Béowulf Today: Rewriting of the epic in John Gardner´s Grendel

Abstract

This bachelor paper deals with the recent tendency of rewriting works of classic literature. It is divided into three parts. The first one is theoretical and it explains the postmodern tendency and the context of Gardner´s novel Grendel, as well as the process of creation of the old Anglo-Saxon heroic epic Béowulf and its time. The second part analyses the same issues in both works such as fate, vengeance etc., and shows the differences made by the different points of view of the narrator in Grendel and by the strong religious influence in Béowulf. The third chapter is fully dedicated to the character of Grendel and his picture in the novel and epos.