On the train, Eric and Four divide the initiates into two teams to play capture the flag, a Dauntless tradition. Chapter 1. Every night, Grendel attacks King Hrothgar's wealthy mead-hall, Heorot, killing Danish warriors and sometimes even eating them. In Grendel, he is a lonely creature who seeks an understanding of the seemingly meaningless world around him. This stylistically and thematically postmodern novel is an example of a metafiction—fiction about fiction. Grendel was fascinated by the woman. Grendel’s Mother. Chapter 1 Summary: The novel begins with Grendel, a bear-like monster, watching a “stupidly triumphant” ram standing at a cliff’s edge. Chapter 1. Grendel stumbles into Hart with the corpse in his hands, yelling “Mercy! Peace!”. She carries him to her "hall," a cave protected from the water. Mollie Burkhart, a full-blooded Osage woman, is married to a white man named Ernest Burkhart. Grendel. Grendel. Read Beowulf here, with side-by-side No Fear translations into modern English. This first appearance of Beowulf in the poem shows him to be a worthy representative of that code. The protagonist of the epic, Beowulf is a Geatish hero who fights the monster Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a fire-breathing dragon. 4:37 The Battle with Grendel; 5:37 Analysis; 6:46 Lesson Summary; Save Timeline Autoplay Autoplay. When Grendel grabs a vine to reassure himself, what does the vine turn out to be? A spear. The blade slices cleanly through the Grendel’s mother’s neck, and she falls dead to the floor, gushing with blood. Grendel. 99/year as selected above. “The King of the Gods is the ultimate limitation,” he keens, “and His existence is the ultimate irrationality. He does not know how he strayed from the road or how he arrived in the woods, but he says that he will record his story. However, after years of being attacked by Grendel with no way of stopping him, Hrothgar seems resigned to. But they rush across chasms on spiderwebs, and sometimes they make it, and that, they think. It was decorated with the antlers of stags; the name means "hart [stag] hall. Grendel stumbles into Hart with the corpse in his hands, yelling “Mercy! Peace!”. The Shaper represents the power of art and imagination to change people’s perceptions about themselves and the world in which they live. As Beowulf feels his own death approaching, the dragon emerges. Beowulf, a warrior from another Germanic tribe called the. Roman Fever Summary. There is no conviction in the old priests’ songs; there is only showmanship. After that, the Danes abandon Heorot to Grendel after nightfall. I understood that, finally and absolutely, I alone exist. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. Grendel sees the priests’ rituals as mere showmanship. Beowulf is speaking these words as he nears the end of his life, after he has defeated the fiery dragon who guarded an ancient hoard of treasure. Death of a Salesman Frankenstein Pride and Prejudice Romeo and Juliet The Catcher in the Rye Menu. Hrothgar The aging king of the Danes welcomes Beowulf's assistance in facing the menace of Grendel. The stranger watches Grendel make his. Summary. Our cover-to-cover analysis of many popular classic and contemporary titles examines critical components of your text including: notes on authors, background, themes, quotes, characters, and discussion questions to help you study. Grendel observes Hrothgar, noting how drastically his face has changed over the years. His mother. Grendel, Hrothgar, Unferth, Wiglaf, Grendel’s Mother, and the dragon. Grendel. Along with Grendel, Unferth represents the theme of envy in the epic. A summary of Chapter 11 in John Gardner's Grendel. 99/year as selected above. The hero is valiant, strong, noble, and mighty, a legend in his own time and loyal to his leader Hygelac. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Grendel and what it means. Grendel’s mother, like her son, is a mysterious humanoid creature. 99/month or $24. Beowulf seizes the huge sword and swings it in a powerful arc. Next section Beowulf. 99/year as selected above. Take a quiz about the important details and events in Chapter 11 of Grendel. An Inspector Calls As You Like It Death of a Salesman Frankenstein. A light appears, and Beowulf looks around, his sword held high in readiness. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce experimented with an idea that came to be known as modernism, characterized by experimentation with new, nontraditional forms of expression. Chapter 10. A summary of Chapter 1 in John Gardner's Grendel. But the ram stays; the season is upon us. His defeat of Grendel and Grendel’s mother validates his. All three monsters are charismatic and mysterious, and readers have disagreed about what they represent. Grendel recognizes the great power that comes with such a skill. Beowulf does appear to be the fulfillment of the Scyldings’ prayers for a Destroyer to come and rid them of Grendel. Character Analysis Hrothgar. 3154-5). But his words are also an incantation. Beowulf is divided into three main parts, each of which centers on the hero’s struggle against a particular monster—first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, then the dragon. Binds his wound. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. Summary. This situation continues for twelve years. I shake my two hairy fists at the sky and I let out a howl so unspeakable that the water at my feet turns sudden ice and even I myself am left uneasy. Grendel is annoyed by the animal’s mindless. 4 of 5. Grendel tries to scare it away, eventually howling so terrifyingly that the water nearby freezes, but the ram doesn’t react. Suggestions. Character Analysis Unferth. And the fact that Grendel remembers his face from a forgotten dream hints that Grendel may know. Crucially, Grendel is never clearly. Tolkien. Summary: Chapter 12. Though Beowulf’s fight with Grendel immediately incurs the retaliation of Grendel’s mother, the fight with the dragon doesn’t occur until fifty years later. Point of view Grendel narrates in the first person, conveying his inner thoughts and observations; occasionally he narrates from the point of view of another character. 99/month or $24. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4. 99/month or $24. Likely the poem’s most memorable creation, Grendel is one of the three monsters that Beowulf battles. In Grendel, however, he is an intelligent and temperamental monster, capable of rational thought as well as irrational outbursts of emotion. I listened, felt myself swept up. The dragon is a mighty and glamorous opponent, an appropriate match for Beowulf. ” He. The dragon has been expecting Grendel, and he takes cruel pleasure in Grendel’s fright and discomfort. When two hunters from different bands came together in the woods, they would fight until the snow was slushy with blood, then crawl back, gasping and crying, to their separate camps to tell wild tales of what happened. Choosing to fight. Grendel, one of Gardner’s more stylistically and thematically postmodern novels, is an example of a metafiction—fiction about fiction. 99/year as selected above. Analysis. Unferth has a change of heart after Beowulf defeats Grendel and even gives Beowulf his own sword, named Hrunting, to help him defeat Grendel’s mother. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Choose an astrological sign and follow it through its associated chapter. 99/year as selected above. “The King of the Gods is the ultimate limitation,” he keens, “and His existence is the ultimate irrationality. Their people suffered “slavery and abasement” (l. Her son has returned to their cave mortally wounded, one of his two arms (or claws) ripped from its shoulder socket and hanging, now, beneath the roof of Hrothgar's mead-hall. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Grendel and what it means. I listened, felt myself swept up. 2 of 5. In the original Beowulf epic, Grendel displays nothing but the most primitive human qualities. Quotes. The poet chooses to relate much of this struggle from Grendel’s. Several offshoots came about because of that experiment and one, which earned the code name. Then a fierce evil demon suffered distress, long in torment, who dwelt in darkness. I knew very well that all he said was ridiculous, not light for their darkness but flattery, illusion, a vortex pulling them from sunlight to heat, a kind of midsummer burgeoning, waltz to the sickle. Edinburg, Texas: Pan American University School of the Humanities, 1983 . 649 Words3 Pages. Beowulf’s triumph over Grendel. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans. Gardner’s novel is a rewriting of the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. The snakelike face indicates from the beginning that Beowulf is someone that Grendel should fear. From his vantage point near his mere, Grendel sees a goat coming toward him and he scolds it, trying to chase it away. 5 of 5. Objective – Spark Tutorial. It was their confidence, maybe—their blissful, swinish ignorance, their bumptious self-satisfaction, and worst of all, their hope . Set in a dystopian future rather than the past, this adaptation makes many changes to the poem’s story. However, John Gardner adopts Grendel, an inhuman monster, to simply depict the flaws in men. Grendel recognizes the great power that comes with such a skill. The blade slices cleanly through the Grendel’s mother’s neck, and she falls dead to the floor, gushing with blood. 3-17. S. His praise of God reflects Christian values. 99/month or $24. The poet introduces Grendel, the monster, by picturing him as distressed. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. What does Grendel accidentally do that gives Beowulf the upper hand? Bangs his head. It attempts to engage Grendel in deep philosophical discourse regarding the. The king of the Danes (Scyldings) is a wise and great man, but he has lost some of his strength with age. After twelve years of continued aggression, the great Geatish warrior Beowulf comes across the ocean to rid the Danes of the beast. In the early part of the century, writers such as T. Chapter 1. The incredible scope of the dragon’s. Summary. John Champlin Gardner was born in Batavia, New York, on July 21, 1933, to John Champlin, a dairy farmer and lay Presbyterian preacher, and Priscilla Gardner, an English teacher. No one in the kingdom is convinced that the gods have life in them. Important quotes from Chapter 8 in Grendel. Analysis. His name might be related to the old Norse grindill, meaning "storm," or grenja, "to bel-low. 99/year as selected above. Chapter 3. Read a summary of the battle with Grendel in Beowulf. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Grendel and what it means. Grendel, a large bearlike monster, has spent the last twelve years locked in a war against a band of humans. Its. The Outsiders is a novel by S. 99/month or $24. Later, the symbol of the corpse is echoed in the. Summary. Summary and Analysis. First, he fights Grendel when he attacks the hall of Heorot. Analysis. Wiglaf, one of Beowulf’s kinsmen and thanes, is the only warrior brave enough to help the hero in his fight against the dragon. The corpse expands in significance, becoming not only a symbol of man and Grendel’s twinned fate, but also of Grendel’s desire to be accepted by the human community with which he has so many similarities. . And then Grendel has a strange encounter with a stupid goat that shows up by his mere. The dragon provides Grendel with a glimpse of the true nature of time, which the dragon is able to see stretching out toward both its beginning and its end. He succeeds in killing his opponent, but he is mortally wounded. Lines 194-606. Grendel knows it is because spring has come and the ram is now fueled by lust. The style of Beowulf is plain-spoken and inventive. I’ve never seen a live hero before. Beowulf does appear to be the fulfillment of the Scyldings’ prayers for a Destroyer to come and rid them of Grendel. “Grendel” by John Gardner details the life of Grendel, a monster, who observes and interacts with the human world. The protagonist and narrator of the novel. Speed Speed. At this time, Beowulf, nephew of the Geatish king Hygelac, is the greatest hero in the world. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4. Against this vision, man’s complete history seems no more than “a swirl in the stream of time. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. Grendel Chapter 8. Take a quiz about the important details and events in Chapter 8 of Grendel. After twelve years of continued aggression, the great Geatish warrior Beowulf comes across the ocean to rid the Danes of the beast. It is Orestes, the son of Agamemnon and Clytemnestra, who killed his mother in order to avenge her murder of his father. Chapter 10. 4 of 5. Hometown Loyalty. The dragon. Beowulf lies dead, and Wiglaf is bowed down with grief at the loss of his lord. After establishing the novel’s linear plotline in Chapter 1 —namely, the twelve-year battle between Grendel and the Danes—Chapter 2 takes us an unspecified number of years into the past to tell the story of Grendel’s first exposure to the human world. Grendel Study Guide. From the creators of SparkNotes. The dragon, too, lies slain on the ground. The goat continues to climb, and Grendel shoves it down the mountainside and throws a rock at it, splitting its head. Analysis. Villains are not born, they’re created. Writer and artist Matt Wagner is returning to the origins of his best-loved creation, the masked assassin Grendel. Grendel’s mother is evil, not because she seeks sorrowful revenge but because she is a creature of hell who hungers for death. But the jubilant noise from Heorot angers. 99/month or $24. 99/month or $24. Here, the dragon tells Grendel the ultimate meaning of his existence. Chapter 4 Analysis. Alliteration is the repeating of consonant sounds in a line of poetry. It is Gardner's third published novel, and his most famous work. Life-bloated, baffled, long-suffering hag. This segment describes the monstrous creature Grendel, who, in the first arc of the epic, battles Beowulf. Quotes. Take a quiz about the important details and events in of Beowulf. Analysis. Yet I was swept up. Literary Context: Gardner and Postmodernism. A summary of Part X (Section7) in John Gardner's Grendel. Chapter 10 Summary. 3 of 5. Since he is also grappling with boredom simultaneously, Grendel is particularly volatile. Beowulf, a warrior, lands in Hrothgar’s kingdom and kills Grendel but then must contend with Grendel’s mother who comes to enact revenge for her son’s murder. Beowulf makes good on his boast that he will fight Grendel single-handed. Grendel opens in the spring of Grendel’s final year of life and ends with his death in the winter of the same year. The idea that violence and shame would make Hrothgar calm seems contradictory. 1984 Brave New World Don Quixote The Handmaid's Tale Things Fall Apart Menu. . Educated Summary. He smells the dragon in his presence as he notes that he has not yet “committed the ultimate act of nihilism” (93), which would be to murder Hrothgar’s queen, Wealtheow. Here, “bone-house,” meaning “body,” is an example of a “kenning. This epic poem was written in Old English and, like other Old English epics, celebrates the daring feats of a hero, as Beowulf defeats Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a dragon. With this description, the author introduces Grendel as he rages at the ram standing on. I was sickened, if only at the waste of it: all they killed—cows, horses, men—they left to rot or burn. A man-eating monster descended from the Biblical Cain. For this reason, some readers have seen Grendel’s mother as an embodiment of ancient Northern European society’s tendency toward unending. He wanted the beauty and order of the story, even if he had to be the outcast. Instead, Grendel remains poised on the edge of the cliff—an image forever unresolved. Such is His mystery: that beauty requires contrast, and. Important quotes from Chapter 2 in Grendel. It was their confidence, maybe—their blissful, swinish ignorance, their bumptious self-satisfaction, and worst of all, their hope . Following Grendel’s confrontation with Thor, the symbiote ended up frozen in ice. Chapter 8. Beowulf is an Old English epic poem written anonymously around 975 AD. . What are examples of alliteration in Beowulf during the Battle with Grendel's mother? Alliteration: Alliteration is a type of figurative language that many poets use in their poems. A summary of Chapter 3 in John Gardner's Grendel. A wicked queen of legend who punishes anyone who looks at her the wrong way. Terrible evils lurk in the outer darknesses. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4. Important quotes from Chapter 5 in Grendel. To Eastern Danes had the valiant Geat his vaunt made good, all their sorrow and ills assuaged, their bale of battle borne so long, and all the dole they erst endured pain a-plenty. The action. In the original Beowulf epic, Grendel displays nothing but the most primitive human qualities. Back More. After killing Grendel, Beowulf goes. Analysis. The eyes slanted downward, never blinking, unfeeling as a snake’s. Thanks for exploring this SuperSummary Study Guide of “Long Way Down” by Jason Reynolds. " Page 26. A summary of Chapter 6 in John Gardner's Grendel. The Dragon. With this description, the author introduces Grendel as he rages at the ram. Explore an in-depth analysis of Ponyboy Curtis, the plot summary, and important quotes . All hastily, then, o’er fair-paved floor the fiend trod on, ireful he strode; there streamed from his eyes fearful flashes, like flame to see. At the house of the Shaper, people come and go, solemn faced, treading softly, their heads bowed and their hands folded for fear of sending dreadful apparitions through his dreams. 4:37 The Battle with Grendel; 5:37 Analysis; 6:46 Lesson Summary; Save Timeline Autoplay Autoplay. Grendel and his mother’s dead bodies. Although the poem celebrates the deeds of Beowulf and other great leaders, this celebration is infused with an understanding that even the greatest leaders, and the most morally good—by pagan standards—are dead and gone. 1258), seeking redress for the death of her son at Beowulf’s hands. Beowulf is obsessed with these spaces, the borders between civilization and wilderness. Grendel, a large bearlike monster, has spent the last twelve years locked in a war against a band of humans. Beowulf characters include: Beowulf, Grendel, Hrothgar, Unferth, Wiglaf, Grendel’s Mother, The. When he lands, Grendel's mother grabs and squeezes him, but his armor protects him. He was called Wiglaf, son of Weohstan, A valued shied-warrior, and man of the Scylfings, A kinsman of Aelfhere. Shakespeare No Fear. Grendel cannot escape, and a vicious match ensues, ending when Beowulf rips Grendel's arm from its shoulder socket. It begins in the palace of the Duchess, a young widow and the ruler of the Italian town of Amalfi. The poem’s narrator has access to the interior thoughts and feelings of all the characters, even the dragon. What is the sign’s relevance? What does it come to signify in Grendel as a whole? 5. After establishing the novel’s linear plotline in Chapter 1 —namely, the twelve-year battle between Grendel and the Danes—Chapter 2 takes us an unspecified number of years into the past to tell the story of Grendel’s first exposure to the human world. Rising action Grendel’s attack on Heorot, Beowulf’s defeat of Grendel, and Grendel’s mother’s vengeful killing of Aeschere lead to the climactic encounter between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. Active Themes. Since the charge is first-degree murder, the accused will be. Grendel. Grendel turns Heorot, the heart of Danish society, into a slaughterhouse. As a symbol of his power and prosperity he builds a magnificent mead-hall, called Heorot, in which he and his loyal warriors can feast, drink, boast, and listen to the tales of the scops, the Anglo-Saxon bards. 2 of 5. Take a quiz about the important details and events in Chapter 10 of Grendel. Beowulf’s antagonists are the three monsters: he literally combats them, and these three fights form the three major episodes of the poem. What boast or promise does Beowulf make to Wealhtheow, the Queen? He says he loves her and will kill Grendel in her honor. Important quotes from Chapter 11 in Grendel. com you can find used, antique and new books, compare results and immediately purchase your selection at the best price. She is a lady I have watched with the greatest admiration. Two middle-aged women, Mrs. A study guide to the popular novel offers a plot summary, a review quiz, and an examaination of important quotations, along with analysis of the key themes, motifs, characters, and symbols in the work. The Geat champion grabs hold of Grendel's claw with the strength of 30 men and won't let go. When he was eleven years old, who did John Gardner accidentally kill? His father. He shouts at the goat to leave but it keeps climbing mindlessly. Grendel expresses the pain of his boredom and his apathy for the world around him before revealing the Shaper is sick. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of Grendel and what it means. The poem’s language is richly physical, with a particular emphasis on bodies and their fragility: “flames wrought havoc in the hot bone-house” (l. Grendel: a man-eating monster who lives at the bottom of a foul mere, or mountain lake. Spark Architecture, an open-source, framework-based component that processes a large amount of unstructured, semi-structured, and structured data for analytics, is utilised in Apache Spark. Shakespeare No Fear Shakespeare Translations. He was the mightiest man of valor in that same day of this our life, stalwart and stately. Summary: Chapter 12. Summary. 99/year as selected above. Character List; Beowulf; Grendel; Hrothgar;. The poem clearly announces that Beowulf will defeat Grendel: “[Grendel’s] fate that night / was due to change, his days of ravening / had come to an end” (ll. Near the end of the poem the poet reveals that, because of an ancient spell, Beowulf would have been condemned to. Grendel observes Hrothgar, noting how drastically his face has changed over the years. Grendel study guide contains a biography of John Gardner, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. John Gardner’s work is often classified as postmodernist. Beowulf is loosely divided into three parts, each of which centers around Beowulf’s fight with a particular monster: first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, then the dragon. "Twelve winters of grief for Hrothgar, king. Suggestions. The main action of Grendel takes place in the last year of that war, but the novel skips back in time in order to illuminate the origins of the conflict as well as Grendel’s personal history. He hurls a boulder at it, but it keeps climbing. While the Shaper sings to celebrate the boy's arrival, Grendel spots more sinister intentions in the new arrival. The rivalry between Unferth, a Danish warrior, and Beowulf has formed a subplot of the story since Beowulf’s first appearance at Hrothgar’s hall, when Unferth challenged the hero’s claims. Kaplan says that when she first read Beowulf, she remembers feeling sorry for Grendel. Yet he, the old Shaper, might make it true, by the sweetness of his harp, his. A man-eating monster descended from the Biblical Cain. . He will not budge. Suggestions. Summary. Summary. I hurl a skull-size stone at him. He spies Grendel's corpse lying in a corner. The thief steals a gem-covered goblet, arousing the wrath of the dragon. 99/month or $24. Chapter 5 Summary. Throughout Grendel, the Shaper and his beautiful though fictional systems are presented as an alternative to the cynical, fatalistic outlook of the dragon. The narrator also comments on the action, usually to draw out moral implications: “Behavior that’s admired / is the path to power among people everywhere” (ll. Slips in blood. Beowulf is told from a third-person omniscient point of view. Rather than being full of fire and bloodlust, the dragon has cold eyes that imply that he feels weary from all his knowledge of the true state of the world. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. Grendel’s mother lives with Grendel in a cave in a vast underground realm. Villains are not born, they’re created. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. D. I thought they were only in poetry. Later, the symbol of the corpse is echoed in the. The hero is exultant. "The poor fellow is minding his own business, living in his lake with his mother, when Hrothgar and company show up and ruin the. E. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. E. ”. Apart from Hadoop and map-reduce architectures for big data processing, Apache Spark’s architecture is regarded as an alternative. Her "hall" is inaccessible to society. A few months shy of his twelfth birthday, Gardner inadvertently killed his younger brother Gilbert in a gruesome accident, running. Character Analysis Grendel's Mother. Grendel' s one thought was to run From Beowulf fle, e back to his marsh and hide there: This was a different Herot than the hall h e had emptied. Get the summaries, analysis, and quotes you need. Founding Brothers Summary. Trifles Summary. Chapter 9. #2,045,568 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books. Rumors of witchcraft spread through the town and a crowd gathers. S. Shakespeare No Fear Shakespeare Translations. Chapter 2. What is the sign’s relevance? What does it come to signify in Grendel as a whole? 5. Jay Rudd, "Gardner's Grendel and Beowulf: Humanizing the Monster," in THOTH, Spring/Fall, 1974, pp. However, after years of being attacked by Grendel with no way of stopping him, Hrothgar seems resigned to. Video Quiz Course 46K views. Get the entire Beowulf LitChart as a printable PDF. 1258), seeking redress for the death of her son at Beowulf’s hands. Hrothgar was skeptical, but then the king brought out a beautiful woman, his sister, and offered her in marriage to Hrothgar. “Grendel” by John Gardner details the life of Grendel, a monster, who observes and interacts with the human world. About Beowulf. Prelude of the Founder of the Danish House. He sees the goat climbing up a hill and creates obstacles for the goat before bashing the animal’s head. Save. These three antagonist fights serve as an allegorical tableau of the life of a leader. His mother’s evil is more ambiguous, because killing for vengeance was allowed in the warrior culture of Beowulf’s time. A light appears, and Beowulf looks around, his sword held high in readiness. Grendel observes Hrothgar, noting how drastically his face has changed over the years. When the Geats first arrive, Grendel remarks on his first impression of Beowulf. And so begins the twelfth year of my idiotic war. The tribe has taken its name from Scyld Scefing, a mythological hero who, many years earlier, reached their shores as a castaway babe on a ship mysteriously laden with. In his youth, Grendel explores his vast underground world with childlike abandon. A Geatish hero who comes across the sea to rid the Scyldings of Grendel. The Shaper’s song has led to a religious philosophy among the Scyldings. 1355), and their hoards of. King Hrothgar of Denmark, a descendant of the great king Shield Sheafson, enjoys a prosperous and successful reign. The hero is exultant. Gardner’s twist on the tale is his choice to narrate the story from the. I no longer remember exactly what he sang. The Shaper. Significantly, Grendel ends before we actually see Grendel take the plunge into the abyss. Eliot, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce experimented with an idea that came to be known as modernism, characterized by experimentation with new, nontraditional forms of expression. Beowulf is divided into three main parts, each of which centers on the hero’s struggle against a particular monster—first Grendel, then Grendel’s mother, then the dragon. 5,250+ Quick-Read Plot Summaries. The Shaper. The best study guide to Sing,.