From: mxr@neptune.dsc.com (Max "Postdoctoral Perspiration" Rible)
Subject: Re: grendel
Organization: Digital Sound Corporation
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 00:03:12 GMT

jholstei@scott.skidmore.edu (jeremy holstein) writes:
>lf7z@ellis.uchicago.edu (glenn alan carnagey jr) writes:
>> In article <1992Aug12.210347.12090@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> conty@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Conty-kun) writes:
>> >In article <1992Aug12.184536.16540@morgan.ucs.mun.ca>, cwelsh@morgan.ucs.mun.ca (Craig Welsh  8823239) writes:
>> >> Anyway, here's a loaded question for you all out there. Could someone
>> >> give a BRIEF summary of the series so I can better understand what is
>> >> happening.

>Since no one has posted any sort of summary, I'll try to do a quick
>one.  Grendel is a spirit of vengence in essence.  His identity is
>passed from host to host, or people adopt his identity when the time
>merits.  Whichever it is has never been spelled out.  The current
>storyline is taking place far far in the future, after the collapse
>of the Catholic church, and the creation of a gigantic World Wide
>government called Unow (which achieved world domination by blowing up
>Japan)), and they're ruled by a person calling himself the
>Grendel-Khan.  

Actually, there's considerable evidence that Grendel is a very powerful
wetware virus.  The first Grendel was Hunter Rose; Christine Spar found
the Hunter Rose diary and read it, and shortly thereafter manifested as
Grendel herself.  She also had a diary, and her boyfriend from during
the mess she was in as she was turning into Grendel read it (and I 
believe the Hunter Rose diary as well).  That section is in fact 
presented with his diary entries interspersed.

I don't recall as to whether anything is mentioned of the origin of
the fanatic terrorist in the far-future timeline who wears the Grendel
mask and makes all sorts of trouble for the Church; I believe he was
addicted to the drug called Grendel.  At the time, Grendel was a word
almost synonymous with devil.

Orion Assante mentions reading the Hunter Rose and Christine Spar
diaries at one point before becoming Grendel-Khan, and we get some
foreshadowing of this as we see the shadows of the bracing struts
on an aircar project the "swords" onto his face in the appropriate
position for the Grendel mask.  (Are they still selling Grendel
masks?  Maybe I should get one...  never know when it might come
in handy.  Though given the way I trim my beard, I should be looking
for a black T-shirt with a white lightning bolt.)

My theory is that reading the Grendel diaries can turn susceptible
people into Grendel.  (Of course, the bits about "I like this host" in
the storyline following Christine Spar's boyfriend could imply
demonic-style possession [and the presence of mystical vampires makes
this somewhat more likely], but I prefer it as a creature that's
purely a thought-form.)  It's sort of like rabies: rabies does quite
well in making animals act differently, salivating to help spread the
virus, and taking its time killing them.  Grendel seems to cause
people to write diaries, and a crafty Grendel can live quite some
while.

Anyone else have their own pet theory?
/-------------v-----------------------v---------------------------------------\
| Max Rible   | mxr@dsc.com           | "Powerful big rats, gentlemen."       |
|             | rible@vorpal.ucsb.edu |                         - Neil Gaiman |
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