Kevin's Watch

For those who don't know, <I>Grendel</I> is, aside from the original, a comic book. IMHO, one of the very best comic books. The original Grendel was a man named Hunter Rose. (He changed it to that from Eddie. Last name unknown.) For those who've read it, the latest tales of that character just came out, and we get to see Grendel and Argent talking on the rooftop after their final battle. Grendel's last words are this. I thought it was good stuff, and can be shared with anyone.

Stars do, indeed, fall from the heavens. Don't they? The hammer falls, and the spark is struck. The mightier the blow, the more ferocious the flashing gleam! And thereafter, alas, they are only destined to fall! They tumble to earth, with the rest of the mud. Or sometimes, I suppose, sometimes they are shot down. But at least they swam the eternal firmament. At least they were up there at all. At least they had all that way to fall.

I was on my way to the Galley when this caught my attention.

I thought the original Grendel was the monster in Beowulf.

Nevertheless, that is a fascinating quote, F&F. Reminiscent of

How art thou fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of the morning.

- Isaiah 14:12

"Day Star" is sometimes translated Lucifer, a Latin word/name which means "light bearer," "day star" or "son of the dawn"

- Hearthcoal

Hearthcoal wrote:I thought the original Grendel was the monster in Beowulf.

As I re-read my post, I see that I worded that poorly. Let me try again.

*ahem*

For those who don't know, aside from originally being the monster in <I>Beowulf</I>, Grendel is a comic book. IMHO, one of the very best comic books. The first comic character who was called Grendel was a man named Hunter Rose.
yadda yadda

No biggie...

It's a great quote. I very much like the image of "the hammer" striking and sparks flashing.

- Hearthcoal

Hearthcoal wrote:It's a great quote. I very much like the image of "the hammer" striking and sparks flashing.

Yeah, that's good stuff. Nice visual. It's a shame that the guy saying this great stuff is, like the Grendel from <I>Beowulf</I>, rather evil. Ah well.

And to give you more info than you wanted, Beowulf's counterpart in the comic is named Argent. (Hmmm, doesn't that word pop up a few times in TCTC? heh heh) Argent is a wolf. Sort of. He's a 300 yo Algonquin Indian, whose form he attributes to an "unholy curse." The result of a forbidden love. He's extremely strong and fast. And vicious. Not the complete moral opposite of his opponent.

If anyone's interested, there aren't many comics of this particular Grendel. The main one is a big comic called <I>Devil by the Deed</I>. It's in the form of a narration with pictures, rather than the usual comic form of several pictures on each page with dialog in most pictures. It has a different feel than most comics. And it is simply fantastic!

I read the novel Grendel by John Gardner years ago and absolutely loved it, but have never heard of the comic...I do notice alot of websites out there devoted 2 discussing or MUDing the comicbook...

danlo wrote:I read the novel Grendel by John Gardner years ago and absolutely loved it, but have never heard of the comic...I do notice alot of websites out there devoted 2 discussing or MUDing the comicbook...

I'm in the process of reading Grendel the novel now, and I must agree; its a good read.

I read Grendel in school this year, and I agree that it was a good read. Much better than Beowulf itself, IMO.

~Foamy~

Beowulf isn't very polished, but that wasn't an age of refinement. If you havn't read it, read the translation by Seamus Heaney. It's the best translation to be found out there.

Or read the translation by J.R.R. Tolkien.