It was starting again. The noise and music carried over the mountains, into the cave every night. It had been going on for so long he couldn’t remember the last time he got a full night’s sleep. He had tried everything. He put mud in his ears to try to keep the sound out and barricaded the entrance to his cave. Everything he did just seemed to muffle it a little but it never would cut it out completely. It seems that where his cave is located within the valley makes the sound carry more than if he were right next to their “kingdom camp”.
Every night he would try to go to bed early just to get some semblance of sleep but it seemed like their party would start right after he fell asleep. He tried just sleeping during the day but that didn’t work either because they were awake in the daytime and would hunt in the valley, trampling all over his garden, killing his friends. He was a plant eater through and through. He valued the lives of other living things. But as the nights wore on he couldn’t help but imagining the deaths of all of those villagers making his life a living hell. He would imagine their gruesome deaths as he tried to fall asleep. He pictured their faces writhing in agony as he made them be silent.
After months of agonizing. He finally decided to visit his mother. He traveled a day and a night to reach his mother in her underwater cave. She was so happy to see him and angry as well. She could see how disheveled he was. His hair was a mess, he was losing weight, and he had dark circles under his eyes. Even he knew he looked a mess.
“Grendel, baby, what is wrong?” His mom said, rushing over to him pulling him in the door.
“Nothing mom, just a little tired that’s all.” Grendel flopped down on the stone sofa.
“Nonsense! If you were just a little tired you wouldn’t be looking like this. Not to mention the fact that you never come to visit. Something has to be wrong.” She said crossing her arms.
“Mother, seriously, it’s nothing. Just the villagers in my area celebrating good times. They get a little loud but they have to be celebrating something glorious to cause all that ruckus. It’ll die down. In the meantime, can I just sleep here for a couple nights? Just so I can let them have their fun and get some rest,” he said, closing his eyes.
“Of course honey, you can. Always, you know that.” She covered him up with a seaweed blanket and started to walk away. She stopped and just looked at him. He looked like he hadn’t slept for months. He was already snoring and it hadn’t even been 2 minutes since he closed his eyes!
Grendel’s mother decided she would check things out in his neck of the woods and see if she could figure out why these villagers where celebrating so much that they caused her son to look so sickly.
She packed a small pack, just enough for the trip there and back. She wasn’t planning on staying very long at all.
When she finally arrived it was after dark and she could hear the villagers celebrating with their music and yelling. She crept up to the village and peered through the trees but saw no evidence as to why they were celebrating.
She quietly maneuvered around the parameter of the camp to see if she was missing something, but, alas, no altar or any kind of medallion was in site. She stayed and watched as the celebration continued, getting louder and louder. Some aspects of these people were humorous but then others were just arrogant in her eyes. They stumbled around too drunk on the mead they drank to even watch where they were going. They partook in drunken sword fights and in some cases fought until they bled.
As she watched, she saw one lone person walking her way. She crouched down, as not to be seen. He came upon her, stood right next to her but didn’t notice her crouched down behind the brush. She sat there, with her knees against her chest, watching the man stand there. He hung his head almost in shame. He didn’t look like the others. He looked like he was completely sober.
She rustled her feet under her to give him notice that she was there. He turned startled.
“W-who’s there? I warn you, I am armed! Show yourself now stranger!” He yelled drawing his sword from his belt.
“I am sorry to startle you, kind sir. This was not my intent. I only wanted to make you aware of me being here. If you permit me, I would like to stay in the shadows so as not to scare you. If I may, I would like to inquire as to why everyone is celebrating?”
“I-I-I am sorry. I did not mean be so crass. You startled me just a little. I would like to see your face, but I will answer your question. There is not a reason for our celebratory actions. The king merely has decided that we should celebrate every night if only to show us how rich he is in coin and respect.”
“No, it is okay, I understand your trepidation. I would show my face to you if it would not cause you to run in terror, or to pull your sword on me. So no other reason for the loudness other than because the king can. Oh boy, this is troubling indeed. I wonder if you have any pull with the king and could get his ear for just a minute? My son lives just in the valley and has not slept a wink since this partying started. I wonder if you could persuade your king to stop this commotion, so that my son may sleep.”
“Oh no! This is terrible news! I sincerely apologize for the trouble we have caused your family. I promise, I will do my best to inform the king of this trouble and persuade him to stop the celebrating unless it is for a truly noble cause.”
“Thank you, kind sir. You have no idea how much this eases my heart. I will take my leave now. Thank you again.” Grendel’s mother then turned and headed home. The whole way home Grendel’s mother was very pleased with herself for solving her son’s problems. It was actually a lot easier than she thought it was going to be. She walked through the door to her underwater cave just as Grendel started stirring.
“Good morning sleepy head. How are you feeling? Did you get enough sleep? Do you want some breakfast? I just picked up some perfectly ripe fruit and some kind of new vine that smells so fantastic!” Grendel’s mom walked in put everything in her arms on the table.
“Honestly mother, I feel like a boulder fell and hit me in the head a few times, but I do feel a little better. I would love something to eat!” Grendel promptly started grabbing every bit he could fit in his mouth and shoving it in.
“Careful! You don’t want to choke yourself!” She ran over to him to make sure she didn’t need to help him if he choked on his massive handful of food.
“Muver, I’m finnndd.” He said through his mouthful. “Actually, I am feeling much better. I think I might go home after I eat.”
“Grendel, why don’t you stay just one more day? Just get one more day of sleep before you leave. Just in case they haven’t stopped all the commotion.”
“I will be fine. I promise. I have already been here 3 days and I slept the entire time. I want to get home now.” Grendel started packing up the items he brought with him. He kissed his mother goodbye and started on his way home.
When he got home it was the middle of the day. All was quiet. Grendel let out a sigh, hopeful that the village was done celebrating and was now resting. He went inside and started cleaning up his cave. He was feeling so much better that he felt he could do some extra cleaning that he hadn’t had the energy to do in months. After a few hours of cleaning he decided to sit down and relax while eating a bowl of fruit, just enjoying the silence.
No sooner had he sat down, did he hear the familiar sound of the village band starting up. Grendel groaned and tried to cover his ears but nothing helped. The sound still seeped through. For hours Grendel tried to tune out the sound of people yelling and hollering but nothing was working.
He couldn’t take it anymore, he had to say something. Grendel locked up his cave and headed through the valley towards the sound of the commotion. With every step he took he got more and more angry. The sound just kept getting louder.
He finally got to the camp and he saw the people for the first time. He saw how they were yelling and making so much noise. He couldn’t take it anymore. Something snapped in his mind. And he charged. He grabbed the first person who came in his path and ripped him in two. The feeling of relief that washed over him was tremendous. So he kept going. Every person who was unlucky enough to be in his path lay behind him bleeding. After the fourth one the villagers realized that their friends were dying.
Chaos quickly ensued. People started fleeing the site. Running indoors trying to get away from him. Grendel made quick work of the unlucky people that were outside. He had absolutely no discrimination on who he killed because with every person he killed the quieter it became. Finally, when outside was clear Grendel felt like the townsfolk had received his point, loud and clear.
Grendel then headed home. Once he walked in the door he sighed a huge sigh of relief. He then laid down and had the best sleep he had had in months, in his own bed.
When he woke up, he felt so rested and all the stress he had felt for the past few months was gone. Hopefully the villagers had gotten his point. Grendel then started to clean some more.
A few hours in, he started to hear commotion again. It sounded more like mourning this time so he decided to leave it be for a while, assuming it would die down. The villagers, after all, would be mourning the loss of the people he killed.
He tried to deal with the sound coming down the valley. Hours and hours went by and the sound kept getting louder. Finally, it was just as loud as before. He couldn’t take it anymore.
Again, he went to the camp and killed everyone who came in his path. Again he chased everyone inside the buildings. And again, he went home and slept the best sleep he had in months.
The next night it happened again. And again, he killed everyone he came across. This kept going on for a while. Grendel didn’t understand why they didn’t get the point. He would keep doing this until the commotion ended.
One day, a few months down the road, the music didn’t start at the same time as it normally did. Grendel thought they finally got the point that he was trying to show them. A few hours later, Grendel was sitting down relaxing working on something for his cave when he heard a small commotion coming from the forest outside. He shrugged it off for a while. Kept doing what he was doing.
The sound kept getting closer and closer to the entrance to his cave. Finally, he got a little curious and decided to investigate the sound. He got to the sound and it stopped. He went back inside and went back to his task.
The sounds of celebration started back up a few hours later. Again Grendel went back to the camp to kill the villagers. This time the grounds were empty. He decided to check in the building because the sound was coming from inside. He went up to the building and ripped the door off its hinges. He then saw that all the people were asleep but still there was this deafening sound. They had to be mocking him. Making the sound where he couldn’t see. He grabbed the first sleeping person he came across and killed him. Ate him. The next person, he grabbed their arm but felt it pull back. The arm then grabbed his and held tight. The person got up. He was completely naked. This person pushed Grendel back and back until they were out of the building all together.
Grendel tried to wriggle free of his grasp but every time he did, the person held even tighter. With every move Grendel made he could feel his shoulder giving way until it tore a small tear. Blood started pouring out. In a frenzy, Grendel started pulling away as hard as he could until his shoulder came completely apart. He was left lying on the ground with his arm in the hands of the mystery man.
As the man and the villagers were celebrating his defeat, Grendel used that distraction to leave as fast as he could. He ran as fast as he could muster. The blood pouring out of his arm more and more with each step. He ran to find his mother. By the time he had gotten to his mother’s cave, his world was spinning and his vision had started to go blurry. He stumbled into the cave and as soon as he was passed the threshold he collapsed.
“Oh my gosh! Grendel, what happened?” Grendel’s mother came rushing to his side.
“I-I couldn’t take the noise anymore. I had to do something. I went there. I tried to just make a point. That they needed to be quiet but they didn’t get the point. So I had to go back, and back, and back.” He said, wincing as his mother tried to dab at his wound with a balm. “They never got the point. I went back. This time they were waiting for me. There was a guy. He was so strong. So strong. I didn’t see it coming.”
Grendel’s breathing started to get heavier and he started shaking almost uncontrollably. Suddenly they heard a noise outside the cave. Grendel’s mother went to the entrance of the cave to check out the noise.
Just then a man jumped out of the bush surrounding the entrance with a sword in tow. Grendel’s mom winced back.
“T-that’s him. Mother, that’s the human that did this to me.” Grendel said breathlessly.
Grendel’s mom was instantly consumed with a rolling fire of rage deep in her stomach. She charged at this man. Unconcerned with the fact that this human had just defeated her son, who was easily double her size.
She saw the man brace himself for impact. He was gearing up for battle. His sword raised in offense. Grendel’s mother charged at the man. Thoughts of every act of revenge were flashing in her mind as she charged. The man parried his sword and it bounced off her skin. It wasn’t sharp enough to pierce her skin.
She was deflected back when this happened. But she charged again. Her head was down and she was running as fast as she could. The man raised his sword again. This time it had an unusual gleam to it. The man raised it and swung it so fast she almost couldn’t see his movement. That was the last thing she saw and she was gone. The man had cut off her head and took it with him as a trophy. Grendel died while his mother was trying to avenge him.
Years later………………………………………………………………………………….
Gold glittering in every direction, as far as he could see, he had guarded these treasures for as long as he could remember. He was over 1000 years old and had had his days of adventure and fighting. The last 300 years had been so peaceful, every day just counting his treasures, polishing them and keeping them beautiful.
He didn’t collect these treasures on his own. He was hurt after a battle and found a hole to hide in. He didn’t notice it for the first little bit. He was too injured to notice anything. It was so dark, though he could see in the dark for the most part. When he did realize what was surrounding him he gasped and awed in the pure beauty of all these treasures.
He didn’t know who had placed them there but he decided he would guard them until the real owner came back. He would spend his life watching over them so that no one could damage them or tarnish them.
One day, after he had just finished polishing the last piece he laid down in his normal spot he had carved out to sleep. He hadn’t been asleep very long when he heard a rusting coming from the tunnel just outside. The dragon hunkered down and turned his scales so that the torch wouldn’t reflect on them. He sat silently watching the intruder enter his cave.
The intruder was slow about entering, trying to not make a noise. The dragon, with his spectacular vision, watched the man come in with his torch, waving it back and forth so he could see the entire cavern. The man investigated the outside ring of the treasures. Picking things up and then putting them back down, like the items he was grabbing weren’t good enough for him.
The man being there was enough to make the dragon angry. His attitude towards the items made the dragon even angrier. The man picked up an item and was looking at it under the torch light. Turning it this way and that way. He was examining every inch of the goblet. The dragon moved just a little hoping to scare the man off. He nearly dropped the goblet but he didn’t leave.
“What are you doing here?” The dragon roared, his voice booming off the walls. “Why have you come?”
“I-I didn’t know anyone was down here. I thought that this was all abandoned. I am sorry. I will leave.” The intruder squealed as he dropped the goblet and ran. The dragon chased after him. He moved slower than normal, he just wanted to make sure the intruder actually left. After he was satisfied the man had left he went back to the cavern to repolish the goblet and put it back where it belonged.
A few days went by and the dragon didn’t see any more intruders. He was confident that he had scared the man off. He went back to his own routine polishing and organizing the treasure he had come to love. The treasure didn’t even belong to him. He was just guarding it for the actual owner.
The dragon had just hunkered down for the night. All of his treasures in the correct spots, all of them polished so well that he could see himself in the reflection.
He heard a noise in the tunnel entrance just like before. The dragon feigned sleep. He opened one eye just slightly so that he could see the source of the noise. The dragon watched as the same man walked through the entrance to the cavern and then pick up the same goblet he had been admiring before. This time he didn’t drop the goblet. He held steadfast as he ran down the tunnel.
The dragon went after him but somehow the thief had outsmarted him and gotten away. The dragon “roared” in anger and all around him the cavern shook.
For the first time in centuries the dragon left the safety of the cavern in search of the thief. He flew low to the ground yelling, “Where are you thief? I know you couldn’t have gone far. All I want is the goblet back. No harm will come to you.” But received no response.
With every flap of his enormous wings the dragon got angrier and angrier that he was not able to find this thief. After not receiving a response for the tenth time, the dragon decided that if he could not coax him out of hiding he would burn him out.
Up and down the countryside the dragon blew his fire, running villagers out of their houses, hay and wheat fields, and taverns (which went up like an explosion). But still the thief was nowhere to be found.
Night after night the dragon raged through the land looking for the thief and the goblet that was stolen from his hoard. But still this little thief could be found nowhere within this land. After a few nights of fire wasting everything in his path the dragon turned his attention to the castle on the hill.
“Why should they be at rest, enjoying life, while a thief lurks in the shadows doing whatever he likes to my beautiful goblet. Before this, I was a peaceful dragon, I did not want for killing. The castle must burn so that maybe the king will know my pain.” The dragon launched himself toward the castle, hurling through the air like a targeted missile. Every flap of his wings brought him just a little closer.
Soon he was upon the castle and he let out a stream of fire hot enough to disintegrate even the tallest of castles. The dragon waited until every inch of the castle was engulfed in flame. He watched as villagers poured out of every opening they could fine, trying to escape the unbearable heat. Once the structure started to cave in on itself the dragon flew back to his cavern to await the king’s arrival with his goblet.
He waited a few weeks, confident that any day the king would make his appearance and give him back his goblet. He was getting a little restless, constantly organizing and polishing his treasures. Day by day this kept up. Until one day he heard a commotion outside the cave.
“Finally he is here!” The dragon was almost giddy with excitement. He emerged from the cave only to see the king with 11 men all dressed for war, along with the thief who stole the goblet, but no goblet in sight.
The dragon knew instantly what this meant and he dove for the king. The king parried him with his sword but the sword just bounced off of the dragon’s scales. The dragon blew fire around him and the king so that the others would run and he could fight the king one on one. He had heard that the king had defeated monsters on his own before so he knew it was not going to be an easy fight.
The two battled back and forth for what seemed like forever. The king tried to stab the dragon in the head but the blade broke. After the tried strike the dragon saw an opening and bit down on the king’s neck. Blood squirted down the dragon’s throat and he felt triumphant. Suddenly, one of the king’s men came running through the fire, dagger in hand. He ran straight at the dragon and found a soft spot on his belly and thrust the blade in.
The dragon stumbled, bewildered that the new man could find a weakness in his armor. Just then another sharp pain went through the dragon’s hide. The king had used the last bit of his strength and stabbed the dragon in his flank, rendering a fatal wound. The dragon fell, his vision fading.
Within seconds the world went dark.
Fairy Tales
Comments are closed.
This is awesome! It must have taken forever. Have you ever heard of the novel “Grendel” by John Gardner? It’s not quite as nice to Grendel and his mother as you are here, but it’s definitely worth a read if you’re interested in Beowulf perspectives.