The character of Grendel was not one of the major characters of Beowulf. John Gardner took the character of Grendel and wrote a retelling of the epic, using Grendel's side as the point of view. Previously, Grendel was seen as a vicious, soulless murderer, but here we see a vastly different depiction of the creature. Grendel is a thinking, reasoning, and soulful creature. He grapples with ideas of language and its uses.
The story is not told in a chronological fashion, but a mix of flashbacks and the present. The young Grendel becomes fascinated with language as a communication device, and learns to speak. He is especially enamored of poetry. Ironically, the blind poet used Grendel in one of his songs as the epitome of evil. It gives the men a lasting impression of Grendel. Grendel uses the power of language after his rampage of the men at the hall. While he has killed and eaten many men, he finds it useful to use his intelligence and words to hurt and degrade men in a different way.
The reflections of Grendel change the assumptions the reader had in the original epic, and make this character more sympathetic.
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