"GRINDLE."
(Vol. vii., p. 107.)
The question of C. G. supplies a new instance of an ancient and heroic word still surviving in a local name. The only other places in England that I have as yet heard of are, Grindleton in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and a Gryndall in the East Riding. The authority for this latter is Mr. Williams' Translation of Leo's Anglo-Saxon Names, p. 7., note 3.
In old England, the name was probably not uncommon: it occurs in a description of landmarks in Kemble's Codex Dipl., vol. ii. p. 172.: "on grendles mere."
There is a peculiar interest attaching to this word; or, I might say, it is invested with a peculiar horror, as being the name of the malicious fiend, the man-enemy whom Beowulf subdues in our eldest national Epic:
"Wǣs se grimma gæst Grendel háten,
Mǣre mearc-stapa, se þe móras heóld,
Fen and fæsten—fífel-cynnes eard
Won-sæli wer...."
Beowulf, l. 203. seqq.—Ed. Kemble.