There have been many different adaptations of the infamous, epic poem Beowulf, which often portrays Grendel as the monster of their tales. Each vesion of the poem version, makes changes to the Grendel to appea; to the audience at the time of the remake One such adaptation is the movie titled Beowulf released in 2007, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, and Angelina Jolie. Although the movie shares the same name as the epic poem Beowulf, many differences can be noted between the original poem and the movie, especially regarding the character Grendel. The movie Beowulf portrays Grendel with a more human-like, grotesque appearance, who at times causes the viewer to sympathize with his character due to the severe …show more content…
pain that is caused to him because of his deformities and childlike actions. . The narrator from Grendel portrays a more plausible, powerful story than the excerpt from Beowulf by drawing the reader in with a more emotional viewpoint from the character Grendel, making him more relatable by giving him humanlike qualities, and clarifying why certain events took place in Beowulf. Although, in the poem Beowulf, there is not a physical description of Grendel, there are clues to lead the reader toward making assumptions into his appearance.
The narrator tells the reader that Grendel was a descendant of “Cain’s clan”, Cain killed his brother who had been “outlawed and condemned as an outcast” and cursed by the Almighty (from Beowulf line 106-10). This leads the reader to understand that he is considered very evil to the standards at which stood during the time this poem was written. Grendel is depicted as a “fiend out of hell… [a] demon haunting marshes” giving the impression that he is a devilish monster (from Beowulf line 100-03). Grendel has incredible strength which is displayed by his ability to “grab thirty men from their resting places” (from Beowulf line 121-23). This ability also implies that he must be a very large creature to be able to carry that many dismembered bodies back to his lair. There also is the implication that Grendel is an evil creature put on earth just to do vile things, as stated by the narrator “nobody knows where these reavers from Hell roam in their errands” (from Beowulf line 163). This offers evidence that he was evil and not just reacting to the circumstances at the time. Grendel “never showed remorse” for his killings, therefore adding another layer to his inhuman actions (from Beowulf line 137). Although he doesn’t speak in the poem, the narrator does describe his feelings and reasoning for his anger towards the Danes. …show more content…
He became angry due to the noise, “it harrowed him/to hear the din of the loud banquet/ every day in the hall, the harp being struck” this gives understanding as to why he became angered and attacked the mead hall (from Beowulf lines 87-89). All these details give insight to the reader that Grendel was a vile monster showing no guilt for his killings coming straight from the pits of Hell. In John Gardner’s book Grendel, which is a book that gives a completely different account of the more familiar tale of Beowulf, from the perspective of Grendel, the monster. Gardner gave Grendel more humanlike qualities making him more relatable to the reader. He is portrayed as being intelligent, which is shown by his ability to understand the same language of the Danes that he encounters, even if it is an older dialect. As described in the text, “I found I understood them: it was my own language, but spoken in a different way” (Gardner 23). This illustrates that he is so intelligent, he was able to teach himself how to speak. Another humanlike attribute that Grendel has, is fear. This was shown when Grendel first met the bull and was fearful. As presented from the text, “he shook his horns as me, … I trembled” (Gardner 20). Grendel continues to describe what the bull could do to hurt him, “he could gore me to death” (Gardner 20). This shows that Grendel had the ability to process what is happening and have feelings and knowledge of what could come. Giving the reader details about his mother’s protective nature, could also be deemed relatable and humanlike. As written from Grendel, “fire in my mother’s eyes brightens and she reaches out as if some current is tearing us apart” (Gardner 28). She wants to bring him closer because she knows he is distressed. Adding the aspect of Grendel’s mother’s concern and watchful nature causes the reader to examine his mother’s imitation of the protective instinct of a human mother. Including elements of a more relatable and humanlike characters added an additional detail to the story making it identifiable. Another adaptation of the of the poem, Beowulf is the less commonly known film titled Beowulf and Grendel which was released in 2005. In this version of the tale, Grendel resembles more of a human in not only looks but behaviors as well. In the beginning of the film, it shows Grendel as a child with facial hair, this is partly how the set the tone in showing that Grendel is not exactly human but of another species setting him apart from being all human. In many instance sin the film he is called a troll which is more evidence that he in fact of another breed, but yet he was able to mate with a human, therefore this osevidence that he closely resembles a human being. Grendel is shown to be a very large man, with a lot of facial hair and great deal of strength. He has the ability to smell out indivuaidual who have wronged him, showing his ability with scent. In this version he is not reacting due to noise as in the poem Bewoulf, but is attacking due to vengeance on the death of his father. This is shown……. Grendel in this film is very playful and refuses to attack anyone who he feels has not wringed him in anyway.. this is shown….. He displays his mischievousness when he urinates on the door knowing that the Geats are waiting for him on the other side. Grendel does not speak, generally communicating with grunts, that at times are translated by the character Selma. This adaption of Grendel appeals to the modern audience by depicting Grendel in a human type version of the more traditional monster. This is more in line to what a modern audience would consider a modern monster to be. In the 2007 film adaptation of Beowulf, Grendel’s appearance shows a loose resemblance to that of a human. He has a body shaped as a human, but with scaly skin and minimal hair. At different parts of his body, it looks as if he is missing some of his skin with the ability to see tendons, muscles, and rib bones, one hand appears to be missing fingers with claw like finger nails. His jaw doesn’t align properly, therefore he has some type of slime drooling out of his mouth. He has a membrane over one of his ears that appears to amplify noises, which is shown by him holding his ears screaming. His actions are evidence that the celebrations that are going on in the mead hall are causing Grendel pain and distress, giving reasons for his attacks on the Danes. During his attacks in the mead hall, he is violent, tearing people apart, yet when he is confronted by Beowulf, he seems to be in disbelief and in fear. He is very large in comparison to the humans until he is wounded by Beowulf, which causes him to shrink is size. Beowulf understands Grendel’s speech, which is shown when Beowulf replies to the question “who art thou” (Zemeckis, Beowulf). The viewer is told that Grendel is the son of Hrothgar and is his “shame” (Zemeckis, Beowulf). Grendel’s mother treats him like a mother would treat a baby, an example would be, during his death scene, she strokes his head while speaking very gently and softly to him (Zemeckis, Beowulf). In the film adaptation of Beowulf, the viewer is shown Grendel to be a grotesque monster that at times shows his vulnerability, which can bring different emotions to the viewer. The movie, Beowulf, made some changes to the film to adapt the tale for a general audience, making the film more appealing to today’s movie watchers. At the time the original poem was written the monsters of the time were different than what would appeal to the audience of today. As Asma stated in “Monsters and the Moral Imagination”, “the medieval mind saw giants and mythical creatures as God’s punishments for the sin of pride” (61). This gives an explanation on why there are so many references in the original text of Beowulf to Grendel’s lineage of Cain and was cursed by God (from Beowulf lines 106-110). In the time that the poem was written, these were their demons, making Grendel a descendent from Cain a scary, vile monster to the reader of their time. In contrast, in the film, the character Grendel is made to appear more human-like with a human father, Hrothgar. As stated from “The Origins of Half-Human, Half-Animal Creatures”, “a monster is nothing, but a combination of elements taken from real creatures” (Borges 72). This helps discern the reasoning as to why the change was made for Grendel to become a more human-like creature in the movie verses a more monstrous creature as described in the book. Having a monster, that has a somewhat human appearance with human feelings brings a deeper element to the story making the viewer feel connected to the villain. Another instance of a change that was made for the benefit of the viewer, was the ability to view Grendel in a sympathetic light.
During the film, Grendel shows fear and pain, making the observer feel sympathy for the character even though he is the villain. As stated by Asma, “monsters can stand as symbols of human vulnerability” (62). The monster Grendel is portrayed such that the viewer could place himself in the position of the monster and think how he would react in the same situation. For instance, he attacked the mead hall due to the distress caused him by the boisterous celebrations, this was shown as Grendel’s cause for his attacks (Zemeckis, Beowulf). Also showing Grendel’s interactions with his mother, causes the viewer to see him in a childlike state, her stroking his face, speaking softly while asking him questions, such as if he harmed Hrothgar in his attacks (Zemeckis, Beowulf). Bringing Grendel as a sympathetic character in the film, causes the viewer to feel sympathy for him instead as only viewing him as the demon from
hell. In the book Grendel, John Gardner effectively made changes to the character Grendel to offer a more sympathetic and current monster. He showed Grendel in a vulnerable state, adding an additional element of emotional depth which plays on the sympathies of the reader. By doing so, he effectively causes the viewer to imagine what they would do in the same position of Grendel. The changes made offers the legendary, epic poem Beowulf, in a more current, engaging tale drawing the viewer into the story being told.
“The monster’s thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws: He slipped through the door there in the silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them…” (Raffel Lines 34-37) In other words, Grendel is characterized as a monster whose only desire is to kill. However, the humans chose to forget their beginning encounters with Grendel and don’t realize that they are the true cause. When Grendel tries to communicate with the humans because they speak the same language, he is repelled by the Danes. “The harper broke off, the people screamed. Drunken men rushed me with battle-axes. I sank to my knees, crying, “Friend! Friend!” (Gardner 52) In other words, Grendel wants to be friends with the humans but they immediately judge him based on his appearance and reject him. This causes Grendel now have become isolated from both the humans and animals. This isolation leads to Grendel to start killing the humans as a form of interaction. Sadly like with animals, the only form of communication with the humans Grendel will receive is through killing them like the Grendel we see in Beowulf. Overall, due to Grendel being surrounded by humans who misjudge him, he is motivated by isolation in which the only attention he will get is from killing
Rudd cites various sections of the poem, describing Grendel as a “night-monster of the border lands” (Rudd 3), and the translation of the poem says that Grendel was, “...Conceived by a pair of those monsters born Of Cain, murderous creatures banished By God…” (Raffel 42). Rudd also gives evidence for Grendel being seen as demonic, and reasons that Grendel attacks the Danes out of “...not mere thirst for gore, as we might suspect… but rather… envy of the Danes’ happiness- and envy was a chief characteristic of the medieval devil.” (Ruud 5). He then ties this devilish persona to Grendel’s humanistic aspects, stating Grendel has a heathen soul, and therefore he must be human. Ruud also notes, however, that there are critics who question the validity of portraying Grendel as this three-sided figure, asking questions such as, “How can Grendel be a devil when he has a physical body? How can he be a man when he is so manifestly bestial?” (Ruud 7). Ruud believes that the original poet of Beowulf is doing this for effect rather than consistency, but a more reasonable explanation that encompasses all three characteristics is that Grendel represents the evil in
Our first character, Grendel, is an exceptionally diverse character. It is implied that in both book and poem, Grendel is a blood-thirsty monster. All Grendel does is go through meadhalls and kill the drunk, often asleep people. But when narrated through the eyes of Grendel, the true nature of this beast is discovered. The author of Grendel entails that Grendel is a depressed and misunderstood monster, restrained to the confinements of his own underwater cave. He is a lot like the monster in the book Frankenstein. Both Grendel and Frankenstein are born with no real purpose to life, going off of what they hear other people say and taking it as the truth. Both monsters, knowing that everyone detests them for being unattractive and different, retaliate by way of murder and mayhem. From the perspective of the people in the stories itself, Grendel is exactly how the narrator in the poem Beowulf makes him out to be. The people, or the thanes, of Hrothgar’s kingdom see Grendel as a demon from hell, representing all that’s evil in the world. He’s a supernatural creature and in this time period anything supernatural that wasn’t human was considered a spirit, a god, evil or, in Grendel...
Grendel as a character is very intelligent, he is capable of rational thought at all times. Because of this, at sometimes during the story I would forget Grendel is a monster, the way he acts in his thoughts and actions I would mistake him for a human; at times I was even feeling bad for Grendel because he is a very lonely person who tries to understand all of the meaningless of the world around him. Grendel can never get to close to
In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel is depicted as an evil monster that destroys Herot-hall and kills people for no reason. In the poem, Grendel had filled the Danes with terror as he ravaged their mead-hall and killed their men again and again. He did so without remorse and even took joy in killing, and even eating them. He had stopped, because a great hero, Beowulf, caught and killed him. However, what readers do not hear is why and how Grendel was treated by the Danes. When he was a young little creature, Grendel had been ignored, humiliated and bullied by Danes in Herot-hall. He wanted to fight back, but instead, he decided to give them a second chance. However, the Danes began singing the “Song of Creation” which totally
Although Grendel is depicted as a hideous bloodthirsty beast because he eats the Danes at Heorot continuously, he has some characteristics of a human gone wild. Grendel possesses the ability to feel human emotions such as envy and fear. When the Danes were having a feast in Heorot, Grendel “had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain’s clan, whom the creator outlawed and condemned as outcasts”(104-106). He feels envy towards the Danes for making him an outcast of society. He was jealous of the Danes that were having a great time together while he had to live a life of misery alone. Grendel feels fear as well as envy because “he was overwhelmed, manacled tight by the man who of all men was foremost and strongest in the days of this life”(787-789). During the battle between Grendel and the hero Beowulf, Grendel was unprepared for Beowulf’s fighting tactics. He, who usually is victorious after each attack in Heorot, did not expect to be defeated by Beowulf, which is shown because “his fingers weakened; it was the worst trip the terror-monger had taken to Heorot”(764-765). When Beowulf leaves his weapon and decides to wrestle Grendel, Grendel realizes that he is no match for Beowulf’s strength. He feared death just as human are afraid of death. An ordinary person would want to flee if he or she was being wrestled to the ground and about to die. Grendel felt like fleeing but Beowulf did not want to lose any opportunities to kill the villain and thus does the deed in one go. When he realizes that his end was near, “the dread of the land was desperate to escape, to take a roundabout road and flee to his lair in the fens”(761-763). Just as humans in their psychoanalytic development, Grendel had a fight or flight response. When he knew that he was going to die he immediately chose the flight response in which he could not do because Beowulf was much more powerful and aggressive. He does not let Grendel escape. Grendel’s pain is all the more acute because he is brought so close to mankind and yet always kept at an unbreachable distance from society.
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.
While the monsters of the poem are the antagonists of the poem, the author still manages to make the reader feel traces of sympathy for them. Grendel’s human depiction, exile and misery tugs at the heart of readers and indeed shows a genuine side to the figure, while Grendel’s mother and the dragon are sympathetic mainly because they were provoked into being attacked over things they both had a deep affection for. Their actions make us question whether they are as evil as they seem.
Beowulf’s characteristics seen on screen are very different compared to Beowulf’s characteristics in the Anglo-Saxon poem. Beowulf in the film Beowulf
This illustrates an inner problem of a suppressed evil side to society. Beowulf and other men that battled Grendel had trouble defeating him with weapons. They all had to tussle with Grendel and everyone except for Beowulf failed at this challenge. Symbolically meaning that that evil side to society will always be there no matter how much people try to fight it. Grendel also plays the role of envy. Imagine him being an outcast with no joy in his life hearing the mead-hall at night and all the laughter, he must have felt envious and longed to be a part of that world. Another symbolic role is revenge. Upon learning that Beowulf has hurt her only child Grendel’s mother becomes angered and seeks revenge. Her and Beowulf battle it out and the mother loses the battle. Relating this back to Cain, Grendel’s mother wants to kill Beowulf and get revenge and just like Cain, she faced her punishment, for her it was
Grendal is known as a monster and portrays one of the many villains in the poem. He is referred to as the "guardian of his sins". Grendal depicts a heathen the physical image of man estranged from God. Basically, Grendal reflects a physical monster, an ogre who is hostile to humanity. Grendal’s constant visits to Hrothgar’s mead hall for bloody feasts made him feel powerful over God’s humanity. Unfortunately, the night Beowulf lies in wait for him, he assumes that his bloody feasts will continue and Grendal gives no attention to his method of attack. Grendal is then killed.
Beowulf begins with Grendel attacking the Danes out of vengeance and hatred. Grendel is the relative of Cain which means that he is outcast to eternal darkness as punishment for the crime of Cain killing his brother Abel. Therefore, when Grendel hears laughter in the hall named Heorot, he is angry and a little envious, so he goes on a killing spree in order to put an end to the warriors’ happiness. Because of Grendel’s attack upon the Danes, Beowulf arrives in order to put an end to the killing spree: “And now alone I shall settle affairs with Grendel the monster, the demon” (Donaldson, p.8). The author offers no other solution to solving this issue with Grendel but battle, and after the battle is fought and Beowulf wins, Grendel’s hand is preserved as a trophy. Beowulf is rewarded with gifts for his courage, and now the Danes are at peace.
Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson 2005) depicts a very different protagonist than the one in the epic (Heaney 2000). The Beowulf in the film learns how to have mercy as the movie progresses, while the epic Beowulf is very flat. This is due to the fact that the modern culture is very different from that of the epic. Our culture isn't content with such characters. We want our characters to have more lifelike characteristics such as emotions and a change of heart.
In 2007 Robert Zemeckis produced an adaptation to the classical Anglo Saxon poem Beowulf. Zemeckis film utilized Heaney's translation of the Beowulf manuscript as a broad guideline, however, he implemented numerous creative liberties throughout the film. Many of these creative liberties were minor changes such as Wealtheow taking on a more serious and judgmental role. Some of the creative liberties were more bold and featured significant changes. One such instance occurs in the outcome of the fight between Beowulf and Grendel's mom. The differences between that fight in Heaney's Beowulf and Zemeckis' film offer a new interpretation of the hero character, specifically Beowulf as a humanized and flawed hero.
...zes humanity in this scene by portraying them as the evil beings instead of Grendel who is the helpless victim of their savage assault. The men attack Grendel solely because they could not understand him and because of his appearance. Grendel makes no attempt to harm the men but to communicate with them while they are the ones that savagely tried to kill him. John Gardner portrays the men as the real monsters who mercilessly tried to kill Grendel while he was defenseless. Grendel has another revelation due to this attack in where he states. “The world resists me and I resist the world… “That’s all there is.”(Gardner, 28) Grendel makes this assertion as a means to organized the ways he perceives the world. While he once saw the world as a confusing array of frightening images, now he can separate the world into categories: those who do not resemble him and himself.