Two distinctive and / or comparable stories that are about the Anglo-Saxon culture are Beowulf and The 13th Warrior. Both stories display good v.s. Evil in detail, shows the characters true colors on how they are and how they remember/honor the dead. Beowulf has detail in the story, however in The 13th Warrior we can actually see the tension that is going on rather than visualizing it. Fighting monsters is one of the things that both the poem and the movie have in common. “Heard how Grendel filled the nights with horror and quickly commanded a boat fitted out…,” in the poem it states that Grendel was the only monster Beowulf was fighting against and incompatibly in the movie there were more creatures whom they wanted to defeat. Another similarity is that in both they kill the mothers, Beowulf kills Grendel’s mother in Beowulf and in The 13th Warrior Buliwf kills the Wendol Warlord. On the other hand in The 13th Warrior they were building/ setting a wall that could sort of protect them from the monsters and could use it as shields, Beowulf didn’t do that. …show more content…
In the movie they go fight the monsters underwater and Beowulf also fights underwater, just with one monster whom came out to be Grendel’s mother. The men in The 13th Warrior took people’s heads, “Brave men staggering under the weight of Grendel’s skull, too heavy for fewer than four of them to handle…,” Beowulf just brought back Grendel’s head as a trophy to demonstrate that he killed Grendel. When the monsters came to the warriors village one of them left their claw behind, Grendel’s arm was tore/ snapped off by
Beowulf is an epic poem that was written in the late tenth-century, at the kingdom of the West Saxons. The two main characters are Beowulf, a young man; and Grendel, a furious dragon. Beowulf's world is a very violent society with wars as a dominant part of daily life. Dragons and monsters are a constant threat to the Danes and the Geats. Warriors are a necessity to this war-like society. Beowulf is a hero as well as a great, and honorable, warrior.
A soldier and Beowulf are similar in many ways, for instance, they are both strong and brave. A soldier shows strength and bravery when he/she fights for the safety of our country by going to war against countries that mean us harm. Beowulf showed strength and bravery when he fought Grendel, a demonic monster who killed many of the Danes’ people. Unarmed and with the strength of just one hand, Beowulf was able to defeat Grendel. Throughout the poem, Beowulf fought in two more major battles; Grendel’s mother and a great dragon. Another similarity is that both, a soldier and Beowulf, are/were passionate about serving and protecting their people. Soldiers are dedicated to protecting those around them on the battlefield, as well as our society as a whole. Beowulf was not only dedicated to protecting his own people, but also those who had done right by his father.
The epic Beowulf is one of the oldest poems written in English. According to the Norton Anthology, "the poem was composed more the twelve hundred years ago, in the first half of the eight century. Its author may have been a native of what was Mercia, the Midlands of England today, although the late tenth-century manuscript , which alone preserves the poem, originated in the south in the kingdom of the West Saxons" (Norton 21). Although the poem is of English origin, it speaks of tribes (the Danes and the Geats) that are from the "Danish island of Zealand and southern Sweden respectively" (Norton 22). The main character, Beowulf, demonstrates that he is a warrior who places heroism and bravery over his own well-being and life. Beowulf is a hero and an example of a great warrior. His actions give us a good example of the pagan warrior mentality. The pagan society is a warrior society, in which courage and bravery are extremely prevalent. Beowulf fights against monsters and dragons, and he would rather die in battle, then anywhere else. Beowulf is called upon to help defeat Grendel, who is a monster that has taken over the hall of Heorot. He is greeted with great hospitality. Hrothgar, the King of Denmark, is relived to see Beowulf. There is some skepticism by Unferth, who recalls a fight in which Beowulf lost in Battle. Unferth is wrong, and Beowulf says this great line: "fate often saves an undoomed man when his courage is good." Beowulf defeats Grendel with great ease and the people of the hall are gracious to Beowulf.
One of the main topics discussed in lesson one is the fact that heroes over time and overseas all heroes have something in common; which is true in the case of King Arthur and Beowulf. It is obvious that they are similar in the fact that they are both heroes, but what makes them an idol of their time and in their culture are poles apart. There are many things that are different about Beowulf and King Arthur, but the ones that stand out the most are what kind of hero they are and what actions they did to make them heroic. Both heroes possess qualities that others do not have, but it is what they do with those abilities that prompts someone to write a story about them and idolize them in time.
The motion picture demonstrates Grendel as honest and in this way give the viewers a misconception of all the transgression that he has commited. He is appeared as pure and innocent yet like a youngster. After Beowulf executes Grendel he meets with Grendels mother to thrashing her and all the brutality Heorot has been included in. One of these distinctions happens to be in the poem, Grendel murders the Dane who wronged him and continues to make tracks in an opposite direction from Beowulf, however as Grendel is fleeing Beowulf gets his arm. In spite of the fact that Beowulf gets his arm in the poem but in the movie this scene played out extremely differently. Grendel runs and and Beowulf grabs a rope and Grendel gets stuck on it, Grendel cuts his own arm off with a specific end goal to make tracks in an opposite direction from Beowulf and alternate Danes. In the motion picture Beowulf has no part in removing Grendel 's arm. Also in the poem Grendel is not mentioned as being Beowulf’s son. In both movie and poem Grendel does lose his
Beowulf represents what a modern hero truly is rather than Dante the pilgrim, because he displays qualities of courage, pride, and humility. In order to be considered a modern hero the individual must demonstrate these particular qualities, and courage, pride, and humility should be reflected in the actions they make.
Most of us have heard of modern day heroes such as Spiderman, Superman, and the Hulk. Each is a hero to many children. Heroes are introduced to people early on in life usually as fictional characters, but as children grow older their perceptions of heroes alter. The characteristics of a hero are usually based around the ideas of a society or culture. In the epic Beowulf, the main character is thought of as a hero. Beowulf, a pagan warrior and the main character of the epic, shows certain characteristics such as bravery, loyalty, and generosity, which portray him as a hero. It is interesting how modern day heroes show the much of the same qualities as Beowulf.
In this poem, Beowulf exhibits the trait of bravery by defeating the monster, Grendel. This monster was a very powerful monster that plagued the town of Herot. “He slipped through the door… Snatched up thirty men, smashed them/ Unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies/ The blood dripping behind him, back/ To his liar, delighted with his night’s slaughter. (11)”
At the feast Beowulf states he will fight Grendel not only alone but also unarmed. This shows his courage and honor because he does not want any of his men to get hurt and Grendel does not use weapons. When Grendel arrives to the mead hall that night, he is met by the strongest warrior in the land. Beowulf and Grendel wrestle inside the mead hall where the strength of Beowulf prevails when he rips the monster 's arm off its body. The injured monster retreats back to his mother 's house in the swamp where he ends up dying. As a symbol of the victory against Grendel, Beowulf hangs the arm on the wall for all the Danes. To celebrate the heroic actions of Beowulf the Danes hold a celebration where they give thanks by giving many gifts to the Geats. The battle with Grendel is just the first challenge the brave and courageous warrior
In the movie, Beowulf leader of the danes make mistakes, as in the poem he doesn't make mistakes. In both movies, he has heroness, power and glory. In the poem, which is the opposite of what i'm trying to say, he is a perfect hero, no mistakes, and a proud man. First off, Beowulf has killed himself by sleeping with Grendel's mother and sold his soul to her. Which secondly, obviously she wanted a child, so that child is a dragon, which is Beowulf's son. Which leads to keeping a secret from all the danes back home and becoming a guilty man who can't own up to his mistakes.
There are many books, movies and poems that fall into the category of epic. Although majority of the epic films are based on a hero who keeps the entire city safe and helps as many people as they can. Now that is exactly the film The 13th Warrior. The film follows the key events of the Epic Beowulf. The 13th Warrior demonstrates pretty much the same aspect of epic, along with the speculations of a hero, and how he overpowered his enemy. Unfortunately the main characters in The 13 Warrior and Beowulf are different. However the circumstances that they are put in front of and the behavior of both heros remain related. While the two pieces have a lot in common they still have their differences.
In the movie, this version of Beowulf does what the other Beowulf would have never done for a monster he just finished slaying. He builds a memorial in honor of Grendel. This shows Beowulf's remorse for killing him. An emotion the Beowulf from the epic didn't seem to have. Beowulf also shows mercy on Grendel's son when Beowulf decides not to kill him. This mercy is something that was not present at all in the epic's portrayal of Beowulf. If a deed would bring glory to the name of Beowulf, then he wouldn't hesitate to do it.
This essay is the comparison between Beowulf and a modern day hero. I consider any American soldier to be my modern day hero. In this essay I will explain in three paragraphs of how my modern day hero is like Beowulf. With in these three paragraphs I will go over how they are both fighting for a good cause, how they are both rewarded for what they do, and how they are both treated with much respect.
First, Beowulf shows his courage as he battles the beast Grendel. Grendel, a fearsome monster of great power has been raiding and killing the people of the Scylding realm, and for “Twelve winters’ time the lord of the Scyldings had suffered woe, sore affliction and deep distress” (Beowulf, 12). Beowulf, a thane from Geat Land, arrives by ship to help destroy the creature Grendel. While all his warriors slept, Beowulf stayed awake and waited for Grendel to attack (14). As assumed, Grendel at...
In his article Tolkien makes an argument over his beliefs of Beowulf. His main argument is that he believes that many critics make a crucial mistake by ignoring the monsters in the poem. He believes that these monsters are just as crucial as Beowulf himself is to the poem. In order to back up his claim he uses different examples of monsters Beowulf has to go up against. He discusses Grendel and the dragon. Both are monsters that Beowulf has to face and by defeating both foes it makes him look stronger and more heroic. Throughout the article Tolkien discusses several subjects of debate and his take on them. For one he believes Beowulf is more than just a historical piece but rather it is a piece of art. He believes it is serves a better purpose serving as a work of art rather than being a historical document. Afterwards