Dragon or Son?

     The last monster we see in the Beowulf story is the powerful Dragon which is to much for the aged Beowulf and in the end they take each others life. In the novel the Dragon is protecting a legendary treasure near Geatland, but is awakened when a thief steals from it's treasure a gem covered goblet. The Dragon is then enraged and goes on a rampage from town to town, looking for the thief, and burning all houses and buildings including Beowulf's home which housed the throne. After hearing of the destruction of his home Beowulf promises to avenge his people and armors up for the battle with the dragon. In the novel the Dragon finally brings Beowulf to his death after biting him with his poisonous teeth, but the Dragon is also stabbed by Beowulf and dies shortly after.
     When it comes to the film we see a much broader story line behind the story of the Dragon. Unlike the novel, Beowulf never returns to Geatland, and so the legendary treasure that the Dragon protects in the novel is not in the film. The Dragon in the film attacks Beowulf's kingdom shortly after Beowulf receives a Dragon Horn that he swore he had left with Grendel's Mother years ago. Beowulf then returns to the cave where Grendels mother resides and she immediately sick's the Dragon on him and the Battle begins. So at this point we see that in the film version Grendel's Mother has control over the Dragon, but we do not understand why yet. After a long heroic battle with the Dragon which destroyed half the Kingdom Beowulf finally after cutting off his own arm rips the Dragons heart out and then they fall to the beach where they both lie. In the last few moments of the film as the Dragon's body is getting washed away Beowulf finally sees the true form of the Dragon which is a golden man that we know can only be his son.






Blogspot.(October 11, 2011). Beowulf's Bane. Retrieved from http://anneelisabethstengl.blogspot.com/2011/10/tuesdays-dragon_11.html

Csis.pace.(2012). Beowulf. Retrieved from http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/projf984b/beowulf.html

Moviepooper.(2007). Beowulf. Retrieved from http://www.moviepooper.com/6/2708beowulf.html

 Tom Quach.(2012). Beowulf. Retrieved from http://tomquach.com/images/Beowulf/gld.html

Staffered Riggs.(1933).The Story of Beowulf. Retrieved from http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/tsb/tsb05.htm

Grendels Mother? Beowulf's One Night Stand?

     So now we come to Grendel's Mother. Her name is never told within either the novel or film but we believe the writer wanted it this way to show the importance of her isn't that great, or at least in the novel she is not. Within the novel you see a more caring side from Grendel's Mother towards Grendel with her wanting to avenge Grendel's death, but in the novel her insignificance is still clear with her seemingly quick and easy defeat by Beowulf deep within her murky underwater lair.
     Unlike the novel, in the film Grendel's Mother's is in the story till the end. After Beowulf enters her water liar the story takes a whole new turn with many new elements being introduced into the story. In the novel Grendel's Mother is described as "monstrous" and from everything else is thought to be hideous and demonic, but this is not the way the film producer sought to show her as. We see in the film that she is shown to be cunning and her looks are beautiful and anything but "monstrous," with Angelina Jolie playing the part.
     At first Beowulf attempts to slay the beast but with every strike having no effective toward her he stops. After a long conversation with Grendel's Mother Beowulf instead of going into an epic battle with the demon which would end in her defeat, gets persuaded not fight her and in the end is seduced by Grendel's Mother after she promises him fame and wealth.  


Buzzsugar.(2007 December, 17).Book To Film: Beowulf. Retrieved from http://less-than-original.buzzsugar.com/Book-Film-Beowulf-885961

Kevin Kiernan.(2010).Grendel's Heroic Mother. Retrieved From http://www.uky.edu/~kiernan/iconic/GrendelesHeroicMother.htm

Ugo.(2008 November, 19).Top 50 Evil Women. Retrieved from http://www.ugo.com/movies/evil-women-grendels-mother

Screened.(1999).Beowulf. Retrieved From http://www.screened.com/beowulf/16-190386/

GRENDEL

     Not much changes are done between the film and novel when it comes to Grendel. We understand from the novel that Grendel does not have a father anymore and his family was banished from the Kingdom after the killing of his father. This is the reason for Grendel's chaos he brings within the novel supposedly to avenge his father.
     Within both stories almost nothing changes though when it comes to his attitude and being the son of his mother which we do not the name of. In the film we also learn that the story of Grendel's father portrayed in the book is replaced with Hrothgar being Grendel's father. Besides Hrothgar being his father the only other  real marked difference of Grendel that the producers did was changed his emotions and how he reacted to the destruction he brought upon the Kingdom.In the novel Grendel is portrayed  as a demonic, monstrous, blood thirsty thief who not only murders the soldiers but slaughters them with easy without a single thought in doing so to avenge his father. 

    

     When it came to the time for the film producer to give Grendel's traits they seemed to have lacked a little on his carefree slaughter. In the film you see a more sensitive Grendel although he is still killing all the soldiers. It is better depicted that the image we see is that he is a half crazy, half sensitive creature when killing the soldiers. He hates to hear the enjoyment of the soldiers as they party in the Hall. After his fight with Beowulf which is also different because Beowulf is completely nude in the film  he is brought to his death in the same manner in the end with Beowulf tearing off his arm.

    


     Answers. (2012). Beowulf the movie and Beowulf the Book. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beowulf_%282007_film%29#cite_note-14
    
     Elfwood.(2009 January, 30). "Beowulf vs. Grendel". Retrieved from http://www.elfwood.com/~loneanimator/Beowulf-vs-Grendel.2978040.html

     Scribblings and Bibblings. (2010 February, 23). Beowulf. Retrieved from http://www.scribblingsandbibblings.com/beowulf_2007.htm
 
     Wikipedia. (2008 November, 20). Differences between Beowulf the book and the  movie Beowulf and Grendel. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Treaken/Differences_between_Beowulf_the_book_and_the_movie_Beowulf_and_Grendel

     

Beowulf Today

     Two centuries ago the translation of Beowulf was publicized, ever since it has caught the attention of scholars and audiences alike, becoming a center piece of the English literacy studies as well as catching the attention of several popular films and TV adaptations.

     Tvtrope. (2007). Beowulf. Retrieved from http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Beowulf

     Beowulf is known to be one of the most important and oldest pieces of English Literature today. Beowulf is sometimes thought to a hero based on the Norse God "Thor" because of the theory of the Greek writer Euhemerus that the Greek gods were created from real stories about humans and historical events. Today the story of Beowulf is still told worldwide with films and new analysis still being made. Beowulf still influences today's writers and film makers with J. R. R. Tolkien being one of them.
     J. R. R. Tolkien is the author of the well known trilogy "The Lord of the Rings," and admits there are many influences of Beowulf within the film. Tolkien quotes in one of his famous articles that Beowulf was one of his most valued sources he believed that the battle between monsters that the author had created was meant to symbolize human destiny in general.

     Young Jedis.(2008 November,15).Impact of "Beowulf" on modern liturature and pop culture. Retrieved from http://nsg1138.blogspot.com/2008/11/impact-of-beowulf-on-modern-literature.html

     Your Dictionary. (2012). Euhemerism. Retrieved from http://www.yourdictionary.com/euhemerism

Two Beowulf's?

    

sited: 60 Second Recap.(2012). Beowulf. Retrieved from http://www.60secondrecap.com/library/beowulf/

Even though I believe Beowulf was poorly written because of all the missing blanks throughout the novel I still enjoyed the story line that it tells. The missing pieces of the story overtime have been filled and answered by many different authors and film producers with their own imaginations to what they feel fits the story best. However, we have seen from the remade Beowulf films that the original plot is sometimes lost within the imagination of the film maker. In the novel and films we see different sides of the monsters with the story Beowulf and this is why I have chosen them to be my topic.

The major changes between the film and novel are an interest to me because of the wonder of why they are so different. In the film there is romance but in the original novel there is not which affects the story massively, and another small change is that in the film Beowulf is shown to be vainer and some would say "more" full of himself than the novel depicts him to be.

Beowulf's base plot that doesn't change though is that he is known across the land as a demon slayer capable of god like strength. Beowulf travels across the sea to Hrothgar's kingdom after hearing of a 12 year plague on the kingdom from a demon named "Grendel." Beowulf is victorious against his battle with Grendel and the kingdom is once again safe until Grendel's mother takes her revenge on the kingdom for the death of her son. After this Beowulf journeys to her liar, but at this point the film and the novel start to go two separate ways in their story line.