{"id":8801,"date":"2022-10-31T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-31T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/?p=8801"},"modified":"2022-11-03T16:34:53","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T20:34:53","slug":"8801","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/2022\/10\/31\/8801\/","title":{"rendered":"Grendel the Vampire?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Contemporary monsters associated with modern Halloween celebrations\u2014such as vampires, werewolves and mummies\u2014borrow heavily from the genre of Gothic Horror which takes shape during the early modern period in the hands of Romantic and Victorian authors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Gothic Horror Environment” by Unreal Engine<\/a> (2021).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, Gothic Horror, the literary source of many monsters commonly associated today with Halloween, regularly draws inspiration from the medieval period. Authors from Mary Shelley to Edgar Allen Poe capitalize on the haunting way the past is often reimagined in the present as mysterious, unknown and full of terrors. This year\u2019s Halloween special, in celebration of Samhain and All Hallows Eve, considers the characterization of one famous medieval monster sometimes associated with the modern concept of \u201cthe vampire\u201d in popular culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most well-known monsters from the Middle Ages, Grendel, the terrifying cannibal from Beowulf<\/em>, is frequently regarded as a medieval vampire<\/a> in contemporary vampire lore, despite that the Old English poem seems not to have been readily available during the Victorian period. Although, Beowulf<\/em> was first transcribed in 1786, with an edition later printed in 1815 by Gr\u00edmur J\u00f3nsson Thorkelin who also translated the poem into Latin, its influence remained obscure. Some verses from Beowulf<\/em> were translated into modern English in 1805, and nine complete translations were produced in the 19th century, including one by\u00a0William Morris, but it was only after the turn of the 20th<\/sup> century that an abundance of translations became available making Beowulf<\/em> accessible to public audiences and leading to growing interest in the Old English poem during the period which helps establish Beowulf<\/em> as central to English literary canons thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The iconic scene of Count Orlok on the stairs from F. W. Murnau’ film, Nosferatu<\/span> (1922).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, when Lord Byron, John Polidori, John Stag and Bram Stoker were contributing to the development of tropes and stereotypes that inform modern representations of vampires, they self-consciously and explicitly looked to the past \u201cdark ages\u201d with a macabre, antiquarian eye. Often, these authors will cite unspecified ancient lore and legend in an attempt to ground their vampire literature in a mythologically (if not historically) authenticated past in which monsters and magic are possible. These possibilities, then, extend into the present as gothic monsters reach from the deep recesses of time into modern times so that they may haunt the living. Vampires like many gothic monsters are generally understood as an anachronism, able to exist now only because they existed then, thereby suspending modern sensibilities and skepticisms. Indeed, the longstanding affiliation between medieval corpses and modern vampires is mobilized in a recent blog<\/a> centered on vampirism, succubi and women\u2019s monstrosity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each of these Victorian authors reach to the medieval period in order to craft their modern undead monsters, sometimes even looking toward historical figures, such as Vlad III of Wallachia (better known as Vlad “the Impaler”) as an inspiration for Bram Stoker\u2019s Dracula<\/em>. Of course, it seems that none would have borrowed directly from the Old English poem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So why is Grendel considered a vampire? Is there any textual evidence to support this claim?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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“Grendel” by KaRzA-76<\/a> (2005).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While Grendel\u2019s monstrosity remains mysterious, and some might see little resemblance between the medieval monster and Victorian vampires, there is one passage centered on Grendel\u2019s cannibalism, which serves as a major source for Grendel\u2019s association with vampirism. The section reads as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Geseah he in recede    rinca manige,
swefan sibbegedriht    samod \u00e6tg\u00e6dere,
magorinca heap.    \u00dea his mod ahlog;
mynte \u00fe\u00e6t he ged\u00e6lde,    \u00e6r\u00feon d\u00e6g cwome,
atol agl\u00e6ca,    anra gehwylces
lif wi\u00f0 lice,    \u00fea him alumpen w\u00e6s
wistfylle wen.    Ne w\u00e6s \u00fe\u00e6t wyrd \u00fea gen
\u00fe\u00e6t he ma moste    manna cynnes
\u00f0icgean ofer \u00fea niht.    \u00dery\u00f0swy\u00f0 beheold
m\u00e6g Higelaces,    hu se mansca\u00f0a
under f\u00e6rgripum    gefaran wolde.
Ne \u00fe\u00e6t se agl\u00e6ca    yldan \u00feohte,
ac he gefeng hra\u00f0e    forman si\u00f0e
sl\u00e6pendne rinc,    slat unwearnum,
bat banlocan,    blod edrum dranc,
synsn\u00e6dum swealh;    sona h\u00e6fde
unlyfigendes    eal gefeormod,
fet ond folma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe [Grendel] saw in the hall many warriors, the troop of kinsfolk slept, gathered together, a heap of kindred warriors. Then his mind laughed, because he, the terrible, fearsome marauder, intended to rend life from the body of every one of them before day came, when the expectation of gluttony came over him. It was nevermore his fate that he might eat more of mankind over the night. The very mighty kinsman of Hygelac beheld how the criminal destroyer would fare with its sudden grips. The fearsome marauder did not think to delay, but he quickly seized a sleeping man the first time, tore ravenously, bit his bone-locker, drank the blood from his veins, swallowed the sinful morsel; soon he had finished off all of him, unliving, feet and hands\u201d (728-745).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most often, emphasis is placed on Grendel\u2019s cannibalism and specifically his consumption of flesh mentioned in the passage. Few modern adaptations of Beowulf<\/em>\u2014from Michael Crichton\u2019s Eater of the Dead<\/em> (1976) to John Tiernan\u2019s The 13th<\/sup> Warrior<\/em> (1999) based on Crichton\u2019s adaptation to Sturla Gunnarsson\u2019s Beowulf & Grendel<\/em> (2005), Robert Zemeckis\u2019 Beowulf<\/em> (2007), or even Cartoon Network\u2019s adaptation of the poem in Adventure Time<\/em>\u2019s \u201cThe Wild Hunt<\/a>\u201d (2018)\u2014depict Grendel as especially fond of blod edrum drincan<\/em> \u201cdrinking blood from veins\u201d (742), despite that the poem describes this vampiric act in gory detail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Gangrel” by Ypslon<\/a> (2019).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although most Beowulf<\/em> adaptations focus more attention on flesh-eating than on blood-drinking, parallels between vampires and Grendel have not gone unnoticed, and categorizations of vampire-types sometimes include a Grendelish category, as demonstrated by the ferocious and bestial Gangrel, known for being especially close the “the Beast” within, their association with medieval Scandinavia and their ravenous consumption of blood in the popular roleplaying game, Vampire: The Masquerade<\/a><\/em>. Moreover, Cain\u2019s association with vampirism often mirrors his role as progenitor of the Grendelkin and all monsterkind in Beowulf<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grendel may not be a proper vampire in the technical, stereotypical, modern understanding of the term. Moreover, Grendel\u2019s characterization in Beowulf<\/em> apparently did not affect vampire stereotypes developed in the early modern period before knowledge of the Old English poem became mainstream. Nevertheless, the graphic image of the monster haunting at night, coming from the darkness, perhaps shapeshifting<\/a> from a shadow to human form, and most importantly, sucking the blood from the veins of his victim, marks Grendel\u2019s characterization as eerily close in certain aspects to modern vampires, who share his love of darkness, often possess shapeshifting abilities and likewise glut themselves on human blood.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Richard Fahey, Ph.D.
Medieval Institute
University of Notre Dame<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Contemporary monsters associated with modern Halloween celebrations\u2014such as vampires, werewolves and mummies\u2014borrow heavily from the genre of Gothic Horror which takes shape during the early modern period in the hands of Romantic and Victorian authors. Indeed, Gothic Horror, the literary source of many monsters commonly associated today with Halloween, regularly draws inspiration from the medieval … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Grendel the Vampire?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1886,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[483881,73957,469271],"tags":[73920,518468,518470,518438,518476,518473,264347,518474,17913,518466,518467,518471,518475,76077,484023,518433,518436],"class_list":["post-8801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-monsters-wonders","category-north-seas","category-puzzles-enigmas","tag-beowulf","tag-bram-stoker","tag-cannibal","tag-dracula","tag-gangrel","tag-gothic-horror","tag-grendel","tag-grimur-jonsson-thorkelin","tag-halloween","tag-john-polidori","tag-lord-byron","tag-mummy","tag-nosferatu","tag-old-english","tag-shapeshifting","tag-vampire","tag-vlad-the-impaler"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1886"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8801"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8801\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8866,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8801\/revisions\/8866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.nd.edu\/manuscript-studies\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}