Theme Of Beowulf : A New Telling

Grendel is evil; powerful and he strikes fear and tenor in all who see him, Beowulf is the hero of the story. Grendel who has killed many men. And both characters have monsters in them from the banished demons such as Grendel. Grendel and Beowulf is two monsters that are born from different demons. Beowulf has stood up too many monsters. Grendel is presented as a coward. Beowulf succeeds and defeats Grendel.

One of the strongest men on the face of Earth was Beowulf—savior of souls, and annihilator of evil. Beowulf is an epic poem that originated in the Anglo-Saxon period, told in Anglo-Saxon English. The poem depicts the odyssey of a man, Beowulf, who comes from the land of Geats to defeat a hellish creature, Grendel, which has been spawning terror upon King Hrothgar and his men, who live in the land of the Danes. On the way to King Hrothgar’s land, Beowulf encounters many monsters, and upon his arrival to the land of Danes, Beowulf vows to destroy Grendel in order to return peace and safety to King Hrothgar and his men. The poem often characterizes Beowulf with two distinct traits: pride and selflessness. Beowulf shows several moments of motivation

Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye, is the story of a hero that overcomes the evil of Cain by admitting to the evil in himself. This epic novel tells of light and dark or good and evil. They also have many moments of horror, disgust, and hero´s. The author shows the evil in men using monsters and truly evil things. Characters in this book include Skyld Sceffling, Hrothgar, Beowulf, Wealhtheow and Unferth. With all of these people, you see the good and bad within them. I think the moral of the story in this book is, we all have light and dark inside us; but it is the

Beowulf: A New Telling by Robert Nye is about a character named Beowulf who has to fight evil by using strength, but by also using cleverness. Beowulf’s name means “bee hunter” and Beowulf loved bees. In the story a hall is built it is called Hall Heorot. “By day it towered above men’s heads like a second sun, so bright were it’s walls and roofs”(p. 5). Once the hall is made, a monster comes and eats people at night.

To start out, Beowulf has a lot of Biblical stories and references. For example, the main Biblical story told in Beowulf is the story of Cain and Abel. In the Biblical story, Cain kills his younger brother Abel in a fit of jealousy and rage, and as a punishment God cursed Cain and his descendants as unholy in his eyes. The Grendel is one of these descendants, in Beowulf and he and his mother live away from society, murdering for fun and taking their ancestor Cain’s original sin and use it for their own enjoyment. The Grendel is called “God’s cursed one” because of the curse put on Cain and his family because of his sin. The story of Cain and Abel is just one of the ways Beowulf uses Biblical references in its writing.

Most readers find it hard to understand and sympathize with the antagonist of a story. When most think of Grendel, they picture evil and mayhem. However, this is because of the one sided portrayal provided by the novel Beowulf. By having another piece of writing that identifies the other side to the character that was not addressed, it allows the reader to see a different point of view and connect with the overall story even more; this is especially important in significant parts of the story. Both novels express distinct views on Grendel’s character, most powerfully shown during Grendel’s attack and demise.

Throughout Beowulf, the theme of violence and darkness are intertwined, which is manifest by correlating the darkness with the unknown through Grendel and other monstrous creatures. Beowulf, the epic tale utilizes the dark and the ominous to foreshadow and portray the brutal savagery within mankind. Darkness can be define either describe the absence of light or the villainous nature of ones’ actions. Grendel and other the monsters are physical manifestations of the inner darkness that embodies humanity. The monsters induce fear among the communities in which they reside because they represent the internal and external chaos that is surrounding the communities and within humanity.

The tale Beowulf was written by an unknown author in the 8th century. Throughout the tale the author compares and contrasts good vs. evil. The evil character is portrayed through Grendel, an evil “monster.” Different characteristics of him such as, what he looks like, where he lives, and what he does, conforms the idea of evil in the 8th century. Today evil can not be described the same way it was in Beowulf.

Leading to the hero, Beowulf, to be seen as the light or the savior of the town. Grendel, the monster Beowulf has come to defeat, has created a town of despair and anguish. Beowulf’s job is to defeat the monster and bring hope and joy back to the town. The setting characterizes the hero as a god-like man, seen as in Beowulf, “...They lived in secret places, windy Cliffs, wolf-dens where water pours from the rocks, then runs underground, where mist steams like black clouds, and the groves of trees growing out over their lake are all covered with frozen spray, and wind down snakelike roots that reach as far as the water and help keep it dark(Beers 25).”Giving the story of Beowulf a dark outlook had lead Beowulf, to give off a larger than life personality, almost god like. The monsters both Grendel, his mother, and the dragon all live in daunting places.

Throughout Beowulf, the concept of good vs. evil is not only expressed, but is capitalized on continuously. Beowulf is the protagonist in the adventure and has a clearly defined counterpart: Grendel; the “evil” entity. They are put against each other numerous times as a representation of how there will be a never ending quarrel between good and evil. This can be compared to a specifically recent event: the Las Vegas terror attack. Though this may only be one event, the threat of terror attacks has been a constant concern; the Las Vegas, only being more severe and recent. This constant tension between the “terrorists” and the people is just as that of Beowulf and Grendel: never ending.

Grendel, the beginning monster, can be portrayed as Satan. He is he thief in the night, who comes to kill and destroy. Grendel cannot know true happiness, and hates everyone who even has the slightest bit in them. He was born into a life of sin, and does not know any different. His home, the lake in which he lives with his mother, is a representation of Hell. It is described as bloody, boiling hot, murky and lifeless water that no man would dare go near. Beowulf dives into these disastrous waves in attempt to destroy Grendel’s mother, and rid of anything evil that flows from it. There are many examples of life full of sin in this poem, such as wergild; man-payment in gold, the terrorizing that Grendel and his mother both partake in, and the materialism that is so important to the Geats. Hrothgar promises Beowulf a ship load of treasures and gold to take back to his people if he defeats this monster, and that is meaningful to Beowulfs people. In the Final Battle of the poem, 50 years have passed and Beowulf, an elder now, is the King of the Geats, and must defeat a dragon. This dragon is in an outrage because someone stole a jeweled cup from his hoard of treasures. This represents greed, or gluttony, which is one of the seven deadly sins. Loyalty is lost in this passage of the poem because all of Beowulf’s men, except for one, abandon him when he needs them most. Beowulf takes on

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)

In the story of Beowulf, it starts as a town hall being attacked by a demon named Grendel. Grendel strikes at night and is feared by all with his razor claws. Beowulf is a known hero, brave, Nobel and strong. There are three different points to the story of Beowulf. The points are Beowulf’s bravery, trust in god, and being remembered.

Beowulf: A New Telling is about a young man from Geatland who comes to the land of the Danes for glory and honor. During his quest for glory, he fights

To defeat the darkness and badness of the world you need to first find and acknowledge the darkness in yourself, in the book Beowulf, a New Telling readers will travel with the hero Beowulf as he fights away monsters while also ridding himself of his own, personal demons. Beowulf a new telling is a modernized remake of the original medieval epic, Beowulf. Throughout the book readers will find a theme of good versus evil, but as they look more closely will also see the theme of man versus self.