Why apply modification to a method that has been accustomed for years just to receive the attention of modern day man? The objective of history is to learn from it and to admire it, not revise and adjust. In Beowulf and Grendel the movie (Gundarsson 2005), the writers of the movie altered the original story in ways that contradict the epic and the culture it portrays. The writers appear to have tried to alter the values expressed by an ancient culture in an effort to create a modern and new appeal.The Beowulf in the epic and in the movie are expressed to be the same, however, they are entirely different in belief, representation, and also in emotional decisions, which differentiates the epic and the movie in general.
The Beowulf in the epic is to be acknowledge as a superior being. The treatment of a godlike manner are due to his traits, such as his strength, which are unlike any human. A warrior who was ruthless and relentless towards his pride and his victory.(Heaney 340) His honor and courage were known by all and everyone who approached him. The people of today’s culture would not pertain to Beowulf as an “attractive” character due to the circumstances that he is superior to an average human and people can not relate to someone who is treated
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like a god. They want a character who they can relate to and understand the purpose of each decision that they make. In contrast to the epic, Beowulf is expressed as an unknown Geat warrior who spontaneously appeared from the ocean. This displays that beowulf, to the audience, is just another warrior who craves power and gold. The interpretation of Beowulf in a simple manner is such that he is no greater to a simple man, rather chosen to be the main character by virtue. Beowulf is expressed to have the weakness of lust and his strength is equivalent to that of a simple man. Today's culture would contradict with the Beowulf in the epic. People appreciate that Beowulf possesses a weakness and has human qualities due to the circumstances the majority of people can disclose to the way Beowulf, in the movie, feels towards Grendel. They like how the Beowulf in the movie loves and actually shows compassion towards Grendel. (Gunnarson 2005) Not only is Beowulf's character violated, but also his characteristics such as his emotions. Beowulf in the epic is merciless and doesn't believe in returning from battle. The conclusion of Beowulf’s beliefs is either you die with honor and glory in the battle or come home victorious. The strength of Beowulf is pertained to be strong enough to rip off the arm of a demon, Grendel, without hesitation. (Heaney 834) The desire of Grendel’s death in the epic is due to the cause that Grendel has no purpose of revolting so Beowulf considers it his duty to end Grendel’s revolting and rampages towards the towns people. This genre of a character may be exclaimed to be evil or rude to today's culture due to the fact that Beowulf feels no sympathy or any regret towards his decisions, therefore, making him less human. The Beowulf in the movie displays differentiation when it comes to the majority of his characteristics and descriptions.
The movie Beowulf desires equality and compassion. In the movie, Beowulf’s compassion towards Grendel represents that views Grendel as a human like figure and this is supported because of the evidence that Grendel has a son. Grendel’s death ceremony contains the same respect as that of a human’s death ceremony would. Beowulf expresses his compassion when he tells Grendel’s son, “Be proud”, as Grendel lied there dead in his mother's underwater cave. (Gunnarsson 2005) His love and admiration towards the witch are expressed deeply, which eventually is discovered to be the mother of Grendel's
son. Religion is one of the biggest topics in today’s culture, but how did it influence the writers for the movie Beowulf and Grendel?(Gunnarsson 2005) In the movie, Beowulf doesn't really tie himself to a religion. He is more of an observer of it. The movie contains a priest, who is not originally in the epic, who is encouraging people to follow Christ and to be baptized, but the people have a misconception of Christianity. They view the God of Christianity as an extra god on the battlefield to provide them safety.(Gunnarsson 2005) The purpose that writers of the script did this was to eliminate religion from main story, because today's culture does not like the concept of religion and the belief in a god so it is pushed aside. The Beowulf in the epic understood the existence of a God. Beowulf, in the epic, was not ashamed to pray to God or to give him glory during battle or a victory. Beowulf mentions God several times throughout the epic to show his acknowledgments towards God or a superior one. (Heaney 180-183) He does not display any fear to talk about God or anything about his beliefs. This is also another reason why they changed the character so much from the epic to the movie. The writers of the movie wanted Beowulf to relate to today's culture, yet still coordinate the same culture that the Old Englishmen utilized. In a general comparison, the movie and the epic are entirely different. In the movie, the directors and the writers of the script added so many extra characters. Some of the additional characters are unnecessary and there existence in the film altered the whole story. One of the characters with the most impact towards the story is the witch Selma. Selma was not only added to the main characters, but her characterization seemed to change the way the story turned out, such as giving birth to Grendel's son and also being a lustful temptation for Beowulf. The writers tried altering the story, again, just to get the attention and to relate the story to today's generation and culture.(Gunnarsson 2005) Still in general comparison with the epic and movie, the epic was plain and to the point; no surprises just strictly business. One bold circumstance in comparison to both the epic and the movie was that the epic showed quite a bit of gory imagery compared to the movie, which absolutely did not show any. They extracted the old Englishman rawness out of the Beowulf story and practically made it their own. The culture and the story were violated and really just torn apart just to make today's culture feel right at home. Taking a fraction of history and changing it just to appeal to your sense and style should be a crime. In the end, the only reason the epic and the movie are so different is due to the fact that today’s culture is not the same culture that was around in Beowulf’s day and age. Today's culture has tried to make everything modern and new, but sometimes some things are best left alone. Beowulf is an extraordinary epic that when altered, loses its historic values and ancient cultural values. By making the movie, the audience received an insightful perspective on how our society alters things just to fit the appeal of our culture. History is meant to be remembered and admired not altered and remade to your own taste. Maybe one day, someone of great heroisms would stand to say, “Let's make a Beowulf movie that is exactly like the epic”, that will be a glorious day.
For ages, humanity has always told stories of the classic struggle between man and monster. The battle between Beowulf and Grendel is a prime example of this archetype, but is Grendel only purely a monster? In his article “Gardner’s Grendel and Beowulf: Humanizing the Monster”, Jay Ruud makes a point that Grendel is a hybridization of both monster and man, particularly in John Gardner’s novel Grendel. In the poem Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as a purely evil monster who terrorizes Hrothgar and his people, but the novel provides a more humanistic backstory to the fiend. Throughout the novel, Grendel tells of his internal struggle between his thoughts of filling the role of the monster versus attempting to make amends with the humans. This conflict
One night, as Grendel was sleeping soundly in his home in the swamplands, he was suddenly awakened by the sound of music. The music angered Grendel because he had been up late the night before entertaining his monster friends and was in need of his beauty rest. So he headed out the front door and headed to see what the commotion is all about.
Grendel in the Epic of Beowulf is portrayed as a monster, a creature that has no thoughts on who he kills.While in the movie Beowulf and Grendel(Gunnarsson 2005); he is much more human-like. In parts of the movie, thoughts are led to believe that in fact he is not out to kill random people he only harms those who have “hurt him”.This, in fact, leads to believe that Grendel from the film really wasn’t the bad guy:it shifted towards the fact that Hrothgar was the bad guy for killing Grendel 's father This ties to the fact that as we modernize we tend to need a reason to do things, most people will not endure things if in the end the end result they won 't benefit from it. Nevertheless, the film has changed the perspective and/ or natural view that one as a reader would have taken from the
Beowulf destroys Grendel’s philosophy though. “As you see it it is, while the seeing lasts, dark nightmare-history, time-as-coffin; but where the water was rigid there will be fish, and men will survive on their flesh till spring. It’s coming, my brother. . . . Though you murder the world, transmogrify life into I and it, strong searching roots will crack your cave and rain will cleanse it: The world will burn green, sperm build again.” – (Gardner 170). Beowulf is saying to Grendel that whether you look at life with a sneer way like the dragon or try to dream up a better world like the Shaper. It does not mean anything because there is a lot more going on in the world then just Grendel so philosophize on whatever you want but in the end life goes on no matter
In both John Gardner’s Grendel, and the poem Beowulf, there are significant differences between characters, and the way they are portrayed in each of the tellings. The interpretation of a hero is usually altered in order to fit the audience, such as, Saddam Hussein in America is made out to be this monster whereas, in his home country Iraq, he is looked at as a hero and idolized by some. In each telling, Grendel and Beowulf have many similarities in how they are described in each writing, but each character is also shown in a different light in each of the writings.
There are many similarities and differences between the movie "Beowulf and Grendel", to the poem. Major differences between the movie and the poem would be Grendel himself. In the poem, he is described as an evil monster born from two demons. In the movie, Grendel is actually human, but known as a troll to the warriors and Danes. The poem doesn’t give the background of Grendel or show how the Danes killed his father and the possible reason of his revenge, like in the movie. If the witch, Selma, was not included in the storyline of the movie, the audience would not have known key information that she was used to show from more flashbacks. The witch gives more of an idea about Grendel’s past life that could have been the possibility to reasons for his actions. Some major similarities are the battles. Both epics include the battles between Beowulf and Grendel, as well as Beowulf and Grendel’s mother. The end results are the same, leading to their death, but the journey and process to the two tales are different.
As Beowulf slayed the Water Witch after Grendel, citizens of Danes never bothered to think about what they would have done if it was their son who has been killed. Through this scene, a typical reader, including myself, would see Beowulf as a hero as well as a leader from a glance. However, because Hrothgar, the king of Danes who requested Beowulf's assistance, is the individual who informed and convinced Grendel as a threat, he is the leader of his Danish environment. Shunned from society, Grendel, in the other hand was not, for all his life, he only lived and interacted with his mother, the Water Witch. From this, I concluded that the poem Beowulf is written in the perspective the victors of this event, Hrothgar and Beowulf, since at the
Grendel represents Paganism. The killing of Grendel and his mother, represents the ending of Paganism and the beginning of Christianity. The cause of Beowulf’s pride and self-centered personality may come from the belief in the afterlife. Literary critic, Alfred Bammesberger supports this claim by stating, “The poem focuses on the royal glory… on the heroic achievements of Beowulf” (Bammesberger). All glory would carry over into the afterlife, meaning that the deeds that he performs will follow him into the afterlife. All the conflicts come back to those beliefs. In addition, Beowulf displays characteristics of pure pride, as well as carelessness, while battling the external conflicts which leads to his death. To conclude, “Beowulf” has many distinct conflicts and even more hidden meanings and
In Beowulf the movie the queen reveals Grendel’s mother seduced Hrothgar and that Grendel is Hrothgar’s son. According to Margaret Reed, “She has seduced Hrothgar and Grendel is their son.” Grendel has a bronze scales on parts of his skin this a symbol of Hrothgar. After Beowulf “slays” Grendel’s mother, he returns to Heorot to tell Hrothgar and his Danes. After announcing that he has slayed her the Danes have a party, but Hrothgar pulls Beowulf aside questioning him about what really happened. Beowulf reveals that he actually didn’t slay her. Hrothgar then proceeds to give Beowulf the kingdom, The Queen before he jumps off of the castle committing suicide. According to Beowulf the movie, “so you brought back the head of Grendel. What about the head of the mother? Hrothgar asks .With her dead and cold in the bog, is it not enough to return one monster’s head? Beowulf responds. Did you kill her? Asks Hrothgar. Would you like to hear the story of my struggle against this monstrous hag? Beowulf says passive aggressively. She is no hag, Beowulf. We both know that. But answer me, did you kill her? Hrothgar says. Would I have been able to escape her, had I not? Beowulf asks. Grendel is dead that’s all that matters to me. He can bother me no more. The mother, the “Hag” she’s not my curse anymore.” Hrothgar then announces to the Danes that since he doesn’t have a son he is giving the throne and
1. An anti-hero is the opposite of a hero. It is the character that goes against all the traditional values of society. Grendel has strong traits of the average anti-hero. He lives in a cave with his mother in the middle of no where. Everybody in the land refuses to accept him, even as the lowest of their kind, and they are constantly trying to kill him. He is deprived the rules and consequences of society by not being allowed to join men, he rejects the values and rules of political establishment by terrorizing Hrothgar’s kingdom, and he is often angry because when the shaper sings he falls into the trance of possibility, but then remembers the dragon.He cannot figure out what he wants for himself.
I represented Grendel as having half-human and half-monstrous form because he is part of Cain’s clan. In the Bible, the story of Abel and Cain where Cain kills his brother is well-known. If Grendel was a part of Cain’s clan, he would have had the evil spirit of Cain and therefore would have been murderous and cruel. Grendel was designed to be partially human and monster because I used my imagination to think of Grendel as a human just like Cain that has changed due to his evil spirit making him look and act like a monster. Just like Cain, Grendel is “among the banished monsters, Cain’s clan/ whom the creator had outlawed/ And condemned as outcasts”. In order to show the fact that he is an outcast by God and part of Cain’s clan, I put the mark
Grendal, a descendant of Cain, is one of the main antagonist of the poem Beowulf. He lives under an inherited curse and is denied God’s presence. Throughout the story Grendal causes enormous grief and fear to the people of Herot. After so much pain and agony the king of Herot, Hrothgar, sends for the protagonist of the poem, Beowulf. He is a Geat and the epic hero of the poem. The wide variety of distinctions between Grendal and Beowulf is what develops the climax of the composition. Beowulf kills Grendal, so he is honored by the people of Herot for his heroic act. Since Grendal and Beowulf play opposite roles in the poem, Beowulf, they let the reader know how contrasting characters can develop the plot of the story.
No one is flawless; even great heroes like Beowulf have flaws. In the epic, Beowulf was portrayed as nearly flawless. Examples are how Beowulf in the epic ripped Grendel's arm off with his bare hands. In the movie, Beowulf sheared it off with the door in the movie his strength is more believable instead of superhuman. Another example is how he kills Grendel's mother with a giant sword that no man but him can lift. I mean that just sounds a little unbelievable, in the movie Beowulf ends up having intercourse with Grendel's mother because she transforms into Angelina Jolie, I mean come on what man wouldn’t and it would be a lot more believable for that time period men were a lot more greedy and thought only of themselves a lot more back then.
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.
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.