms, lower their arms, moan, intone, press their palms together--but no one harbors unreasonable expectations" (128).
Grendel reiterates what was proven in the observation about Hrothulf, indicating that people go through the motions of religion without any of the fervor of belief.
"The strong--old Hrothgar, Unferth--ignore the images. The will to power resides among the stalactites of the heart" (128).
A direct reference to a theory from German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (the will to power), Grendel's observations, that those in power have no time for religious ceremony, cement his observations of religious decay.
"On the chance that there might be something to it all, whatever a reasonable man might think, the people tipped the stone gods up again. . ." (129).
Despite seeing evidence that belief has waned in religion, Grendel notes that people still adhere to the rituals, which he perceives to be in line with Pascal's Wager - a "just in case" performance from a non-believer.
"'I know all mysteries,' the priest says. 'I am the only man still living who has thought them all out'" (130).
On encountering Grendel, the priest initially introduces himself as one who has "thought his way through" religion, which is still in line with all of the burgeoning secular thought that Grendel observed previously.
"'No reason can be given for the nature of God, because that nature is the ground of rationality'" (131).
Once deceived, and told he was speaking to a divine figure, Ork moves into a set of revelations about how divinity works, quoting directly from the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead. There is a separation of divinity into conceptual and practical that was the cornerstone of Whitehead's "process theism." For Ork, this would be a process of rationalizing the existence of a divinity that is created by humans, but through that creation, would prove its own existence prior to that. This is process philosophy in a nutshell, as Ork's literal experience with Grendel opened the door for a religious theory to develop that exists independent of reality (since Grendel has lies about his divine status).
"The ultimate evil is that Time is perpetual perishing, and being actual involves elimination" (132).
In his ruminations, Ork accidentally stumbles upon the crux of Grendel's existence as imposed on him by the dragon. Because Grendel cannot cope with the insignificance of his own existence, he acts out in ways that the dragon ordained for him.
"I back away. Even a monster's blood-lust can be stifled by such talk" (136).
When exposed, Grendel retreats from the ideas.
Chapter Analysis:
The chapter begins with the idea that the death of the Shaper in the next chapter cements, that religion is failing in Hart, but it moves beyond that to demonstrate how epistemological philosophies like religion can resurface given the right environment. Ork, through living in the Hart that is slowly becoming less religious, originally believes that he has "figured out" religion, as if it is an equation to be solved. This changes when he believes Grendel's lie, and he has a religious epiphany. Gardner's initial presentation of process philosophy is one of mockery; the reader is well aware that Ork is generating thoughts based entirely on fiction - and perhaps Gardner, as a student of philosophy himself, has disdain for contemporary styles of philosophy that work through bias (which one might call experience) first before producing claims.
This idea is complicated, however, by the fact that Ork is able to produce ideas in his revelation that are true in the context of the story. By mistaking Grendel for The Destroyer, he is able to arrive at observations of time and purpose that the dragon had already swayed Grendel with. Living to die is the dragon's nihilistic sentiment, but it was arrived at from a theory based on a lie, as opposed to when the dragon is able to contextualize it, by knowing everything there is to know. This is likely Gardner "giving the devil it's due" with regards to process philosophy. He shows it to be a knowledge generating framework, even if the framework isn't based in observable phenomenon.