Portfolio by Jeremiah Bennett

1. To me Grendel would look like..

JeremiahBennett — 2015-10-20 23:40:54 UTC

Grendel's physical appearance isn't described much, but I feel like he has a significant presence that would let you know that he is lurking or right in front of you. I chose this image because it looks like the monster has a menacing silhouette and also a demon-like appearance.

I'm sure that Grendel is aware of his own power and uses that to his advantage to terrorize the people at Herot and their king, Hrothgar. Grendel thrives of off their pain and suffering and continues to torment them repeatedly "eleven years now and going on twelve."

In Beowulf, Grendel is described to be born of the remnants of Cain. "He is born of evil." Grendel must have had a large figure because he effortlessly killed 30 of Hrothgar's men and still got away unharmed. Grendel is so demented that he get's angry over the soldiers singing and only arrives to kill them.

I would think that Grendel is just a regular fairy tale monster but he has interesting character traits that separate him from others, like the fact that he makes it his daily activity to go and disrupt their happiness.

2. Grendel-music

JeremiahBennett — 2015-11-03 01:10:30 UTC

I feel that Grendel could identify with Linkin Park greatly, and in a special song in particular- Somewhere I Belong. The song has a chill vibe to it but also has nerve tingling parts as well. At some parts it sounds like the song gets louder and stronger and then it settles back down to the calm verses, much like how I how picture Grendel, Quiet before the attack and then gruesome and brutal.

The song's melody could be used as a melodic example of how Grendel might sometimes feel. He feels calm and alone, maybe even sad, but then he can literally go "0-100 real quick".

Written by Mike Shinoda and Chester Bennington, the moral of the song is basically describing someone out of place. I thought that this would be a perfect song because I don't know anyone more out of place than Grendel is in this story.

In the song, lines like "Just stuck, hollow and alone, And the fault is my own" and "I want to heal, I want to feel, Like I'm close to something real" stick out instantly when thinking about Grendel. The creature is described as "a powerful monster, living down in the darkness...", so why would he be worried about being alone or feeling out of place?

Well let's think...Grendel is a child of another creature whom i'm sure he seldom sees. He lives in a cave alone. Nobody likes him! He hates singing and seeing other people happy. This is why I think even hearing the songs title ,Somewhere I belong, relates it to Grendel. Grendel is a monster not a mead drinking and joyous person. He probably feels lonely at times and can only take it out as rage on the people that he notices are happy.

3. A Classmates view

JeremiahBennett — 2015-11-03 01:56:52 UTC

I chose Allen Overkamp's entry and he is in 4th period. I chose his entry because I thought it was interesting and very specific. He compared the poem of Darkness to being in the woods away from city lights and being able to clearly see the stars. Allen also said "Don't be afraid of the dark, be afraid of those who come out in the dark." which he also used as a comparison to the story of Grendel and how he only attacked when there was darkness in Herot.

4. News article

JeremiahBennett — 2015-11-03 02:26:19 UTC

You may have heard of WWE’s Monday Night Raw or Friday Night Smackdown, but believe me, Spike’s new hit show, Smackdown In Herot will be like nothing you’ve ever seen before. The show’s producer Beowulf, a soon to be contender on the show, says it’s full of energy and more realistic than the other fake stuff on TV right now. Just a quick highlight of last night’s episode, the undefeated champion, Grendel, wanted to make sure he stayed undefeated by fatally injuring some of the other contestants and even eating them. When interviewed he simply replied “I can’t help myself.” We caught up with Beowulf to see how he was able to get permission to start such a violent show, and knowing that there was going to be a lot of really physical action going, and potential lawsuits against him and the show. Beowulf replied “the men of Herot are warriors and it is their job to follow my orders without question.” The goal of the show is basically every contestant comes on the show for a chance to beat Grendel and become the new king of Herot. Beowulf claims that he has been trying to have the show approved for 11-12 years now, but has finally gotten a chance to produce it. There were also the problems of getting Grendel to participate without seriously injuring the other contestants, since Grendel and Beowulf seem to have some bad history together. Tune in tomorrow night for another look at the new hit show Smackdown In Herot

5. Scholarly Article

JeremiahBennett — 2015-11-03 02:36:43 UTC

This article was basically about the translation of Beowulf from J.R.R. Tolken. Tolken learned old English at a young age and this is how he was able to read the original text. He actually translated Beowulf in 1912 and never published it. He basically tells the entire story of Beowulf and the article gives a summary. Beowulf was a prince of the Geats, a tribe living in what is now southern Sweden. Grendel hated music and for 12 years had been coming to terrorize the people of Herot. Grendel actually eats people and drinks their blood. Grendel is about four times the size of another man, and he doesn't speak. Beowulf defeats Grendel by tearing off his arm and then his mother finds out and is outraged. This spawns Beowulf's second great battle against Grendel's mother, and then he has a third battle many years later with a dragon that nearly takes his life. The rest of the article talks about how Tolken felt about the article and how people critcize it.