John Gardner’s novel Grendel draws its monster’s original story from the Old English epic Beowulf.
Published in 1971, Grendel retells the events surrounding the monster from Grendel’s own first-person perspective. The novel explores his encounters with humans, the warrior Beowulf, and the dragon while presenting the creature as a questioning, alienated consciousness rather than only a villain.
Gardner follows major elements of Beowulf, including Grendel’s attacks on Heorot, his conflict with Beowulf, and his connection to the wider legendary world. The novel is therefore a modern literary response to an early medieval poem, not a translation of it.
Grendel has also been adapted for film and television, but Gardner’s book remains especially notable for shifting the narrative viewpoint from the heroic hall to the monster himself.