Afternoon of Alterity - Nazareth College

of the medieval text Beowulf describes the fearsome character ofGrendel as a giant, cannibalistic, “rover of boarders,” directlydescended from the line of Cain (Donaldson 3). I argue that thisarchetype of Cain’s monstrous progeny has continued to survivein the modern imagination and can be found manifesting inever-evolving forms in popular twenty-first century texts, such asin Joss Whedon’s science fiction television series, Firefly, in theform of the monstrous, cannibalistic, space-wandering “Reavers.”Through an analysis and characterization of the monster Grendel,an exploration of the medieval Cain myths out of which he arises,and an examination of the striking parallels that exist between thismedieval monstrous archetype and the modern depiction of JossWhedon’s nightmarish Reavers, I intend to show how society’sconceptions of the monstrous endure and evolve over time. Iwill also explore the implications regarding what has made (andcontinues to make) this archetype so captivating and terrifying inboth medieval and modern thought.Grendel Who?: The Complex Characterizationof a Medieval MonsterThe character of Grendel from the medieval text, Beowulf, is amanifestation of one of Western culture’s most enduring monstermyths;that of the biblical murderer, Cain, and of his deformed anddemonic kin. Grendel may be the most recognizable member of thismonstrous tradition, having perhaps even become an archetype untohimself as Jennifer Ferrell notes, “Grendel appears most frequentlyin popular culture and continually evolves through the decadesas society needs him” (Ferrell 934). However, in order to fullyunderstand the ways in which Grendel fits into a larger traditionof Cain-monster-mythology and to discover the reasons why thismonstrous archetype is so captivating to the medieval and modern2 afternoons of alterity