Truth

The Dragon, the Shaper and Hrothgar's men, and Grendel all have different point of views of the truth, but whose version of "the truth" is actually real? Before Grendel met the Dragon, he really wanted to believe in the Shaper's songs and the world he was creating with his words. "I believed him. Such was the power of the Shaper's harp!" It is as if Grendel is really affected by the Shaper's words and is entranced. But when Grendel runs away from meadhall, he starts to think "perhaps it wasn't true". He starts to question the Shaper. To me, this is like a stepping stone or the middle ground of Grendel changing his mind.  It is kind of like a foreshadow that Grendel's opinions will be changed. After this, Grendel meets up with the Dragon. He doesn't really talk to the Dragon. He kind of just listens to the Dragon rant about being able to see the future and other things. I think Grendel's meeting with the Dragon is a ephemeral moment in his life. Grendel basically just absorbs all that the Dragon is saying. Grendel doensn't really talk because I think it is too much for him to comprehend. This is why Grendel thinks the Dragon is lying to him. Grendel doesn't understand what the Dragon is saying, no matter how much he tries to understand. The next day, Grendel is constantly thinking about what he learned from the Dragon and thinks "whatever I may have understood or misunderstood in the dragon's talk, something deeper stayed with me." Basically, this means that Grendel is ultimately changed by the Dragon's words, even if most of it didn't make sense. The Shaper is someone who tells stories. That is all that they are and ever will be: stories.