Grendel's Story

      
                                 
                                   GRENDEL:

             

Introduction:

- During the poem several monsters appear.The first one is Grendel.

- His physical appearance is left to the reader's imagination,the only clues are that he is a descendant of Cain, the first murderer of the Old Testament of the Bible,and 'fiend of hell'.

- He is described as a being ' of the night':wherever he moves he is surrounded by darkness.

Action:

- He is bloodthirsty and keeps the Danish kingdom of King Hrothgar under siege for twelve years,killing both warrior and civilians.Grendel's mother,who has no name of her own,looks a bit like a woman.

- She lives with her son in a supernatural lake filled with sea-dragons,and the poison in her blood dissolves any sword used against her.

Beowulf and Grendel: The fight

( Modern translation by Seamus Heaney: 2001)


TESTO E TRADUZIONE:

- In off the moors, down through the mist-bands

God-cursed Grendel came greedily loping.

The bane of the race of men roamed forth,

hunting for a prey in the high hall.

Under the cloud-murk he moved towards it

until it shone above him, a sheer keep

of fortified gold.Nor was that the first time He had scouted the grounds of Hrothgar's dwelling-[...]

-A largo delle brughiere,giù nelle terre nebbiose Grendel,il Dio maledetto,giungeva a grandi passi.

A caccia di una preda nell'alta stanza,il flagello per la razza umana si aggirava.

Sotto la nube tenebrosa si muoveva fino a quando non brillava più sopra di lui una fortezza a picco fortificata d'oro.Non era la prima volta che aveva perlustrato i terreni dell'abitazione di Hrothgar.[...]

Nor did the creature keep him waiting

but struck suddenly and started in;

he grabbed and mauled a man on his bench,

bit into his bone-lappings, bolted down his blood

and gorged on him in lumps, leaving the body

utterly lifeless, eaten up

hand and foot. Venturing closer,

his talon was raised to attack Beowulf where he lay on the bed, he was bearing in

with open claw when the alert hero's

comeback and armlock forestalled him utterly.

The captain of evil discovered himself

in a handgrip harder than anything

he had ever encountered in any man

on the face of the earth. Every bone in his body

quailed and recoiled, but he could not escape.[...]

-La creatura non lo fece attendere,

ma attaccò e colpì all'improvviso. Afferrò un uomo dalla panca e lo straziò,

dilaniò le giunture delle ossa, trangugiò il suo sangue,si ingozzò della sua carne a pezzi, lasciando il corpo senza più vita, le mani e i piedi. Avvicinandosi,sollevò una zampa per assalire Beawulf

sul letto dove era disteso. Stava calando gli artigli aperti quando la pronta reazione

e la presa dell’eroe accorto lo anticiparono totalmente. Il capitano del male si trovò così bloccato

da una presa più forte di quante ne avesse mai incontrate in nessuno sulla faccia della terra. Ogni osso nel suo corpo tremò ed indietreggiò, ma non riuscì a liberarsi.[...]

Time and again,

Beowulf’s warriors worked to defend

their lord's life, laying about them

as best they could with their ancestral blades.

Stalwart in action, they kept striking out

on every side, seeking to cut

straight to the soul. When they joined the struggle

there was something they could not have known at the time,

that no blade on earth, no blacksmith's art

could ever damage their demon opponent.

He had conjured the harm from the cutting edge

of every weapon.[...]

-Di volta in volta, i guerrieri di Beowulf lavoravano per difendere la

vita del proprio signore, menando colpi all'impazzata come meglio potevano con le spade ancestrali.

Forti nell'azione, continuavano a colpire da da ogni parte, cercando di tagliare dritto all'anima. Quando si unirono alla lotta c'era qualcosa che non potevano sapere, al momento;

nessuna lama a terra, né l'arte di nessun fabbro avrebbe mai potuto danneggiare l'avversario demone.

Egli aveva privato tutte le lame dalla loro stretta.[...]

The monster's whole

body was in pain: a tremendous wound

appeared on his shoulder. Sinews split

and the bone-lappings burst. Beowulf was granted

the glory of winning; Grendel was driven

under the fen-banks, fatally hurt,

to his desolate lair. His days were numbered,

the end of his life was coming over him,

he knew it for certain; and one bloody clash

had fulfilled the dearest wishes of the Danes.

- L’intero corpo del mostro era nel dolore: una tremenda ferita

apparve sulla sua spalla. I tendini si strapparono e l'osso bruciò. A Beowulf fu concessa

la gloria di vincere; Grendel fu portato sotto le rive della palude, fatalmente ferito,

nella sua tana solitaria. I suoi giorni erano contati, la fine della sua vita stava venendo su di lui,

lui lo sapeva per certo, e uno scontro sanguinoso aveva realizzato i desideri più cari dei Danesi.

Beowulf vs Grendel :The Fight (Trailer):