The eternal battle between the clashing forces of light and darkness has been portrayed through literary works since the beginning of the written word. The Vikings, a war-minded people, had a passion for these types of sagas with much blood, goriness, and strategy involved. In his epic novella, Beowulf: A New Telling, Robert Nye depicts two wicked characters that are truly the embodiment of evil.
In his literary work, Nye explains evil as a looming darkness that is ever-lasting. He gives the reader an impression of evil being cruel, unpredictable, and betraying. Evil is shown in the darkness with the darkness of dark creatures that live for the dark. The evil creatures have a hatred for light and anyone who stands for light. Evil is portrayed with the upper hand until the protagonist shows bravery and alone, stands up to the evil taking the upper hand for…show more content… For example, when an inferior soldier stirred out of sleep, “Grendel tore his victim limb from limb, picking off arms and legs.” This shows that the monster even slaughters an innocent person without guilt. This is because the antagonist is willing to eliminate anyone or anything in its path. As a result, Grendel is a vicious fiend that resorts to murderous actions so he can quench his thirst for human decimation.
In addition, Unferth, a Danish drunken fellow, displays a malicious and heartless nature, always conflicting with the protagonist. For example, when the King of the Danes’ hall is being terrorized by Grendel, Unferth “praised…Hrothgar’s courage (aloud). Silently, he drank a toast to the demon Grendel.” This shows that deep down the Dane truly opposes the heroes and sides with the wicked. This is because he really agrees with Grendel’s doings rather than with King Hrothgar’s principals even though it may not seem so. As a result, Unferth is a coldhearted character, doomed to seep into the clutches of