ABSTRACT
In the ancient poem Grendel is described in three ways. First he is described as a friend who wanders the moors and fens of the borderlands, lives in darkness, and suffers greatly. Second, Grendel is a descendant of Cain. His life and unhappiness are attributed to the damnation of God just as God had damned and exiled Cain for having killed his brother, Abel. And third, this fiend from hell is greatly angered and envious of the festivity and joy coming from Heorot, the great hall, joy praising the beauty of God’s creation. The signs and sightings of Grendel stalking in the borderlands is our feeling of apprehension, a feeling at the edge of our awareness, an undefined feeling of being unloved, a feeling which has its origin in our having been abandoned. Grendel returned night after night, the war and pain continued to escalate, and so did frustration and depression.
