Beowulf Poem Vs Movie

Beowulf, the epic hero, a gifted individual who does great deeds for his people.

In the life of a hero is always obstacles and troubles in the way, Beowulf gets through all the challenges he faces in life, the fights, the monsters, and as always at the end of an epic hero story it ends with a revealing answer.

Similar concepts from the poem and movie are the speeches and boasts the geets said and how they would be loud when they sang about being warriors, and how Beowulf would talk about himself and his journeys with so much pride and enthusiasm. King Hrothgar implying how important, yet hard, it is to be a hero/warrior.

When it comes down to the differences between the poem and film there’s an amount of differences. The fight between

Beowulf and Grendel, the descendant of Cain, who was the first murderer and killed his brother Abel, he killed Grendel in both, in the poem he fought without a sword or shield as he did in the film, he tore off Grendel’s arm in the book while in the film he trapped his arm with the door and it tore off. The battle in the book implies that Beowulf is the only one awake among the rest of the men, and Grendel comes in not making so much ruckus, as in the film Beowulf is the only one sleeping while the men are singing and a man approaches up to the door while Grendel bangs loudly on it.
The fight between Beowulf and Grendel’s mother in the poem says it took a very long dangerous journey for Beowulf to confront her, she's suppose to be this horrific demon but in the film she's portrayed as a beautiful woman who looks like Angelina Jolie, in the battle he kills Grendel’s mom, but is opposite from what the films shows, she manipulates Beowulf in giving him riches and being King if he gives her a child, which results in the golden dragon in the film. Also in the film he goes to Grendel’s moms cave with one man which is Wiglaf, as in the poem he's accompanied by 14 men.

Hrothgar isn’t portrayed as a man with many lovers or a drunk/fat in the poem, but in the film they show him and Beowulf as well when he becomes king as men with lovers. But they really are honorable men who are faithful and loyal to their wives, not only their wives but also to their men who are committed to these Kings. Beowulf does not stay and marry Hrothgar’s wife, once he fulfilled his duty to Hrothgar, since he helped Beowulf’s father when he needed help he repaid Hrothgar in loyalty by killing Grendel and Grendel’s mother, he returns home where he lives up to his old life and becomes a King by himself, as in the film he stays in the town, marries Hrothgar’s wife, and battles with the dragon.

Considering the differences between the epic poem and film they were both enjoyable and interesting, the poem described how back then literature and beliefs are, and the film illustrated how hollywood changed the story to catch the eye from the audiences today.