This was now the start of Grendel's evil in the community. .
For 12 years he would taunt the halls of Heorot, killing innocent warriors that had done nothing wrong. The Anglo-Saxons feared this evil creature deeply, referring to him as a relative of Cain. In the bible, the story of Cain and Able was held to be the Anglo-Saxons main image of what evil was. As said,"⁸Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field."[d] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him" (Genesis 4:8). He was known as the murderer of his own brother because of the jealousy he had towards him. In that time period the Anglo-Saxons held that to be the first and biggest sin of all, believing that Cain was the reason sin and evil had existed. Grendel, having this appearance of repugnance, was perceived as an evil monster making him an outcast to the Danes. As being said, Cain and Grendel share this idea of a hostile behavior because of the feeling of being an outsider, in other words not being good enough. However, the Anglo-Saxons felt threatened and knew it was their duty to rid those who were evil and went against God. As time passed, Beowulf heard about the evil amongst the Danes and decides to take action to help save them. .
Beowulf brings forth this ideal image of a superhuman. His is described as this strong, powerful man whose bravery over comes his fear and fights Grendel. The fight with Grendel displays more of Beowulf's strength saying, "The captain of evil discovered himself in a handgrip harder than anything he had ever encountered in any man on the face of the earth. Every bone in his body quailed and recoiled, but he could not escape. He was desperate to flee to his den and hide with the devil's litter, for in all his days he had never been clamped or cornered like this"(750-57).Going into to more detail about describing Beowulf, the poet talks about how Grendel "the captain of evil" couldn't overcome the strength that Beowulf had.