Grendel Chapter Summary & Analysis | Chapter 12

Chapter 12 Summary

Grendel breaks open the door of the meadhall easily, with his fingertips and laughs. The whole company, Geats and Danes, is asleep. He wants to swallow every last man. Jokingly, he makes a napkin from a cloth on the nearest table. He tears into a sleeping man, eating every last bit of him. He seizes a wrist and realizes it is a mistake. The leader of the Geats has been awake all the time, watching.

The Geat leader's hand clamps down on Grendel's wrist. Grendel feels hot, burning pain as if his arm is being poisoned. He screams, feeling his bones crushed under the stranger's grip. Then he sees wings growing from the stranger's shoulders. Grendel tries to kick free but slips on blood, giving the stranger a chance to twist the monster's arm behind his back. The stranger's whisper in his ears feels like cold fire to Grendel. He...
(read more)