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Differences in beowulf movie and book
Differences in beowulf movie and book
Differences in beowulf movie and book
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Beowulf, a soldier of honor and courage. Through his many battles with giants and sea monsters he has found himself in another life threatening predicament. Many things change when the poem is put on the big screen. Hrothgar king of the Danes was never mentioned as Grendel’s father in the original poem. In the poem Beowulf never makes a deal with Grendel’s mother, he kills her. Towards the end of the movie Hrothgar crowns Beowulf the king of the Danes, but in the poem leaves and becomes king of the Geats for fifty peaceful years.
Basically a deal with the devil, Hrothgar thought Grendel was the curse, but laying down with the water witch was the beginning of the end for Hrothgar. But in all actuality pride is the curse. Hrothgar gave the witch a son in return for a
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According the movie, Hrothgar knew Beowulf couldn`t kill the beautiful beast, as he couldn`t either. So Beowulf laid with the deceitful creature and set Hrothgar free of his dreadful curse. But in contrast, the poem says that bowulf sliced the head off of the great water witch. And that neither Hrothgar nor Beowulf had a demon son.
Because of Beowulf’s actions the curse was now set on him for he will be king of the Danes and cursed with a demon son to terrorize him and his kingdom. On the other hand the original poem says that after he defeated Grendel and his mother he departed from the Danes and journeyed back home to his deceased uncle Higlac to take his place and be the king of the Geats for fiftypeaceful years.
In conclusion, many things were alike between the poem and the movie, but there were more things that were different. Both the poem and the movie were very entertaining, but they were so different that it almost seemed like a different movie if it weren`t for the names being the same. These were only three of the many differences between Beowulf the poem and Beowulf the
Another difference in the poem and movie is the bloody battles. In the poem, Beowulf has supernatural powers when he is at battle. In the movie, Boulvine battles with human strengths and power. In the poem Beowulf fights all of his battles alone. In the movie Boulvine battles with several men. One of the famous warriors is the 13th warrior, played by Antonio Banderes. He helps Boulvine fight the Ven. In the poem Beowulf does not fight his third battle until 50 years later. In the movie Boulvine fights his third battle immediately after the second.
Nobody dared to stop the bravest man in all the land known as Beowulf. Beowulf is the strongest warrior from Geatland. When Beowulf hears about the Danes and Hrothgar’s struggle to keep his men safe, he offers to help. The Danish king, Hrothgar, accepts Beowulf’s request to kill Grendel and his mother. Beowulf proves his strength and becomes famous when he defeats Grendel in a battle using nothing but his bare hands in Herot. He keeps Grendel’s arm as a symbol of his victory. Grendel’s mother looks for revenge, but she is also killed by the brave warrior. Beowulf becomes the King of Geatland after the king’s son, Heardred, is killed. Beowulf rules for 50 years and he is very successful in keeping peace across the land and Geatland becomes very prosperous. Beowulf later dies after a final fight against a dragon. The Geats build a tower strong and tall just as Beowulf requested so that sailors could find it from far and wide. Beowulf perfectly embodies the Germanic heroic ideal.
He is helped along in all of his battles by God. Beowulf states that this is the only supernatural aid that he needs. Therefore, God provides for him when Beowulf needs aid the most. An example of Beowulf's supernatural aid is when he is fighting Grendel's mother. He travels far away into the depths of a forbidden lake in search for her. When he finds her Beowulf attempts to cut at the flesh of the beast with Hrunting, but the blade is unable to pierce her skin. He then attempts to take on the beast just like he took on her son, with his bare hands. Unfortunately, this did not seem to work either as she matched him blow for blow. When all hope seemed lost Beowulf catches a glimpse of a mighty sword hanging on the cave wall. He takes the weapon and proceeds to decapitate the beast head. Beowulf makes claims that he would not be back in Hrothgar's presence if it had not been for God and his guidance. As he retails the legendary tale, he states “I’d have been dead at once,/ And the fight finished, the she-devil victorious, / If our Father in Heaven had not helped me.”(II. 1656-1658). Beowulf also states, “ Unferth's noble weapon, could do nothing, / Gives guidance to those who can find it from no one / Else. (II. 1659-1664). Beowulf seemingly is a indestructable human; he possess all of the qualities that a hero is made up
Another difference could be how the story of Beowulf seems like it's more of a sad story
The character Beowulf, “a man of great strength and bravery” (Magill 388), is a hero in the way he defends his neighboring country, Denmark. When the word that a hostile creature, known as Grendel, was killing tons in Denmark, Beowulf set sail to help defend the people and rid them of the hideous monster.
Since he comes back a mightier warrior, his reputation is quick to spread when his people are in a time of crisis. Beowulf’s king Hygelac, who was another motive for his journey to Denmark, dies in a battle and his son in a feud. This left the people in need of a king. This point in the poem is where we see the biggest change of all. All of his battles he went through that deemed himself worthy of the fame he craved, led the people to believe in him so much that he became the king of the Geats.
King Hrothgar once again looks toward Beowulf to take care of another monster. To get ready for this battle Beowulf wears armor and uses the Horting sword which has never lost in battle. Once again Beowulf shows his courage by deciding to go to the bottom of the monster filled swamp and fight alone. Fighting off monsters on his way down, Beowulf reached the bottom where he was met by Grendel 's mother. He tried to cut her head off with Horting, but she is too strong. Beowulf takes a sword made for giants off the wall, and uses his super strength to cut the mother 's head off. As a trophy of this battle Beowulf finds the body of Grendel in a corner and decides to take his head back to the mead hall. Hrothgar celebrates another victory by once again throwing a large celebration where they gave more gifts to Beowulf and the Geats. After two battles, Beowulf decides it is time for him and his men to head back to their homeland. Continuing to show courage, honor, and strength Beowulf states that if the Danes ever have anymore problems with monsters he will help protect
Beowulf feels a sense of loyalty to Hrothgar which leads Beowulf “…to sail the swan’s road and search out that king, / the famous prince who needed defenders” against the marauding monster, Grendel (200-201). Beowulf’s generosity leads him to Hrothgar’s mead-hall to save Hrothgar from the clutches of Grendel. Regardless of fate and lineage, Beowulf is driven by forces out of his control. It is true that the qualities of an Anglo-Saxon warrior drives Beowulf to become the hero he is, but his lineage and fate define his
Beowulf’s characteristics seen on screen are very different compared to Beowulf’s characteristics in the Anglo-Saxon poem. Beowulf in the film Beowulf
The poem Beowulf was written between 700-750 A.D. by an unknown author set in Denmark and Sweden, other wise known as Scandinavia. The original Beowulf only exists in one copy, and was severely damaged by a fire. The poem was an epic with many Christian references throughout the poem. In the poem, Grendel attacks the people of the Danes at night for the loud celebrating in Herot (mead hall), that drives him mad with rage, bringing death and destruction. Beowulf kills both Grendel, and his mother, then returns to his land to later become the king of the Geats. While in the 2007 film, Beowulf kills Grendel, is seduced by Grendel’s mother, lies about killing her, and becomes king of the Danes.
The original epic poem and the movie Beowulf have the same background and basis, but they are very different in many ways. Many critics argue that the screenwriters Neil Gaiman and Roger Avery changed too many events, thus changing the entire meaning of the story (Rees). This is not true, because the character of Beowulf became more relatable in the movie. The viewer was able to see the truth behind his boasts instead of just what he claims. It offers a sense of docility instead of an over confident super-human (Wood). Although the epic poem had more emotion and character depth, the film had positive changes such as a more relatable Beowulf and a more interesting storyline.
First of all, the structure of both the text and the film are mainly similar to one another. Beowulf, the hero, was an honorable warrior who achieved great feats by defeating various monsters in his lifetime. Both depictions of ‘Beowulf’ follows the hero’s 3 major battles against monsters. Grendel, his mother, and the dragon all made appearance in each battle, respectively. The first battle of the movie mainly stays true to the poem with minor differences
The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the reader’s perception of Grendel and his role in Beowulf by narrating the story through Grendel’s point of view. John Gardner transforms the perceived terrible evil fiend who is Grendel into a lonely but intelligent outcast who bears a striking resemblance to his human adversaries. In Grendel, John Gardner portrays Grendel as an intelligent being capable of rational thought as well as displaying outbursts of emotion. He portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression ostracized from civilization. The author of Beowulf portrays Grendel as the typical monster archetype as compared to John Gardner’s representation of Grendel as an outcast archetype.
The movie stuck to the main story of Beowulf, but it still had many differences. The movie brought the poem to reality with its own twist on the story of Beowulf. From the appearance of Hrothgar and Grendel’s mom, to the journey of the dragon. There are many differences and similarities locked into one Legend.
Beowulf’s first accomplishment as an epic hero was his battle with Grendel. Grendel was a huge beast, a descendent of Cain, who ruthlessly murdered innocent Danes because he felt pity for himself. Upon hearing of the Dane’s problem, Beowulf set off to help the Danish without having been called upon. Even though Beowulf had men backing him, He drew battle with Grendel alone and without armor or weapons. Yet, Beowulf emerged victorious with the arm of Grendel as his trophy. Beowulf then went on to kill Grendel’s vengeful mother and a huge fire-breathing dragon who thought it had been done wrong by the Geats. Alas, the killing of the dragon would be Beowulf’s last great battle for the dragon took Beowulf’s life in the struggle for his own.