Grendel's Dragon

After Hrothgar kills Grendel's mother, the young monster goes to the dragon. This short story tells the story of Grendel, from the point of view of the cheeky, oftentimes exasperated, dragon.

FROM THE BOOK: It was after Hrothgar’s men killed Grendel’s mother that the small beast came to me. He wasn’t the monster those men claimed him to be. No. Just a beast-child, curious about the world, and painfully distraught and lonely. And now, without a mother.

I understood Grendel’s pain. For I, too, had endured being hunted by men. I, too, knew what it was like to be alone in the world, and to be thought of as a treacherous beast. I think he sensed it. That is why he came to me when he needed answers to his questions.

I was never quite sure what Grendel was. He did not resemble any known creature. Though I suppose he looked like the legendary bigfoot from human fairy tales. Only shorter and not as smelly. He had a large, protruding brow, and small beady, brown eyes with the whites all bloodshot. Thick brown fur covered his entire body except his face, palms, and the soles of his feet, which were covered in thick, brown callused skin.

MORE INFORMATION: This short story is also included in the book *The Unicorns War Softly*