Footnote : Grendel is the name of a monster who appears in an Anglo-Saxon ‘epic’ called ‘Beowulf’. The poet Seamus Heaney is one of several people who have translated it into modern English. I have not read them all, but his would surely be hard to better. His introduction is worth reading too and gives his thoughts on what the long Beowulf saga is suggesting, or why it is still capable of talking to us. My two references to Grendel above were very much suggested by his interpretation. There are quite a few Grendels about, requiring close attention.