Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Individual
Group Discount
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews October 1, 2023 September 24, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan - Group Discount
Qty: 00
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
When he finished, the hall was as quiet as a mound. I too was silent, my ear pressed tight against the timbers. Even to me, incredibly, he had made it all seem true and very fine.
Here, Grendel describes the first time he listens to the Shaper’s poetry. The Shaper talks of the righteous and victorious Danes, not mentioning any of the violence and gore that Grendel saw firsthand. Nevertheless, Grendel feels taken in by the story. From the beginning, readers can see that the Shaper has the power to use words and stories to manipulate people, to alter history, and to get others to believe his words.
My heart was light with Hrothgar’s goodness, and leaden with grief at my own bloodthirsty ways. I backed away, crablike, further into darkness—like a crab retreating in pain when you strike two stones at the mouth of his underwater den. I backed away till the honeysweet lure of the harp no longer mocked me. Yet even now my mind was tormented by images.
As Grendel continues to listen to the Shaper, he begins to internalize the stories as truth, feeling admiration for Hrothgar and disgust for himself even though he knows the stories to be untrue. The fact that the Shaper can affect Grendel’s mind so much, even after Grendel leaves the meadhall, reveals the Shaper’s incredible artistry and storytelling abilities.
“He reshapes the world,” I whispered, belligerent. “So his name implies. He stares strange-eyed at the mindless world and turns dry sticks to gold.”
After Grendel listened to the Shaper, he understands the reason behind his name: The Shaper can shape history into whatever he wants it to be. While Grendel and the dragon see the world as meaningless, the Shaper uses his art to instill meaning in the world and to therefore make others feel that their lives are worth something. Grendel recognizes the great power that comes with such a skill.
It was a cold-blooded lie that a god had lovingly made the world and set out the sun and moon as lights to land-dwellers, that brothers had fought, that one of the races was saved, the other cursed. Yet he, the old Shaper, might make it true, by the sweetness of his harp, his cunning trickery.
After Grendel listens to the Shaper a few times, he begins to hate the Shaper and his songs. Here, Grendel calls him “cold-blooded” and accuses him of using “cunning trickery.” Grendel hates being misconstrued by the Shaper. However, the Shaper likely believes he is doing something kind for the humans listening to him. By giving meaning to their lives, he can reduce their suffering.
The Shaper speaks. They bend closer. “I see a time,” he says, “when the Danes once again—” His voice trails off; puzzlement crosses his forehead, and one hand reaches up feebly as if to smooth it away but forgets before it can find the forehead, and falls back to the covers.
As the Shaper lays dying, he begins to make what seems like a prophecy that he never gets to finish. Until this moment, the Shaper has only talked of the past, shaping stories to make the Danes and the rest of humankind look good. Here, the Shaper seems to want to leave the others with a hopeful prophecy of what the Danes will do in the future, even though he does not actually know.
Please wait while we process your payment