Grendel is one of the three antagonists in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf (AD 700–1000). Grendel is usually taken to be some kind of monster, but he is like a human in some ways.^[1][2]

In the poem, Grendel is feared by all but Beowulf, who kills him and his mother at the end of the poem. He is the descendant of the biblical murderer Cain.^[1]

Grendel, a novel by John C. Gardner, was published in 1971. It tells much of the Beowulf story as if Grendel himself were talking.^[3]