On Matt Wagner’s ‘Grendel’ (a translation) (02)

 

First Chapter

The Gospel According to Grendel (II)

 

        The author’s initial idea was to reverse, in a part, the traditional characters association for adventure stories. The starting point was: what happens when the bad boy turns out to be handsome and smart, and the good boy is monstrous and brutal?

We find the source of inspiration, and the name for the character, in «Beowulf». The poem, anonymous and about 3.000 verses long, tells about the confrontation between ‘Beowulf’ –son of a Scandinavian king– and ‘Grendel’, a monster. 

It’s one of the eldest Anglo-Saxon legends, and it’s thought to have been written between the 8^th and the 10^th century. However, it doesn’t have much of an influence on Matt Wagner’s creation, leaving apart the character’s name. It does give the monster’s appearance to the supposed law upholder, not to ‘Grendel’.

 

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