Beowulf is an Old English epic poem about a Geat hero by the name of Beowulf who comes to rescue King Hrothgar of the Danes, whose mead hall called Heorot has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. This story does an excellent job displaying the theme of good and evil, which has consistently been discussed throughout time. Since this epic poem has been released, many others have come out doing their best to recapture the strong message, for example, Beowulf (translated by Burton Raffel) and Beowulf (2007 film). Despite these two depictions both containing the theme of good and evil, there are many different strengths and weakness between how they are told. (thesis)
The first noticeable difference in the two adaptations as they
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In the poem, it’s many years after the slaying of Grendel, and Beowulf is an old man, still the king of Geatland. In the Geatland, a man steals treasure from a mound that has a dragon protecting the jewels. This angries the dragon, and it then comes to attack the land of the Geats. Being the king and sworn protector of the land, it is Beowulf’s duty to go fight the dragon. Beowulf is successful in killing the dragon, but however suffers a poisonous bite to the neck. Beowulf soon passes away after the battle due to this bite. This takes place in the text where it says “The old man's mouth was silent, spoke No more, had said as much as it could; He would sleep in the fire, soon. His soul Left his flesh, flew to glory” (Raffel) 825-828) In the film, Beowulf is battling against the same dragon, but dies due to a different cause. Mid-duel, Beowulf ends up tied up in a chain dangling. Using his cunning fighting technique, Beowulf stabs a red area on the dragon’s chest opens up to it’s throat and exposes the dragon’s heart wide open. Beowulf’s next move is to stab the dragon’s heat with his sword however, is unable to reach it. Running out of options and time, Beowulf takes his sword and slashes off part of his arm so that his reach can extend further out. He ends up dropping his sword, but thanks to the cutting of his arm from his shoulder, his reach extending a few more inches and he grabs the heart, and aggressively and heroically rips it out. The dragon then falls off a bridge, to it’s death, dragging Beowulf with it, and Beowulf dies. This cause of death is portrayed differently in the two versions of the
The story of Beowulf is an ancient one, and one that has been passed down for generations. The ideals and themes are traditional and its message is clear throughout the entirety of the epic poem. Beowulf is told from the third person omniscient point of view, his conflict was always what one would call “the bad guy” or “the villain,” and though he died in the end, he won gold and victory for his kingdom; all bad guys defeated. John Gardner, author of Grendel, decided to take the classical story of good and evil, and tell a new story from the villain’s perspective. Grendel explores varying literary elements which exposes the character of Grendel to readers along with various themes represented throughout each page.
Lastly, the dragon which attacks the Geats and Beowulf is simply a new foe which Beowulf must face in order to fulfill his desire to die being a hero. It is best stated by Beowulf as to why a true hero must die as a result of a hero's battle:“Do not lament, wise sire! It seems better that each man avenge his friends than to mourn them to no end. Each of us must await the end of his path in this world, and he who can, should achieve renown before death! That is the best memorial when life is past and a warrior's days are
In the epic poem Beowulf, there is an obvious distinction between good and evil. The hero and his foes play roles that are commonly associated with Anglo-Saxon literature. The lines are clearly drawn and expressed in the poem. As the story moves, the reader cannot mistake the roles being played, based on the characterizations in the epic, one recognizes each character for their purpose and place.
In Beowulf, the clash between good and evil is the poem's main and most significant focal point. Although the epic poem Beowulf utilizes many characteristics of Christian themes, the violence in the poem relates to paganism. By exploring the characteristics of “good vs. evil” such as Cain, Grendel and Beowulf, this paper will explore the elements of Beowulf in such a light.
The bite then spreading poison, but with Wiglaf’s help, the dragon is defeated. But Beowulf doesn’t try to celebrate. Beowulf, instead, congratulates Wiglaf and dies. Rather than finding a cure or trying to keep living Beowulf reflects on his life. This out of character action shows how much Beowulf has aged and matured over time.
kingdom is threatened by a dragon. Beowulf challenges the dragon alone and he is mortally
In the text, Beowulf’s death goes into great detail about him battling a dragon. The poet of Beowulf wrote, “ ... Beowulf discovered deadly poison suppurating inside him,/ surges of nausea, and so, in his wisdom/ the prince realized his state and struggled…” (lines 2713-2716). Beowulf suffered a horrible death fighting a mythical creature with an ivory sword. The symbolic aspect of Beowulf’s death was the burning of his body and his treasures at his funeral.
Beowulf could not defeat the dragon on his own and received help from that ancient sword of Grendel’s mother and a loyal warrior named Wiglaf. Beowulf could not win this battle as he grew weak after the dragon bit into his flesh. As Beowulf was close to death, the dragon passed sooner than him. When the hero finally took his last breath, Wiglaf ordered the kingdom to bury all of the found treasure with Beowulf in order to show their mournfulness and regret for not being able to save their King. The treasure was burned with Beowulf’s body in order to prevent those full of greed from taking the treasure and distributing it unfairly causing abuse and imbalance of power by those who did not deserve that treasure in the first
Beowulf sent off men to defeat the dragon but they had failed so Beowulf fought the dragon. “Beowulf strikes the dragon in the head with his great sword Naegling, but his sword snaps and brakes”. During the fight the dragon bit Beowulf and blood and started to come out from Beowulf. Eventually Beowulf killed the dragon but when the bite was venomous and Beowulf is dying. Beowulf sent off for the dragon treasure fort his people to have before Beowulf before he pass away.
Years pass by, during which Beowulf becomes king of Geatland, before his third and final battle ensues. In this circumstance, it is a dragon that had to be defeated for his own peoples ' safety to be ensured in later years. Beowulf chose a special few from his court to assist him in the extermination of the dragon, though he did not expect to need their assistance. As Beowulf and his party approached the dragon 's lair, he bellowed an enormous roar to awaken the great ravager. The dragon, overcome with anger, swooped down upon and assaulted Beowulf. Beowulf fought with sword and shield in hand, the dragon with the flames spurting from his mouth. The longer the battle went on, the more apparent it seemed this would be Beowulf 's last moments upon the earth, the dragon seemed to be too much for that great man.
The epic tale of Beowulf was written sometime after his death. In other words, a long time ago during the Anglo-Saxon period. Today, directors in Hollywood did not keep from creating their own rendition of this epic poem As a result, plenty of modern interpretations of Beowulf, such as Sturla Gunnarsson’s Beowulf and Grendel, have been released. Naturally, the cultural values that might be reflected in modern Beowulf renditions will demonstrate a clash with those of the original fifth century Beowulf literature. One reason for this is that in the modern age we value characters with profound characteristics, characters that change due to the challenges they experience; characters that we as the audience can attach to. Flat characters like those of the original Beowulf text are difficult to empathize with since they are not realistic enough for our standards. Due to these differences in culture and values, the Beowulf and Grendel from the original Beowulf text possess definite contrasts when compared with their Beowulf and Grendel counterparts.
Later in his life, Beowulf is himself king of the Geats, and finds his realm terrorised by a dragon whose treasure had been stolen from his hoard in a burial mound. He attacks the dragon with the help of his thegns or servants, but they do not succeed. Beowulf decides to follow the dragon into its lair, at Earnanæs, but only his young Swedish relative Wiglaf dares join him. Beowulf finally slays the dragon, but is mortally
In the fictional epic poem Beowulf, Beowulf is a hero that can defeat any monsters and he saves towns from their wraths. Although the battles between Beowulf and the various monsters may seem clear cut as good versus evil, Beowulf has a mix of both humble and selfish intentions behind each battle. In each of the three battles in the book, Beowulf does something to create a more difficult battle for himself to appear stronger and better. Against Grendel, Beowulf restricted himself from using weapons because when he would win, he would look that much better. When Grendel’s mother fought Beowulf, he kept his men from helping him and fought the beast himself. Against the dragon in his final battle, he used weapons and the help of his men and quantified it because he was older than he was against Grendel. Beowulf set the bar too high and each battle after the first made him seem weaker and weaker. But in each battle, Beowulf challenges himself unnecessarily to appear as a better warrior.
In Beowulf, the conflict between good and evil is the story’s most universal theme. The storyteller is very clear who is good and who is evil, Beowulf represents the good and the ability to act selflessly when help is needed from others. Good is also shown throughout the epic as having the ability to abolish villainy. Evil is presented by Grendel, his mother, and a dragon, whose purpose in life is to make the lives of humanity a little more miserable.
“No better king had ever lived, no prince so mild, no man so open to his people, so deserving of praise.” This is an ultimate description of the heroic events of Beowulf, an old Anglo-Saxon poem about a warrior who battles and destroys three horrifying monsters. Although written long ago, the emotions expressed within this work, emotions of bravery, valor, and ethics still speak to us centuries later. The anonymous author of the poem convinces us through the masterful use of various literary elements that emphasize its meaning and message. Conflict, imagery and setting are three literary elements that contribute to the effectiveness of the poem.