A Comparison of Nihilistic and Christian Archetypes in...

Grendel, Beowulf and the Relationship Between Nihilistic and Christian Archetypes The Wisdom god, Woden, went out to the king of trolls†¦and demanded to know how order might triumph over chaos. â€Å"Give me your left eye,† said the king of trolls, â€Å"and I’ll tell you.† Without hesitation, Woden gave up his left eye. â€Å"Now tell me.† The troll said, â€Å"The secret is, Watch with both eyes!† Woden’s left eye was the last sure hope of gods and men in their kingdom of light surrounded by darkness. All we have left is Thor’s hammer, which represents not brute force but art, or, counting both hammerheads, art and criticism†¦ The philosophies expressed in the Beowulf epic complement the exploration of existentialism throughout the modern work,†¦show more content†¦Beowulf (G), the hero, is able to identify Grendel (G)’s pattern and destroy him. Since mankind could only defeat Grendel (G) by creating a hero more powerful than him, the hero represents a kind of process that ultimately creates a greater monster. Therefore, using these archetypes, Gardner and the Beowulf poet use the same story to illuminate the difference between ancient and modern society; Beowulf (AS) is the proper representative of the Anglo-Saxon society, and Grendel (G) is the proper representative of the modern world. Grendel’s role remains the same in both books; the role of a monster that embodies humanity’s fears, a creature that human society creates. Grendel (AS) exists as a mindless perversion of nature. He represents one branch of the human society created by God that is distorted by evil. However Grendel (G) exists as just another aspect of nature, outside of human society; until he is transformed by his contact with mankind, the concept of â€Å"monster† does not apply to Grendel (G.) â€Å"In viewing the monstrous body as a metaphor for the cultural body†¦beasts, demons, freaks, and fiends are symbolic expressions of cultural unease that pervades a society and shapes its collective behavior.† (Cohen). This is especially true of Grendel (G), whose attempts to interact with