The story of Beowulf has changed many times over the years. Whether it is from the epic poem from the past or from present day Hollywood. Hollywood has many different depictions of the story, even though none of them truly depict the epic poem. Beowulf was the first story to ever be written down. The poem was originally all pagan but Christianity was added to the poem because it was written by Christian monks. Beowulf is a man who has the strength of thirty men. The hero has slain many monsters; not for gold, but for glory. He is from Sweden and he came to the Danes to help them rid of the monster, Grendel. He successfully kills Grendel; however, the young monster has a mother who is even more fierce than her son. Her layer is filled with many different treasures. At the end of the story, Beowulf has to fight a dragon that will bring him to his death. All of Beowulf's men ran from the dragon except his most loyal soldier, Wilgar. After the death of Beowulf, Wilgar was crowned king by Beowulf. …show more content…
In the epic poem the monster, Grendel attacked the hall because the people were singing about the creation story, and Grendel being a monster from hell, did not like this.
As a result, he would attack them contiunously. In the movie rendition, Grendel attacks the hall because his ears are inside. His hearing is really sensitive. At first, the poem makes him sound like a despicable monster; however, in the movie he is simply misunderstood. The poem represents Grendel’s mother as a fierce and nasty monster, who Beowulf kills with the sword he discovered in her layer. Their were many other treasures in her layer as well. The movie rendition displays Grendel's mom in a different light. She is a beautiful creature who seduced Hrothgar and Beowulf. By doing this, she made a son with both of them. Grendel, being Hrothgar's son, and the dragon, being Beowulf's son. It is ironic that both of their sons try to kill
them. The epic poem has a better story line overall because it is the way the story has been told for many years. But Hollywood had to make a modern look on the story that people in the past may not have seen. For example, Grendel may not be a genuine “ bad guy.” I believe it was good for Hollywood to change the story dramatically because it gives us a completely different outlook on who Beowulf really is.
In the length of the poem, Beowulf goes from abandoned child to gallant warrior to King. This transformation, expressed in the tone and content of the poem, shows the importance of the relationship between lord and thane and expresses the ultimate value of that connection. From the difference in battle scenes to Beowulf’s speeches, it is clear that he has gone from a somewhat self-loving hero to a selfless king. Within this change he also goes from serving a lord to becoming a lord, and in that way the poem shows us the importance of both sides of the relationship.
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.
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.
Beowulf was a true hero, in the eyes of many, through said traits. He fought a number of battles and was triumphant in all, except his last battle. Beowulf possessed the skills and power necessary to kill Grendel, the monster who had been terrorizing the Danes for over a decade, with his bare hands. While fighting, Beowulf detached Grendel’s arm from his shoulder, which was later hung up as a trophy. Beowulf eventually put an end to Grendel’s life, and naturally, Grendel’s mother had pursued Beowulf. Although Grendel’s mother was an even deadlier monster than her son, Beowulf once again proved his abilities by slaying her, as well. He slashed her neck with a sword that carried unbearable weight. Afterwards, he carried her head with only his own arms, while it took the a...
Erika Mercado Essay 2 Modern Heroes: Dante vs Beowulf A modern hero is a good-hearted person with these attributes: bravery, strong, and contributes to saving the lives of his homelands. Beowulf demonstrates the characteristics of a modern hero: a leader, fearless, and generous. Beowulf is a young hero whose character exerts powerful strength in battles. Dante the Pilgrim does not display hero attributes in The Inferno.
He defeats Grendel and Grendel’s mother comes to the Hall angrily and disrupt the feast of the celebration of the defeat of Grendel. That same day the attack Beowulf goes to Grendel’s mother’s layer and starts a battle. Beowulf ultimately defeats her and he heads back to his home, Gates. He is given land and is king after Hygelac dies from a battle. Beowulf becomes king and danger lurks when a servant awakens a dragon because he took a gem-covered goblets. Dragon and Beowulf fight and both of them die, and his people worship his heroic deeds.However, In the Movie differences from the poem is that Grendel’s Mother does not die. And Beowulf stays in Danes and become king, when Hrothgar commits suicide. After Grendel dies, Beowulf goes to her territory,he does not fight her, but instead he gives in to her seduction. They create a dragon and Beowulf is cursed and cannot live a happy life. Years pass the dragon has a disrupted the land of Danes. Beowulf fights his own son and they both die. And Grendel’s mother lives on. The Similarities from the movie and poem is that Beowulf went to Danes to help end the terrorizing attacks from Grendel. Beowulf gravely hurt Grendel, causing him to die. And Beowulf and the dragon both die. The Differences in the movie and poem, is the relationship of Grendel’s mother to Beowulf. Grendel 's mother does not die and they produce a dragon, which
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
Are there any similarities between life in modern America and the world of Beowulf? Is it possible for such a technology oriented world such as ours to have anything in common with a world which had not even heard of electricity? Has this technology really separated us from prior civilizations? Is our thinking today any different from the thinking of ancient cultures? Although it may not seem to be true, there are actually many similarities between our world and that of Beowulf’s. These similarities are readily seen in all forms of media and entertainment, as well as noted sources of culture such as music and movies. If the similarity between the two cultures is accepted, it will not be hard to comprehend Beowulf.
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
The tale of Beowulf is one of constant tranformation. Great warriors and leaders turn into cowering peons. Faithful Christians convert to devil worship. Devout followers flee at the sight of trouble. Many people's morals change quickly and drastically at the sight of change. Personal turmoil abounds with changing values brought by changing times. People remain content as long as nothing challenges them, but at the first sight of change chaos occurs.
Beowulf looked over on the wall next to them and saw a magnificent sword hanging on the wall adorned with beautiful carvings, it was blessed with magic. No normal man could ever have lifted that sword, but Beowulf was no normal being. He waited for the right moment to go and retrieve the sword, and when he found the perfect opportunity and he ran straight towards the wall. He pulled the sword down with great force and began running towards Grendel’s mother. Beowulf took in a deep breath as he leaned back and heaved the sword forward. Beowulf had sliced straight through Grendel’s mother’s scaly neck, blood began to pour everywhere and he heard her bones cracking as the sword passed through her.
Anglo-saxon society is mostly pagan with some christian influences. A great warrior in the Anglo-saxon era is Beowulf. Beowulf is a young Geatish warrior who comes to the aid of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, whose kingdom is being terrorised by a monster named Grendel. Beowulf uses epic strength and bravery to slay Grendel in Hrothgar’s mead hall, Herot, and the slays Grendel’s vengeful mother in her underwater lair. Beowulf later becomes king of the Geats and rules for fifty years.
Stories of heroes have been told throughout history, Beowulf is one such story. The story of Beowulf describes the Anglo-Saxon culture, and you can see the aspects of this spread out not only in the epic poem, but also in the Beowulf movie. As I mentioned earlier, about an epic poem, Beowulf was told by storytellers, or scopes as they were called, that had memorized it and it was told mouth to ear for thousands of years until it was written down into the story we know today. Along with this story is the movie of Beowulf, but it's not exactly a “book to screen” movie. The epic poem is too boring for modern audiences, so Hollywood embellished the story.
The movie also implies that Hrothgar is the father of Grendel, while there is no evidence of this in the poem. Grendel himself is very different in the movie. In the poem, Grendel is an evil, terrifying creature who sneaks into Herot at night and murders Hrothgar’s men because he hates happiness; however, in the movie it is implied that Grendel kills the men solely because the noise from their celebration hurts his ears. Grendel’s mother is described as an evil hag in the poem, whereas she is a beautiful seductress in the movie adaptation. Almost every character found in the written
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.