Movie Comparison: Beowulf And The Serpent

Many of classic epic poems and novels have been transformed into movie films in the past decade; however, these films can easily start a devastating debate. The epic poem of Beowulf was written as an Anglo-Saxon tradition that displays loyalty, kinship, and heroism. Beowulf was a hero that murder monsters, while traveling to assist the King of Danes, Hrothgar, by destroying Grendel and his mother. In the original epic, Beowulf is described as a true hero to the kingdom of the Danes. The film displays Beowulf’s competence as a problem rather than a solution. Although both the epic poem and the movie adaption follows the same storylines, they contain similarities and differences based on the theme, courage, and different style of fighting.

First, to start off in the textbook Grendel attacked them while they were sleep; however, in the movie Grendel attacked them while they were celebrating. In the book Grendel attacked the Danes for 12 winters. They sang songs about him that leaped across the sea, and Beowulf gathered 14 of his warriors to head to Herot to help. When Grendel attacked this last time Beowulf was the only one awake; therefore, he killed Grendel with his bare hands. In the movie Grendel attacked them while they were celebrating in the mead hall, and some of the warriors tried to help. One similar thing that happened in the book and movie was how Beowulf killed Grendel.

Epic heroes can have many different characteristics. Some heroes may even be mean. In this story our hero is Beowulf. Beowulf is a great epic for being so brave, fearless, and trustworthy.

The battle between Beowulf and Grendel's mother has its similarities and differences as well. Throughout the movie, clues are given about Grendel’s mother when encountering mysterious hands breaching the water while

There are many, many differences between the writings of Beowulf and the theatrical interpretation of Beowulf. Included in the differences between the poem and the movie is the scenery around Grendel’s mother’s cave. In the poem the cave is protected by sea monsters and Beowulf slayed a monster to gain entry and the other sea monsters are scared off with the trumpets of Thane. In the movie the entrance to the cave is deserted and Beowulf carefully enters the cave with ease. The huge difference between the poem and the movie completely changes the outcome and moral of Beowulf. In the movie there is no forewarning of life’s delicate state by Hrothgar and much of the moral that Beowulf learns is lost within the way the movie focuses on Grendel’s mother’s beauty rather than her

A true “Epic Hero” is near spotless with no visible flaws or imperfections. Beowulf, in the poem, embodies these traits. He stands by the true heroic values that the Anglo-Saxon culture demands of him. His behavior, actions and words all speak true that he is an Epic hero. The text goes on about this fact, “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 a hero’s armour.” This quote sums up Beowulf in the text perfectly. In the film, Beowulf fails to meet this criteria. The Beowulf we see on screen has a cesspool of flaws to tear him down.

But when meeting his match in Beowulf, Grendel

Till we meet Grendel’s mother. In the text Beowulf goes to the mother’s lair. The journey was a four hour swim to the bottom of the swamp to Grendel’s mothers’ lair. There Beowulf battled the monster; Grendel’s mother was quite revolting in looks and powerful. But however, Beowulf managed to beat her and kill her. In the movie, it was way divergent. In the movie Grendel’s mother was actually quite breath taking. Also in the movie Beowulf never fought Grendel’s mother. She played into Beowulf’s inner desires, letting him become a king of his greatest desires if he would provide the seed for her to make another child. It was also revealed in the movie that Grendel’s mother had made the same promise to king Hrothgar, which was how Grendel was

In this essay, I will discuss the important and significant similarities and differences of Grendel’s mother, the dragon, Beowulf’s overall character in the movie. In both the poem and the movie, Beowulf sets out to kill Grendel’s mother after killing Grendel. In the poem though, Grendel’s mother is a terrifying monster. When Beowulf comes to slay her, her main motivation is to get revenge on him for killing her son.

In the poem Beowulf tracks Grendel’s Mother down in a lake and commences fighting her in armor and with the sword he received from Unferth. During the fight Beowulf’s sword breaks, and Grendal’s Mother tries to stab him, but Beowulf’s armor protects him from it. He then finds a giants sword, and uses said sword to stab into the hideous creature’s neck and kill her. In the movie he tracks Grendel’s Mother without any sort of armor. He finally finds her, and instead of a hideous beast like in the poem, he finds a beautiful woman who just happens to look like this. Instead of killing her he does the exact opposite and has sexual intercourse with her. Another example is In the movie, Beowulf comes back to Heorot and claims to have eradicated Grendal’s Mother. After feasting and drinking in

First, epic heroes are always strong. Beowulf’s strength shines in his quests. He defeats Grendel with his bare hands even though he has always fought with his trusty sword. He later uses a weapon made for a giant to defeat Grendel’s mother. He even defeats a dragon that is terrorizing

In the book, Grendel’s mother and Beowulf fight and Beowulf realize that she is much more challenging than Grendel. Lastly, in the book, The Geats and Danes go with Beowulf but only the Geats keep hope that he is still alive. In the movie, on the other hand, Grendel’s mother and Beowulf don’t fight, Beowulf is actually seduced by her. She promises Beowulf wealth and that he will be the king forever if she can keep the dragon horn with her and if he gives her a

So Beowulf hears about Grendel’s mother and goes out on a quest for her, he does not simply go armed, but rather in full battle dress; the extraordinary attributes of the pieces he wears are described in detail. The gear he was wearing will stop anything he said. A few moments later he finds Grendel’s mothers lair, and when he comes closer she drags him in where he is out of the water and now has freedom of movement. His blade is useless, so he decides to trust in his strength and grabs her by the hair in a classic gesture of male dominance. He throws her to the ground; he cannot even maintain the advantage because she pulls him down and sits on top of him, stabbing his armor with her knife.

While in the epic poem Grendel is shown as pure evil, simply killing the Danes because he was a demon of pure evil intent, the Grendel of the movie is shown to be much more human and dynamic as a character. In the epic, Grendel is introduced as a descendant of Cain, the first person to commit the horrible sin of fratricide, and has no father, and an evil sea witch for a mother. He is enraged by the Danes in the Heorot mead hall, and attacks them in the night, mercilessly killing dozens of men. He does not speak any language, and is shown as more beast than man, with very little given to empathize with. When he is killed by Beowulf, there is none to mourn his passing, and all celebrate unanimously the killing of such a vile creature. However, in the movie, Grendel is illustrated as a much more dynamic, human, and relatable character.

Other than stating that she is a female hag, ambiguity is used for a more personal experience of the reader, even moreso as Grendel’s mother is not given a name. In the text, this fight is where Beowulf’s trait of always having swords fail begins, which is crucial to Beowulf as an epic hero. The fight is noticeably more climatic than the one with Grendel, with Beowulf being put into even more danger than before.