Why Did Hollywood Change The Story Of Beowulf

In the movie and book Beowulf, Beowulf represents a hero. Beowulf is like our modern day heroes, firefighters, policemen, military men, doctors and EMT’s. All of these men do the same thing as Beowulf did in the movie. The fight the villains and protect the innocent. Beowulf had super strength to help him defeat the villains and protect the innocent. "I have heard moreover that the monster scorns in his reckless way to use weapons; therefore, to heighten Hygelac 's fame and gladden his heart, I hereby renounce sword and the shelter of the broad shield, the heavy war-board: hand-to-hand is how it will be, a life-and-death fight with the fiend." (433-440) Although Grendel was a worthy opponent, he was still no match for Beowulf’s strength to kill the unbeatable monster.

Movies and books are never the exact same, sometimes even the whole plot is changed around. In the book Beowulf the plot, characters, and setting are a lot different than they are when the movie was created. If a person watched the movie before they read the book, it may be totally confusing to read. In the book, Beowulf shows up and plans to fight with his men, then leaves to go back to his own kingdom. In the movie Beowulf, Beowulf ends up staying and becoming king of Dane Land.

The epic poem of Beowulf has been around since the 700 ce. It has been passed down by story telling. The poem is a northern european myth. Majority of the action takes place in Denmark, Geatland however, this location is now Southern Sweden. Beowolf is a heroic myth. It is about a hero's journey. The film The 13th Warrior did not do the poem much justice. It had things which were similar and things that were different. The poem is written in third person and the movie in first person. Both have similar names, in the poem the character's name is Beowulf and in the movie it is Buliwyf. In the book there is much symbolism this is made especially with weapons. In the poem it is written they would even sleep with there weapons that is how important

The poem Beowulf, written by an unknown Anglo-Saxon poet and the movie script, written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary. The story is about a Man named Beowulf, who becomes a hero to his town Heorot, by defeating a monster named Grendel. He is later named King of Geats, because of his braveness and loyalty to his people. After about fifty years of ruling, a dragon threatens the town’s people. Beowulf and his servant, Wiglaf, set off to defeat this dragon. While he did succeed to kill it, sadly Beowulf dies in the process. In the poem versus the movie, Beowulf shows different character traits throughout the story. Heroism, loyalty, and bravery all differ from the poem to the movie. The audience will perceive Beowulf as a completely different person if only looking at one of the two pieces.

In “The Battle with Grendel” we also see how Beowulf can be violent. For example, lines 385-397 demonstrates how powerful Beowulf is while fighting Grendel. The quote says, “Grendel/ Saw that his strength was deserting him, his claws/ Bound fast, Higlac’s brave follower tearing at/ His hands. The monster’s hatred rose higher,/ But his power had gone. He twisted in pain,/ And the bleeding sinews deep in his shoulder/ Snapped, muscle and bone split/ And broke….Grendel escaped,/ But wounded as he was could flee to his den,/His miserable hole at the bottom of the marsh,/ Only to die, to wait for the end/ Of all his days” (385-397). This moment in the text shows how intense and extreme Beowulf’s actions were while fighting the monster. We, as readers, start to see how Beowulf slowly becomes who he is trying to defeat.

To begin with, One of Beowulf’s characteristics for being an epic hero would be his strength. Beowulf first killed Grendel, which no one else could defeat because Grendel was too powerful. Then, Beowulf killed Grendel’s Mother who was defeated by Beowulf’s bare hands because his sword wasn’t powerful enough to kill her. Last, Beowulf defeated the Dragon by taking his heart from his body which is something no one else could have done. Beowulf’s dedication and strength set forth to him being able to defeat the dragon. "I’d use no sword, no weapon, if this beast could be killed without it, crushed to death, like Grendel, Gripped in my hands and torn limb from limb." (42). This quote means that when Grendel couldn’t be defeated by any weapons, Beowulf made it simple and said that he was going

Have you ever noticed how a movie can be very different from the book that it is supposed to portray? Beowulf is an example of one of these types of movies. Although the movie covers the general story of Beowulf in the book, it changes some key elements of the plot, shifts characters roles, and contains differences in the setting. Throughout the start of the story it seems as if the movie will be identical to the book, but as the plot progresses many scenes, settings, and roles appear to be very different. Even though the movie twists the plot and applies new scenes that are not found in the book, it still follows the correct sequence in which the general events are ordered.

To begin, Beowulf has a complex motivation for fighting the monster Grendel. His first motivation is duty which is part of the Anglo-Saxon code he’s obligated to go and kill Grendel. His people told him so go and do it so he does duty comes first and personal choice comes second. On page 47 lines 244-246 Beowulf says, “My people have said, the wisest, most knowing And best of them, that my duty was to go to the Danes’ Great king.”

If we’re going to compare the book to the movie we have to make sure we’ve carefully read the book and watched the movie occasionally stopping your mind to evaluate the movie wondering what is different. I did just that, Beowulf the book compared to the movie has a variety of differences and some similarities. In my opinion the movie was better, let me tell you why.

Beowulf is a fair fighter and helps the people of Herot by slaying Grendel without his weapons. “He needs no weapons and fears none. Nor will I my lord Higlac might think less of me if I let my sword go where my feet were afraid to...my hands alone shall fight for me.”(168-173). This means he will fight without his weapon, and only with his hands, to show his bravery and valor. As a noble hero he is, Beowulf decides to not use his weapons nor his armor and only use his fists to battle Grendel. Beowulf is a hero, who against all odds fights in the face of death, and who fights for his people in honor.

Beowulf then responds by saying that both he and Breca were neck in neck during the entirety of the contest but during the final stretch to the coast of Finland Beowulf was pulled into the water by a sea monster. In the book, it is said that he then killed that monster and nine other monsters but by the time he finished dealing with them Breca had already won. Whilst in the movie after Beowulf deals with the first few monsters he is confronted by a mermaid but then it turns out to be Grendel’s mother. Finishing off his story by rebuking Unferth saying that if he was as good a warrior as he says, Grendel wouldn’t still be alive creating chaos in Heorot of which Unferth had no answer. Beowulf’s pride really revealed itself when he defended his feats against Unferth’s claims, that even though he didn’t win the swimming match against Breca he defeated the monsters of the deep, how even though he didn’t win the match he had won in some other sense. His final insult to Unferth shows a taunting tone which heavily contrasts how Beowulf addresses Unferth with respect after defeating Grendel’s mother thanking Unferth’s ancient sword Hrunting when in reality the sword was completely useless in the

Beowulf was a book composed during the Anglo-Saxon period of the world. It is a fictional about an epic hero know as Beowulf who kills mighty creatures and saves kingdoms from opposing armies and demons. This hero was from part of a tribe of a tribe known as the Gaets. In this story he comes to the aid of the Danes and their king Hrothgar. He battles multiple creatures for the Danish king and his helpless people during his time in the kingdom. He was seen as a hero their and feared throughout the surrounding kingdoms. In this essay i will compare and contrast the Beowulf movie and the book. I will discuss the differences in the setting, theme, and characters between the two. I will also discuss the differences of the fights he had with the

Beowulf’s wrath is swift and justified. He plays no games with his opponents. Beowulf even shows respect to his foe and honorably faces them with no undue advantage. A classic example of the honor usually associated with heroes lies in Beowulf’s decision to use neither sword nor armor when facing the monster Grendel in Heorot. Beowulf instead opted, in the name of fair play, to fight the monster on it’s own terms. Unsurprisingly Beowulf conquered his foe in true idolic form, tearing Grendel’s arm from his torso with only the strength of his grip and the power of his arms. This is what we cheer for in such stories, this is the satisfying victory over evil by the true embodiment of good: the hero.

To begin, one of the many ways that Beowulf was different than Grendel is that Beowulf was brave. Every night Grendel snuck into Herot Hall to destroy King Hrothgar’s men. He did this while hiding in the shadows, sneaking around in the dead of night, and attacking while the men we asleep and at there most vulnerable. These are not the characteristics the brave, these are the characteristics of a foul, loathsome, cowardly beast. Mean while, Beowulf liked to meet a problem head on, in this case the problem was Grendel himself. Determined Beowulf sailed to Denmark to defeat Grendel, telling Hrothgar that he will take Grendel’s life with his bare hands. As told in the story, “ That mighty protector of men/ Meant to hold the monster till it’s life/ leaped out” (Raffel, 1963, l. 366-368). And when Beowulf got the chance to do just that, Grendel took the cowards road, “Grendel’s one thought

Beowulf was the ideal hero because of all the brave courageous things he did to put the safety and protection of his people first also he was a very fair fighter. Beowulf heard about the attacks Grendel has been committing so Beowulf and his 14 men suited up and traveled to Herot to go and take down the evil Grendel once and for all. When Beowulf and his men arrived at Herot they went into the mead hall and had a feast with the geats and danes. Once the feast was over Beowulf's warriors went to sleep but Beowulf didn't he stayed up waiting for Grendel to come because Beowulf knew that Grendel fights unfairly by attacking at night so Beowulf being the fair fighter he is did not bring a weapon to use because he said ”I have heard that the monster's scorn of men is so great that he needs no weapons and fears none nor will I”(. He isn't using a weapon because he doesn't want to fight unfairly and become a coward. So after waiting a little while Grendel comes up from his cave and goes into the mead hall and eats one of Beowulf's men so Beowulf took action