18 books like Grendel

What to read after Grendel — books similar to it, matched on shared themes.

Beowulf Ian Serraillier · 1954 · 47p · ≈ 1h · Moderate A retelling of the classic tale of Beowulf, appropriate for young adults. Shares: Beowulf, Epic poetry, Monsters, Adaptations

Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary J.R.R. Tolkien · 2001 · ★ 4.1 · 448p · ≈ 14h · Moderate From his creative attention to detail in these lectures there arises a sense of the immediacy and clarity of his vision. It is as if he entered into the imagined past: standing beside Beowulf and his men shaking out their mail shirts as they beached their ship on the coast of Denmark, listening to the rising anger of Beowulf at the taunting of Unferth, or looking up in amazement at Grendel's… Shares: Beowulf, Epic poetry, Monsters, Dragons

Beowulf, with the Finnsburg fragment A. J. Wyatt · 1914 · 255p · ≈ 8h · Challenging Presents a new translation of the Anglo-Saxon epic chronicling the heroic adventures of Beowulf, the Scandinavian warrior who saves his people from the ravages of the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother. Shares: Epic poetry, Heroes, Monsters, Dragons

The Queen's Man Sharon Kay Penman · 1996 · ★ 3.9 · 291p · ≈ 9h · Moderate The 12th Century sleuth, Justin de Quincy, investigates a murder which could shed light on a plot to usurp the crown of England. Prince John is scheming to unseat his brother, King Richard the Lionheart, who went missing as he was returning from a crusade. Shares: Medieval Civilization, Civilization

Medieval Ghost Stories Andrew Joynes · 2001 · 176p · ≈ 5h · Moderate "Medieval Ghost Stories is a collection of ghostly occurences from the eighth to the fourteenth centuries; they have been found in monastic chronicles and preaching manuals, in sagas and heroic poetry, and in medieval romances. In a religious age, the tales bore a peculiar freight of spooks and spirituality which can still make hair stand on end; unfailingly, these stories give a fascinating and… Shares: Medieval Civilization, Civilization

The coming of the dragon Rebecca Barnhouse · 2010 · ★ 3.8 · 311p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Rebecca Barnhouse weaves Norse gods, blood feuds, and a terrifying dragon into this spectacular retelling of the end of the Old English poem Beowulf.When he was a baby, Rune washed up onshore in a boat, along with a sword and a pendant bearing the runes that gave him his nickname. Some people thought he was a sacrifice to the gods and wanted to send him right back to the sea. Luckily for Rune,… Shares: Beowulf, Heroes, Dragons

Figures of Earth James Branch Cabell · 1921 · ★ 4.0 · 136p · ≈ 4h · Challenging The story of Manuel, a swineherd in thirteenth-century France, who becomes Count Manuel of Poictesme. The motto on his coat of arms is "Mundus Vult Decipi"--The world wishes to be deceived. It is in playing on others' expectations that he rises to hero status and becomes Manuel the Redeemer. Shares: Medieval Civilization, Heroes, Fantasy fiction

Song of Solomon Toni Morrison · 1634 · ★ 4.4 · 353p · ≈ 11h · Demanding Milkman Dead was born shortly after a neighborhood eccentric hurled himself off a rooftop in a vain attempt at flight. For the rest of his life he, too, will be trying to fly. With this brilliantly imagined novel, Toni Morrison transfigures the coming-of-age story as audaciously as Saul Bellow or Gabriel García Márquez. As she follows Milkman from his rustbelt city to the place of his family’s… Shares: Fictional works [publication type], Modern Literature

Cligès Chrétien de Troyes · 1888 · ★ 3.8 · 216p · ≈ 7h · Challenging Cligès is a poem by the medieval French poet Chrétien de Troyes, dating from around 1176. It is the second of his five Arthurian romances; Erec and Enide, Cligès, Yvain, Lancelot and Perceval. The poem tells the story of the knight Cligès and his love for his uncle's wife, Fenice. Shares: Medieval Civilization, Civilization

Homer and His Age Andrew Lang · 1906 · 234p · ≈ 7h · Challenging A fantastic look at the life and times of the ancient Greek epic poet Homer by famed anthropologist Andrew Lang. Shares: Epic poetry, Civilization, Mythology

The Fall of Arthur J.R.R. Tolkien · 2013 · ★ 3.3 · 240p · ≈ 8h · Moderate The first publication of a previously unknown narrative poem by J.R.R. Tolkien, which tells the extraordinary story of the final days of England's legendary hero, King Arthur. Shares: Epic poetry, Adaptations

Murtagh Christopher Paolini · 2023 · ★ 4.4 · 688p · ≈ 22h · Moderate The world is no longer safe for the Dragon Rider Murtagh and his dragon, Thorn. An evil king has been toppled, and they are left to face the consequences of the reluctant role they played in his reign of terror. Now they are hated and alone, exiled to the outskirts of society. Throughout the land, hushed voices whisper of brittle ground and a faint scent of brimstone in the air - and Murtagh… Shares: Dragons, Fantasy fiction

Modern mythology Andrew Lang · 1897 · 169p · ≈ 5h · Challenging xxiv p., 1 l., 212 p. 23 cm. Shares: Mythology

Myth and ritual in Christianity Alan Watts · 1953 · 262p · ≈ 8h · Moderate A penetrating and wide-ranging study of mythological processes and their particular manifestation in Christian religion, Alan Watt's Myth and Ritual in Christianity is widely considered a classic. Using the lens of the "doctrine of mystical tradition", Watts explores the development of church doctrine in relation to the procession of seasons and finds, contrary to many contemporary critics, that… Shares: Mythology

World mythology Donna Rosenberg · 1986 · ★ 4.4 · 561p · ≈ 18h · Moderate Shares: Mythology

Chimera John Barth · 1972 · ★ 3.7 · 308p · ≈ 10h · Moderate Barth retells the tales of Scheherezade of the Thousand and One Nights, Perseus, and Bellerophon from varying perspectives, examining the myths' relationship to reality and their resonance with the contemporary world. Dunyazade, Scheherazade's kid sister, holds the destiny of herself and the prince who holds her captive. Perseus, the demigod who slew the Gorgon Medusa, finds himself at forty… Shares: Mythology

Eros Teri Temple · 2012 · 32p · ≈ 1h · Moderate None (Hesiod)Hesiod, Theogony https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.01.0130%3Acard%3D104 116–122] states that Gaia, Tartarus and Eros come after Chaos, but this does not necessarily mean that they are the offspring of Chaos. Gantz, pp.… Shares: Mythology

Comparative mythology F. Max Müller · 1909 · 184p · ≈ 6h · Challenging Comparative mythology is the comparison of myths from different cultures in an attempt to identify shared themes and characteristics.Littleton, p. 32 Comparative mythology has served a variety of academic purposes. For example, scholars have used the relationships between different myths to trace the development of religions and cultures, to propose common origins for myths from different… Shares: Mythology

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