The Four Horseman of the Apocalypse

I believe that the story Grendel is centered around the story of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The coming of the four horsemen are heralds of an apocalypse that indicate the end of the world or the Last Judgement. The very first horse known as the White Horse is symbolic of conquest. I think Gardner makes a direct parallel between the White Horse and Hrothgar in the novel. For example. he claims, “ He’d shown them the strength of his organization…”. Not only this, Hrothgar is actually described as having a “white beard” multiple times throughout the novel. In this way, Hrothgar represents a foreshadow to the upcoming apocalypse of a system. We can actually see this foreshadow again through the advice of the Dragon in chapter 5. He claims, “ A brief pulsation in the black hole of eternity… a speck of dust”. According to the New England Oxford American Dictionary, the denotation of dust is a dead person’s remains. In this way, the Dragon is foreshadowing the end of a system that unite a group of people. He is foreshadowing the end of the Danish system that both Grendel and the Danes are apart of. The second horse known as the Red Horse represents civil war or mass slaughter. The color red indicates that blood is about to be spilled. One of the characters in the novel is actually named the Red Horse in chapter 8. This chapter tells about the political system of the Danes in a play like format through Grendel’s perspective. The primary concern of this chapter is the lack of an egalitarian society within the Danish hierarchy. The concept that those at the top of the “nut tree” are prosperous and happy while those near the bottom on the ground are “dead”. The Red Horse who is actually an old peasant who talks to Hrothulf tries to convince him of the inequality of the system. When asked about the idea of revolution, he claims, “… I’m here to serve. But as for Universal Justice…” The fourth horseman of the apocalypse is named death and also known as the pale rider. I believe that Beowulf is the final horseman who represents the end of a system in Grendel. For example, it is interesting to note that Beowulf is described as having “pale eyes” and shows a natural propensity to stare at the coast guard’s “horse” at the beginning of chapter 11. Not only this, the fourth horseman is never carrying a weapon similar to how Beowulf did not use a weapon to fight Grendel. To look at this through Grendel’s perspective, Grendel is the hero that tries to prevent the end of a system. A hero who tries to preserve the Danish way of life in order to prevent an apocalypse. For example, Grendel claims that he must meet with the stranger in order to preserve the honor of the Danes and the religion of the priests. In this ironic way, he is their savior. The sad part of this story is that the Danes still view Grendel as a brute who wreaks havoc on their existence while they don’t understand that there can be no Danes without Grendel and no Grendel without the Danes. They are intertwined together similar to the “double trunked” oak tree described in Hrothgar’s dream at the end of chapter 8.