Grendel -- John Gardner | Track 7 of 8

Grendel
Unabridged.
Author - Gardner, John
Narrator -Guidall, George.

Publication: Prince Frederick, MD Recorded Books, 1997.
Subject: Beowulf--Adaptations.
Audiobooks.
Monsters--Fiction; Fantasy
Duration: 5 Hours 30 Minutes
Product ID: 126221
EISBN: 9781417572649
ISBN: 9781402551109


Grendel
(1971)
A novel by
John Gardner
Awards
Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Adult Literature (nominee)

From the Publisher
World renowned critic John Gardner has received prestigious awards for his wide range of literary achievements including short stories, novels, and essays. When he turns his talents to retelling Beowulf, the earliest epic in British literature, the result is a work that combines extensive knowledge with a marvelous strain of pure fun. In Gardnerís version of the epic, instead of lauding the helmeted hero, Beowulf, the spotlight shines on Grendel, a beast whose grotesque body and blood thirst condemn him to the life of an outlaw. Grendel is a horrible monster. He greedily gobbles up warriors in the Danish mead hall guarded by Beowulf. But within Grendel lurks a soul that delights in dark humor, dramatic pirouettes and pranks. Both young adult and adult listeners will revel in this powerful complement to a classic tale. George Guidallís narration captures a surreal landscape that shimmers on the other side of the original epicís heroic mirror. What we see is that thereís a little bit of Grendel living is each of us. Also available: Beowulf (RB# 90053)

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Geats, from the kingdom of King Hygilac. (The leader’s name is never explicitly mentioned in the text of Grendel, but he is clearly Beowulf.) Beowulf says that he has advice for Hrothgar, so the coastguard points him toward the meadhall.

Grendel becomes fixated on Beowulf’s mouth, which seems to move independent of the words he speaks, as if his body were some kind of disguise. Grendel watches as the Geats travel like a huge machine up to Hart.

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Fifteen strangers arrive in the area by sea, filling Grendel with wild exhilaration. The strangers appear to be the fulfillment of his earlier premonitions; indeed, Grendel feels the strangers’ approach before he sees them. A Danish coastguard greets the strangers, whom Grendel describes as mechanical and dead looking. Their leader, a huge but oddly soft-spoken man named Beowulf, tells the coastguard that he and the other strangers are