Grendel

Family: Grendel's kin · Role: monster · First appears: Section II

At Heorot, Grendel seized thirty sleeping thanes and carried them to his lair. For “Twelve years' tide” he harassed Hrothgar and lorded over the hall in gloomy nights, leaving it empty and bringing grief and loss to its people.

In Section XI, Grendel broke into the hall and devoured a sleeping warrior. In Section XII, Beowulf mortally wounded him; Grendel escaped to his den, leaving his hand behind, and died there. Beowulf later brought Grendel’s head to the hall, where Hrothgar and the others saw it.

In Section XIX, Grendel's mother set out to avenge her son. In Section XXVIII, Beowulf recounts Grendel’s attack on Heorot and says that Grendel killed and devoured Hondscio.