Gardner's Grendel: Significantly Different Picture of Grendel than in Beowulf The novel Grendel by John Gardner portrays a significantly different picture of Grendel than the epic poem Beowulf paints. Grendel is a non-human being who posses human qualities. In either story it is not specified what type of being Grendel is, nor does it tell of what exactly Grendel looks like. The only idea the reader has of the sight of Grendel is the small hints either author gives. We know he stands on two feet as humans do, we know he is covered in hair, and we know he is monstrous. Although there are many significant differences between