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.