life is meaningless. A conscious being, a "pattern maker" like Grendel, can never accept this fully (27). The belief in nihilism, for any human (or Grendel), is in fact not belief in the absence of meaning, it is belief in the opposite of meaning. In a way, it is the antithesis to meaning and it is neither satisfying, nor objective, nor true for Grendel. Beowulf's point is that the things, graves, gardens of roses, monsters, and heroes, are no more or less than the meaning given them, which in turn stems from consciousness and life. "The world will burn green, sperm build again. Time is the mind, the hand that makes," not destroys (170). While Grendel looks for a purpose and reason to life, Gardner's answer is that life and free will are the source of all purpose and reason, once again promoting an existential viewpoint.Gardner provides us with a conclusive answer to the existentialism debate in the final scene. The key difference between Grendel and Beowulf, like that between heroism and existentialism, is meaning. Grendel kills without meaning, and Beowulf kills with meaning. A small difference, indeed, but it is the symbolic distinction between he that dies and he that survives. From Grendel's point of view, even his own end is meaningless; it is only an "accident" which happens to him (174). To Beowulf, it is a victory, a triumph, and a rebirth for humankind. Is Beowulf's perspective, according to Gardner, necessarily more valid? No. But Gardner also remarks that nihilism, true or not, must end in denial. Finally, he implies that existentialism is very different from nihilism. In a world where definition and meaning are not always clear, many, including Grendel, find comfort in existentialism and the assumption that people are entirely free in their, hopefully optimistic, quest for meaning....
