Although centuries distance the creation of Beowulf from The Hobbit, J. R. R. Tolkien took inspiration of different essential morals and character traits from Beowulf. In Beowulf, an epic hero Beowulf experiences significant tribulations and an ultimate battle that leads to his demise. In The Hobbit, Bilbo experiences similar tribulations, however, he gains courage and reverence throughout his journey. The nature of each book, how Bilbo experiences maturation when Beowulf experiences death, does not discredit Tolkien’s inspiration from Beowulf, it instead promotes the idea that each book was written for a different audience.
The parallelism between Bilbo and Beowulf's internal and external struggles expresses the influence of Beowulf on The
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Hobbit. Although Bilbo is timid at the beginning of The Hobbit, he gains high esteem similar to that of Beowulf.
Thorin Oakenshield's final words to Bilbo illuminate the growth in the public view of Bilbo. When Bilbo is carried back to Oakenshield by Gandalf the wizard, Thorin greets Bilbo with high regard which emphasizes Bilbo’s character development. Oakenshield, who is close to death, says that “there is more in you of good than you know… some courage and some wisdom blended in measure” (Tolkien 263). Thorin’s accreditation for Bilbo’s character shows that he is of high esteem. Similarly, the general public in Beowulf reveres Beowulf as an epic hero. After Beowulf and his men arrive at the land of the Dane’s, a watchman questions Beowulf. Although the guard challenges Beowulf’s arrival, he acknowledges that the man in front of him, Beowulf, must be great: “Nor have I seen/ a mightier man-at-arms on this earth/ than the one standing here: unless I am mistaken,/ he is truly noble. This is no mere/ hanger-on in hero’s armour” (Beowulf lines 247-251). The watchman sees Beowulf as the mightiest man on Earth and a nobleman. He carries the attitude of a strong warrior because of his various struggles and pursuits. As Bilbo develops courage and the high esteem of others throughout his journey, Beowulf conquers battles and commands the respect of others. Despite the different difficulties each character faces, both grow in …show more content…
veneration. Similarly, both Bilbo and Beowulf have significant character flaws. The character development of Bilbo distances himself from his nearly disabling flaw in character. When on the topic of Bilbo’s character development, Victoria Gaydosik says that “the Bilbo of chapter one lacked the experience… but the adventures he undergoes makes him a stronger and wiser hobbit…” (Gaydosik). Bilbo was a timid hobbit before he became “the burglar in the Quest of Erebor,” yet, as the plot progresses, Bilbo grows in courage as well as in strength. In this way, the character flaw of Bilbo diminishes and instead develops into a positive character development. Although Bilbo distances himself from his timidness, the character flaw of Beowulf manifests in himself to a detrimental result. Before battling the Dragon in Beowulf, Beowulf speaks to his comrades saying that “this fight is not yours, nor is it up to any man except me to measure his strength against the monster or to prove his worth. I shall win the gold by my courage, or else mortal combat, doom of battle, will bear your lord away” (Beowulf lines 2529-2537). Beowulf wants to win the fight against the dragon to boost his reputation. However, due to being nearly alone in the battle and, frankly, too weak to conquer the dragon, the dragon brutally attacks Beowulf. Ultimately, Beowulf’s ego causes his demise. Both Bilbo from The Hobbit and Beowulf have character flaws that are necessary for the story line of each respective book. Both Beowulf and Bilbo experience a primary external struggle involving an evil creature. The comparable creatures that Beowulf and Bilbo encounter further expand on the idea that Bilbo and Beowulf are similar in their characteristics. Gollum, a corrupted hobbit that Bilbo encounters, hides in darkness and preying on everything he sees. Tolkien describes what creatures Gollum enjoys and how he hunts them: “Goblin he thought good, when he could get it; but he took care they never found him out… if they ever came down alone anywhere near the water, while he was prowling about” (Tolkien 68). Gollum is an abominable creature that hides in the caves and preys on innocent passers-by. The description of Gollum is comparable to that of Grendel in Beowulf. In Beowulf, Beowulf sails from the land of the Geat’s to the land of the Dane’s to save the Danes from Grendel “[a] grim demon/ haunting the marches… [who] grabbed thirty men/ from their resting places and rushed to his lair… with the butchered corpses” (Beowulf lines 103-125). The description of Grendel is similar to that of Gollum. Both hunt the “marshes” and prey on innocent beings. However, Beowulf’s battle with Grendel is not similar to Bilbo’s encounter with Gollum. Beowulf kills Grendel in an epic battle, whereas, Bilbo tricks Gollum and sneaks past him without a fight. To conclude, Beowulf and Bilbo both experience a primary external struggle with an evil creature. Correspondingly, J. R. R. Tolkien took inspiration from Beowulf to create an external struggle involving a dragon in The Hobbit. Tolkien was directly inspired by the dragon in Beowulf when he created Smaug the dragon. In “Dragons in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien,” Rudd analyzes the connection between Smaug the dragon and its counterpart in Beowulf. Rudd believes that Tolkien “modeled his dragons on those he knew from Old English and Old Norse literature, in particular, the fire-breathing serpent of Beowulf… who was great and powerful, with an impenetrable hide” (Rudd). Rudd provides an explanation of Tolkien’s inspiration from Beowulf for the creation of Smaug the dragon. Tolkien describes Smaug the dragon as an indomitable creature, similar to that of the dragon from Beowulf. In The Hobbit, Smaug the dragon is described as savagely, similar to how the dragon in Beowulf is murderous. After Bilbo says that he is journeying to the mountain for revenge, Smaug describes his tenacity to ensure Bilbo’s fear. Smaug say that “[his] armor is like tenfold shields, [his] teeth are swords, [his] claws spears, the shock of [his] tail a thunderbolt, [his] wings a hurricane, and [his] breath death!” (Tolkien 207). Smaug the dragon says that he is indomitable and therefore, Bilbo and the dwarves should be frightened when continuing their journey. In this way, Smaug describes himself as a nefarious dragon. Similarly to Smaug, the dragon in Beowulf acts in a malevolent manner that causes the demise of Beowulf. Before facing the dragon in Beowulf, Beowulf tells his men that he shall conquer the dragon alone. This proves detrimental to Beowulf’s life after he sees “the breath of the monster burst from the rock… [it] writhe[s] and convulse[s] and viciously turn[s] on the king” (Beowulf lines 2557-2562). Although the dragon in Beowulf is not directly described as a malicious monster like Smaug, its actions speak to its spastic, pernicious behavior. Both Bilbo and Beowulf experience significant conflict with a dragon, however in Beowulf, Beowulf battles the dragon and kills it whereas a Bard in The Hobbit provides a blow to kill Smaug. To conclude, both Bilbo and Beowulf experience external struggles, including the battle of an evil creature and a dragon.
However, they also experience an internal conflict that either leads to the evolution of an epic hero or the ultimate demise of an established epic hero. The character development in both Beowulf and Bilbo is reversely proportionate in every part of the book, as Beowulf loses his life, Bilbo gains recognition and thrives “for [The Hobbit] is a story of spiritual maturation and not of spiritual death [as in Beowulf]” (Chance, Jane). The nature that each book was written in provides a reason behind the different endings of each book. Beowulf is an epic poem created to prevent tragedies; however, The Hobbit is an inspiring book written for children. Despite these innate differences, the influence of Beowulf on The Hobbit The parallelism of Bilbo and Beowulf’s external struggles and each respective character’s flaws express on the influence of Beowulf on The
Hobbit.
In Tolkien’s lecture, “Beowulf: The monsters and the Critics,” he argues that Beowulf has been over analyzed for its historical content, and it is not being studied as a piece of art as it should be. He discusses what he perceives the poet of Beowulf intended to do, and why he wrote the poem the way he did. Tolkien’s main proposition, “it was plainly only in the consideration of Beowulf as a poem, with an inherent poetic significance, that any view or conviction can be reached or steadily held” (Tolkien). He evaluates why the author centers the monsters throughout the entire poem, why the poem has a non-harmonic structure, why and how the author fusses together Christianity and Paganism, and how the author uses time to make his fictional poem seem real. He also discusses the overall theme of Beowulf and other assumptions of the text. To support his viewpoints, Tolkien uses quotations and examples from the poem, quotations from other critics, and compares Beowulf to other works of art. Tolkien discusses several statements in interpreting Beowulf as a poem.
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.
...th heroes take are dangerous and difficult. Bilbo makes many mistakes but in the end he does mature and grow as a person. The hero is willing to put everything above themselves. Comparing Bilbo with Beowulf, it is clear that while Beowulf is an archetypal hero from a hero themed story, Bilbo is arguably more of a hero than him in some ways. Bilbo shows himself to not just a hero in skills and prowess but a hero in character, which Beowulf does not seem to show. Thorin even comments “Now is the time for our esteemed Mr. Baggins, who has proved himself a good companion on our long road, and a hobbit full of courage and resource far exceeding his size…” (198). However both heroes have acts of self-sacrifice and courage, while Beowulf uses his physical strength to achieve his heroics, Bilbo’s sense of honour, moral and courage proves himself equal to Beowulf in heroics.
The epic poem, Beowulf, coming from the years of 600 to 700 AD has been translated in many different styles. In these excerpts by Burton Raffel and Lucien Dean Pearson, provides a clear understanding of this epic poem. Reading the two different translations, Raffel tends to provide the reader with a better understanding of the evil nature of Grendel and the heroic characteristics of Beowulf.
On the other hand, when we look at Bilbo Baggins, the picture that we come up with is a small hobbit from a far away and relatively unknown land. He is portrayed as someone that is very insignificant. He is insecure of seemingly on the edge of losing control every step of the way. Where Beowulf would represent they type of hero people will follow into battle, Bilbo Baggins would represent the type of person that stays at home smoking a pipe by the fire. However, this is the reason why we see Bilbo Baggins as a hero.
In literature it is common for authors to borrow elements of a different story and make it their own. In “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”, Tolkein follows the hero’s journey and uses many concepts found in the poem, Beowulf. Beowulf is an ancient English story of the king of the Geats, Beowulf. Beowulf is a superhuman King that’s fights magical creatures in hope of being remembered. In “Lord of the Rings”, A young hobbit, Frodo, is given the great responsibility of protecting an evil ring until it can be destroyed. Because Tolkein was a Beowulf scholar, elements of Beowulf are depicted in “Lord of the Rings”. Both protagonists, Frodo and Beowulf, are similar by how they receive their call to adventure, their strength, and their motives. Beowulf and Frodo can be compared by these three aspects however, they have contrasting details for each.
“In my youth I engaged in many wars”, Beowulf boasts to his warriors, which is certainly true. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time. Even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically, the two monsters pose a new threat to the hero on a higher plane. Beowulf is not only at risk of losing his life, but his humanity, virtue, and even spirituality.
Beowulf and King Arthur share many similarities that depicts them as epic heroes. Both men are fearless leaders, strong, brave, and admired warriors for their powerful reputation. Both stories display a supernatural intervention; a deus ex machina. While in battle with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf’s sword fails to protect him. Suddenly, Beowulf spots a sword on the wall, as if a supernatural force placed it there, and uses it to behead Grendel’s mother. Likewise, in the story of King Arthur, it is the ability to remove Excalibur from the stone that displays supernatural powers. King Arthur’s tremendous physical strength upon the removal or the sword from inside the stone, suggests that he is chosen as one of God’s elect to become King. Beowulf
In the lecture Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics by J. R. R. Tolkien, he discusses Beowulf through a different aspect. Tolkien argues that the epic poem is infact, overlooked and not seen by the true aspect of the poem. He argues that Beowulf is a piece of literature that should be viewed as a piece of art, an epic poem, rather than just a composition of history. Tolkien supports his argument by carefully analyzing the text, including literary elements and themes the creator includes in Beowulf.
Throughout the story, Beowulf fights three battles against frightening monsters. Beowulf, the prince of the Geats, was a well known warrior with extreme strength who makes a promise to protect his people under any circumstance. In the poem, his strength is tested, but he uses it to save many people in battles against: Grendel, Grendel 's mother, and a dragon. Before, during, and after each of these battles Beowulf shows many similarities and differences in his actions.
Beowulf, physically and emotionally, is representative of the Germanic ideal hero. Beowulf is ?brave? (688), honest, and strong. One of the first scenes in the poem describes Beowulf?s arrival on the beach of a foreign land. Instead of fearing the large warrior that has arrived and summoning for help, the ?watchman? (229) is in awe of Beowulf. Before even getting to know Beowulf, the watchman thinks that this warrior is one of the strongest and noblest men he has ever seen: ?Nor have I seen/a mightier man-at-arms on this earth/than the one standing here: unless I am mistaken,/he is truly noble? (247-250). Therefore, Beowulf?s towering height and stature convince others that he is a hero. Like the typical hero, Beowulf gives boasts. While in Hrothgar?s kingdom, Beowulf defends himself against the kin-killer Unferth; Beowulf brags that he will kill Gren...
Beowulf’s obsession with power leads him to disregard everything else that should be important to a leader and a king, including his duties towards his citizens and his country. Before he is made king, Beowulf travels to Hrothgar’s kingdom to fight Grendel and achieve glory by defeating the widely feared monster. After he wins the fight with Grendel and defeats Grendel’s mother who seeks revenge for her son’s death, Beowulf announces his victories to Hrothgar and his court, claiming fame as a successful warrior. Along with his congratulations, Hrothgar also gives Beowulf a warning about the dangers of power: “Do not give way to pride. / For a brief while your strength is in bloom / but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow; illness or the sword to l...
After fighting off the elves and enormous spiders in the movie’s first major battle, Bilbo gains a tremendous amount of respect from the dwarves. Once Beowulf defeated Grendel and tore off his arm, also in the first major conflict of the poem, the people of Herot believed the stories they had heard about him respectfully. Neither of the heroes are parts of the kingdoms that they are fighting for, yet they fight bravely with them. Bilbo is not a dwarf, yet works in unison with them to challenge their conflicts. Beowulf is not a part of Hrothgar’s kingdom, yet takes care of the king’s difficulties as if they were his own.
Both Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings are influenced by their own cultural time period. Beowulf is influenced by the Anglo-Saxon/Germanic period. During this time period, physical brute was expected among all men. However, The Lord of the Rings is influenced by a different cultural time period during the Medieval Ages. During this time period, chivalry, wisdom, and an ability to mentally defeat inner conflict and doubts were admired. These differences illustrate the diverse admirations of the people of each cultural background. Both of these tales contain traits within their context and characters that reflect their individual cult...
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.