In the following essay, the poem Beowulf is analyzed to determine if Grendel and his mother are humans or monsters.

Subject: How Human are Grendel and his Mother?
Although a cursory analysis of the poem may lead one
to see Grendel and his mother as quintessential
representations of a belial and insensate monstrosity
that is in diametrical opposition to ubiquitous
expectations for tellurians regarding affect, indices of
the physicality, etc., closer examination of the text
reveals the astonishing possibility that these
purportedly nefarious and murderous monsters may be more
human than their "civilized" enemies, using violence in
an act of desperation to overcome the hegemonic
hedonists who eschew them…