John C. Gardner is best known for his controversial novel Grendel. It is a retelling of the Beowulf myth. His novel Grendel had an interesting “existential subtext” on the time period. His book Grendel was banned back when it was first published in 1971. I had first heard of the book Grendel back in 1971. I was about 12 or 13.
It was in Mrs. Luca’s English class that I heard about the book Grendel. We were studying Beowulf. Many schools deemed Beowulf a MUST read in English literature because THIS WAS ONE OF MOST INTACT AND OLDEST tales still in existence written down in the Old English language.
It was waaay older than The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is a collection of 24 stories written in Middle English between 1387 and 1400.
Yet, I’d read a modern translation of Beowulf when I was around age 10, prior to being put in Mrs. Luca’s class a few years later. When I was around age 13-14, Mrs. Luca briefly mentioned to her class the book Grendel, explaining it was a “modern banned book”.
I had the impression that books were banned on the criteria that they were pornographic and/or obscene. I had never come across the notion of “Books Banned for Violence”. Mrs. Luca said she hadn’t read the book. I asked, “Why was the book banned?” Mrs. Luca explained it was likely because it was “violent”. Grendel had no remorse over killing humans.
I always liked Mrs. Luca. My Father learned, from Mrs. Luca, that I indeed had reading difficulties. (Yes, those teachers at my school did indeed try to enlighten my mother as well, but she would listen to none of it—as HER OFFSPRING was “genetically perfect”.) In any case, my Father agreed we would buy me practically any book that would encourage me to R-E-A-D M-O-R-E.
Curiously, my mother had no qualms about us (my older sister and I) reading about or seeing violence. My late mother allowed me to watch all sorts of horror flicks or monster movies.
She wasn’t going get up in the middle of the night to help me deal with a “childish nightmare”; THAT was my Dad’s job to handle. Who cared if I read horror books? Just reading would help me.
In any case, Mrs. Luca also told my mother not to be too worried about my hand-writing; I could just hand print notes. I could also learn to type. (I am very grateful to Mrs. Luca to this day…though I am sadly certain I will not run into her in this life-time again.)
In any case, I asked my parents to buy me a copy of this banned book. My mother oddly liked to think of herself as “avant-garde”, “very worldly”, and into reading “alternative literature”. She thought young girls who had just gone through puberty should be allowed to READ, as long as it didn’t mention anything about how to do sexual intercourse, or how to enjoy sexual intercourse. My family went to several bookstores; we could not find any copy of Grendel in any bookstores. (Mind you this was LONG BEFORE ORDERING BOOKS OFF THE INTERNET). This book was absolutely banned.
I wondered WHAT could be controversial about a legendary English Hero slaying a large violent creature? Grendel was nightly attacking, killing, and eating humans. The monster may have been based upon both encounters and word-of mouth-stories about actual brown bears in Britain.
I’ve been reading Grendel. The story is clearly an allegory. Grendel is alone. He is the last of his species. He is welcome at no hearth; Grendel has no kith nor kin. In retrospect, it is a sad, solitary existence.
From the original manuscript of Beowulf, we already know Beowolf is Grendel's doom.
The manuscript of Beowulf bears no date, and so its age has to be calculated by analyzing the scribes' handwriting. Some scholars have suggested that the manuscript was made at the end of the 10th century. Other scholars speculate that it was written in the early decades of the 11th century.
(Oh, and you thought dating old manuscripts was easy.)
Now for some recognition and thanks to a good teacher:
Mrs. Luca—YOU—were a GREAT ENGLISH TEACHER! Thank you, Mrs. Luca!!
May the Gods Bless My Daddy’s Memory, too!!
I am so glad to have finally tracked down this banned book.One comment I read was that John C. Gardner’s book Grendel is very similar to Mary Shelley's monster Frankenstein. Well—sort of—Grendel is alone once his mother dies, but that does not seem to me to make it comparable to Mary Shelley's story, Frankenstein.
Really, Grendel was an apex predator in his neck of the woods. He seems supernaturally strong. He understands human language. As a creature that was an apex predator, he just naturally grew more dangerous. His fur is thick. He easily dispatches Norse warriors. The warriors may well have perceived that his thick fur is akin to leather armor—OR—the warriors may have perceived him as something completely supernatural or “otherworldly”.
Grendel was also given a magical protection against weapons by dragon's breath.
John C. Gardner seems to have written a book to put the myth of Grendel into the context of a historically believable group of Norse warriors. There was a great deal of detail inserted about common, everyday things, such as preparing, social status, etc. It was neatly slipped into John C. Gardner's version of the story.
Sources:
The author, John C. Gardner, was born in Batavia, New York. His father was a lay preacher and dairy farmer, and his mother taught English at a local school. Both parents were fond of Shakespeare and often recited literature together. As a child, Gardner attended public school and worked on his father's farm, where, in April of 1945, his younger brother Gilbert was killed in an accident with a cultipacker. Gardner, who was driving the tractor during the fatal accident, carried guilt for his brother's death throughout his life, suffering nightmares and flashbacks. The incident informed much of Gardner's fiction and criticism—most directly in the 1977 short story "Redemption," which included a fictionalized recounting of the accident.
John C. Gardner, Grendel, 1971, Vintage Book Edition (paperback) 1989.
Helen Briggs, Lost history of brown bears in Britain revealed, BBC News, July 4, 2018.