'So times were pleasant for the people there until finally one, a fiend out of hell, began to work his evil in the world.'(99-101) The Christian writing of a pagan society places Grendel as a creature of hell, an evil monster born from the sins and banishment of Cain, 'Cain got no good for committing that murder.out of the curse of his exile sprang.evil phantoms'(109-112). He is a symbol of the non-logical, rage filled evil that is the opposing force of God. From this Christian perspective Grendel's purpose is to represent the chaotic and destructive nature of evil which can be defeated only by a man of God. .

             Setting aside the Christian influence and focusing on the pagan society, notice Grendel attacks only the mead hall, the center of the Danish community's civilization and the 'greatest house in the world'(145). This attack on the center of the community has serious implications as the feasting and fellowship central to their society is interrupted. This shows Grendel not as the non-logical killer attacking for no reason, but a cunning force that targets only the heart of this Danish community. Showing no civilization is free from the attacks of envy and strife that Grendel represents. As we see many men withdraw from the mead hall, 'shifting himself to a safer distance'(139), we see a change in the attitude of this previously proud and loud community. Grendel upturns the entire community by purposely attacking the social and political heart of their society; the mead hall. Thus Grendel becomes a tool used to show how a community will start to crumble when its center is threatened. .

             When Grendel is finally confronted for these crimes it takes Beowulf moments to succeed where so many have failed. It is Beowulf's inconceivable strength and abilities that define Grendel, as being everything a warrior is not. Unlike the soldiers of the time Grendel is not part of a 'comitatus', a Germanic friendship structure where kings ruled in consultation with their warriors, he fought alone and at night, when most battles were fought in the day.