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Beowulf and dragon comparison
Beowulf and dragon comparison
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The way Smaug looked, was based upon many other dragons like Fafnir, and Beowulf’s dragon. Beowulf’s Dragon, a story of an incredibly deadly dragon, had much influence to what Smaug looked like. While the authors are explaining what the Beowulf’s dragon looks like, they say this, “Batlike wings attached to the torso by robust muscles lift the dragon in flight.” (Gerrie McCall & Kieron Connolly 8). When Bilbo enters the dragon's lair, Tolkien explains what the dragon looks like in this quote, “Smaug lay, with wings folded like an immeasurable bat, turned partly on one side…” (Tolkien 87). This shows some similarities, and influence, between these two dragons. Another dragon named Fafnir, also had very similar looks to Smaug, in fact in
the book, Dragons: Fearsome Monsters from Myth and Fiction, the authors explain Fafnir as also having , “batlike wings,” like Beowulf’s Dragon, and Smaug. What the dragons can do are also traits of these dragons. While the authors describe what the Beowulf’s dragon can do, they describe this, “It’s fiery breath lights the skies,” (Gerrie McCall & Kieron Connolly 8). When the dwarves sing about their adventure and Smaug, they sang this, “The dragon-fire, in twisted wire, They meshed the light of moon and sun,” (Tolkien 8). This part of the song from, The Hobbit, shows another similar trait, that all three dragons, Fafnir, Smaug, and Beowulf’s dragon all share.
The higher realism of Tolkien is that he tells the truth in his fairy tale; TV dramas, on the other hand, lie with realistic buildings and cars and heroes who get the treasure without bleeding. The blood can be a metaphor for any of the secretions that contain the body’s salt: sweat or tears” (Tyre, p. 20). The dragon blew fire at Biblo in Chapter 12 when he narrowly escapes after going back into the dragon’s lair to get the treasure. On page 246, when the dragon blew the fire, the passage stated: “he was nearly overcome, and stumbled on the ground with pain and fear.” Upon returning to the dwarfs in the afternoon, he stumbled to the doorstep and “the dwarfs revived him, and doctored his scorches as well as they could; but it was a long time before the hair grew properly again” (Tolkien, 1937, p. 247). These quotes point out the “blood” Biblo left behind. He gained battle
When Bilbo encounters the strange creature Gollum, he enters into a game of riddles with the creature in order to buy more time. Bilbo’s wit enables him to prevail as he asks the final question, at first to himself, “What have I got in my pocket?” (78). Another example of Bilbo’s cunning wit would be his encounter with the great dragon Smaug. Smaug is a much more daunting opponent this time. As Smaug attempts to lure Bilbo into his hall, Bilbo proceeds to flatter the dragon and talk in riddles. “This is of course the way to talk to dragons, if you don’t want to reveal your proper name (which is wise), and don’t want to infuriate them by a flat refusal (which is also very wise)” (223). Bilbo’s cunning tactics establish Bilbo as being capable of conquering his enemies not with total force, but with the clever use of
Every story has characters with different roles, and each of them are important to make the story complete. Three characters, Bilbo, Gandalf, and Smaug represent three archetypal roles in this story. Their guide Gandalf, represents the mentor, Bilbo represents the hero, and Smaug represents the shadow. Smaug symbolizes fear to the characters, and the dragon represents one of the characters that are most often causing the most terror and trouble to the other characters in the story. The hobbit symbolizes the hero of the story, because he sacrifices himself throughout the book. Mr. Bilbo Baggins learns more and more each day, and he tries to always do the right thing. Gandalf symbolizes the guidance and help as a mentor, and he provides training and motivation to the characters. These three important characters greatly explain the
to land he managed to kill nine sea monsters with his bare hands and still
Dragons lie in the realm of fantasy; legendary creatures who are deeply rooted in magic and have captivated audiences for centuries. The depiction
Beowulf is a poem about strength and courage. This is illustrated in the eighth section of the story called “Beowulf and the Dragon.” A slave, a hero and a dragon play a big role in this section. The characters are well developed, as is the setup for the conclusion of the poem.
(Tolkein, 227) This shows that Bilbo’s character really changes because he is insulting Smaug, but underneath his breath. After the conversation, Bilbo heads back to the dwarves and tells them everything. This is a very brave thing that Bilbo has done. All in all, Bilbo has changed a great deal in The Hobbit.
Smaug is depicted as being equally obsessed with wealth and treasure. Thorin describe Smaug as the average dragon when he says, “Dragons steal gold and jewels, you know, from men and elves and dwarves, wherever they can find them; and they guard their plunder as long as they live, and never enjoy a brass ring of it” (23). As the dwarves cannot delight in the treasure, Smaug chooses to not do anything with the wealth. Although it is under Smaug’s control, he becomes possessive over it. After Bilbo steals a cup from the Smaug’s hoard to take back to Thorin to prove that there is treasure in the mountain, Smaug awakens and notices that the cup is gone. Immediately, he becomes furious. Tolkien writes, “His rage passes description – the sort of rage that is only seen when rich folk that have more than they can enjoy suddenly lose something that they have long had but never before used or wanted” (200). Because Smaug devotes his life to things that cannot satisfy, he becomes possessed by them. Smaug cannot stand to have one small piece of useless treasure taken away from him, because he values worldly riches over life itself, which causes his
An epic is a long narrative poem on a serious subject. It usually is about
Throughout Bilbo’s metamorphosis journey, he undergoes many dangers on his path that changes him to become more cunning and courageous. When Bilbo confronted Smaug, he was more prepared. This was especially evident after he was able to make the creature Gollum feel baffled by challenging him with a harder riddle question using his devious skills. When Bilbo heard Smaug snoring whilst he was bravely walking down the tunnel alone, he realized “Going on from there was the bravest thing he ever did. The tremendous things that happened afterwards were as nothing compared to it. He fought the real battle in the tunnel alone, before he ever saw the vast danger that lay in wait” (Tolkien, 260). This quote emphasizes how challenging it felt for Bilbo to find the courage to continue. This was particularly because Bilbo was unsure of the danger that laid ahead of him, but he had certainly realized that it was there and coming. Moreover, when he steeled himself and continued on, it was the single moment o...
In Tolkien’s Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, he offers many points of criticism toward Beowulf. Furthermore, he also critiques those who have previously offered criticism for the poem. He largely praises the poem, claiming that most of its beauty is lost with readers’ interpretations, namely their considering it more of a piece of history than the amazing piece of art that it is. In his own words, Tolkien states that “Beowulf is not an actual picture of historic Denmark or Geatland or Sweden about A.D. 500. But it is (if with certain minor defects) on a general view of a self consistent picture, a construction bearing clearly the marks of design and thought” (Tolkien). Additionally, Tolkien disagrees with other critics on the idea that Beowulf fighting enemies based in fantasy detracting from his many heroic deeds. He says that “it would have been preposterous, if the poet had recounted Beowulf’s rise to fame in a ‘typical’ or ‘commonplace’ war in Frisia, and then ended him with a dragon” (Tolkien).
Smaug in the book does not awaken at Bilbo 's first visit, probably for the sake of time the books and movies differ in the way that Bilbo encounters the dragon. The movie really fleshes out why the book said it was difficult to communicate with a dragon, by giving Smaug hypnotic abilities. Smaug in the movie predicts Thorin 's fall to greed, which doesn 't happen to nearly the same extent in the book. In the movies Thorin is portrayed as aggressively trying to reclaim leadership and losing his mind in the presence of so much gold, and especially making foolish decisions for the
Bilbo and Beowulf have similar characteristics; both heroes defy their enemies with supernatural powers, in Bilbo’s case he has the ring and in Beowulf’s case he has supernatural strength. J.R.R Tolkien has many inspirations for his books. The backstory of his series was inspired by the love he held for his wife. There were chronicles titled “Beren and Lúthien”. These stories inspired the “Silmarillion” and “ The Lord Of The Rings”.
The poem of Beowulf is a story that was written in the beginnings of Christianity in 1000 a.D, which is why abounding examples of temptation and Satan are present in the story. Beowulf was written by an anonymous Christian monk. The story takes place in what is Denmark today, it takes place in a small kingdom that’s in a “gorge” called Herot. The story of Beowulf talks about a hero who is very different from any other hero in ancient literature, because he wasn’t in trouble and in need of survival, unlike Odysseus, unlike Achilles, both of whom had to fight for their life, for survival. Meanwhile Beowulf didn’t have to fight to survive, but vice versa, he lived to fight, instead of trouble finding him (which is the most common thing in any story where there is a hero), he looked for trouble. However it wasn’t just for fun, all that he wanted was gold and fame. A monster lived in a kingdom called Herot, his name was Grendel, who was “infamous” for hunting and killing people and caused “loathsome” everywhere he went, at the same time fright and disgust. Grendel “lividly” terrorized the kingdom of Herot. In desperation and need the King Hrothgar asked for help of a young hero who would free him of all his trouble, as they say in desperate times desperate measures are needed. Beowulf heard of the catastrophe in Herot and immediately sailed there to save the kingdom at its most dreadful times. Grendel was causing “affliction” to the town’s people, evidently Beowulf pursuing gold and fame came to save the day. The first day Beowulf arrived Grendel came in to hunt again though he could only kill one man before Beowulf tore out his whole arm shoulder, all the way to his “talon” and Grendel went back “cowering” to his cave in a “murky” swa...
He also is fat because he eats 6 meals every day. "There is more in you of good than you know, child of the kindly West, some courage and some wisdom, blended in measure. If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.” Thorin speaks these words in Chapter 18 on page 274 just before he dies asking Bilbo’s forgiveness for his harsh words to him before the Battle of the Five Armies. “Somehow the killing of this giant spider, all alone by himself in the dark . . . made a great difference to Mr. Baggins. He felt a different person, and much fiercer and bolder in spite of an empty stomach, as he wiped his sword on the grass and put it back into its sheath. I will give you a name, he said to it, and I shall call you Sting. This passage from Chapter 8 page shows Bilbo’s reaction to his escape from the giant spider of Mirkwood. There really is no dominant antagonist there are many antagonists like Trolls, Goblins,the Spiders of Mirkwood, the elves, Smaug. If there was one dominant antagonist or enemy I think it would be Smaug because. Smaug as the dragon flies toward Lake Town to wreak vengeance. The people of Lake Town see the dragon coming from a long way off and prepare archers and many buckets of water to douse the coming flames. Their readiness is of little