Question

What does the kenning "hell-forged hands" in line 64 suggest about Grendel?

"Of the Danes, sorrow heaped at his door

By hell-forged hands."

Group of answer choices

Grendel killed the devil with his bare hands.

Grendel's mother is the devil and made him.

Grendel is fighting against the evil and wicked ways of man.

Grendel is a creature from hell and is pure evil.

Answer 1

This kenning suggests that Grendel is a creature from hell and is pure evil.

In Old Norse and Old English poetry, kennings are metaphors in the form of compound words. Here, "hell-forged" is a metaphor for Grendel's devilish nature and origins.

In Beowulf, Grendel is described as a "creature of darkness," a monstrous being rejected by God. According to J.R.R. Tolkien in Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics (1936), Grendel is "the evil spirits [taking] visible shape."