Truth

In Grendel, we all know that Hrothgar isn't exactly the greatest guy ever. He's killed a bunch of people, taken over lots of kingdoms, made people think he was trustworthy when the reality is he's a backstabbing, old man. But the Shaper does a pretty remarkable job of making Hrothgar's actions seem like hes a God. The Shaper is used as a dual story teller in Grendel, one that shows what the men of Thanes (or danes? I'm never quite sure who Hrothgar's people are) show what they think of how they have acted. Because Grendel is only first person view, we don't really know what the people think of him or how they view their own accomplishments, so the Shaper is that point of view and voice. In Beowulf we never got to see what Grendel thought but in Gardener's book we have a view of both sides. However, the Shaper is giving Hrothgar and his men a little too much credit and the fact that everything he says has a huge effect on Grendel doesn't make much sense. But if you look at it from a modern day view it makes more sense. For example, if 3 people are in a fight and decide to gossip about it later, each person gets their side of the story told. Two will villanize the other person entirely and one will tell the story from a bias standpoint. That bias standpoint cane make either side seem that much better or that much worse. Its the same in Grendel and because the Shaper distorts the truth to make Hrothgar and his men that much more favorable, that becomes the truth to Grendel and everyone else.