The English language is eternally changing. Ever since the origination many centuries ago, new words and slangs are formed regularly. This would make one assume that texts of the past shortly become irrelevant, as their language and societal ideas are outdated. In most cases, this thought process holds true. Beowulf, written by an unknown Anglo-Saxon poet, however, is a particular work of literature that breaks the commonplace mold of previous texts. Beowulf, the protagonist of the epic poem, is portrayed as the strongest fighter in the world, considering his supernatural power. Although of Beowulf’s unimaginable strength, he still appears as a human being, not as a foreign form of life. Through countless years, this epic poems continues to
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By hardly changing the plot, besides summarizing and removal of few parts, the Burton Raffel Textbook writing of the tale still makes the read authentic, just easier for the 21st century person. The dialect is entirely simplified, as little alliteration and few kennings are found in the entirety of the textbook. The vocabulary is infinitely easier then the original, completely simplifying the read. A key reason to the shortening of words in the textbook, is the fact that it had to fit inside only a few pages, while still keeping true to the real meaning of Beowulf. One instance of this was the summarization of Grendel’s fight scene verse Beowulf, as the textbook describes, “That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime, knew at once that nowhere on earth had he met a man whose hands were harder,” (Burton Raffel 273). Most importantly, the Burton Raffel version of the tale has a purpose, as it’s intended for a High School audience. Another text similar to the textbook is written by a man named Seamus Heaney, who grew up in a conflicted Northern Ireland area. As for his interpretations, it’s as close to the original as possible. The plot leaves nothing out, and is true to the Anglo-Saxon culture. This text is significantly more formal then the books previously discussed, and attempts to actually make an epic poem, as all alliterations, kennings and personifications are …show more content…
It’s unrealistic to the think that teenagers accustomed to reading behind a screen or viewing words on television would enjoy reading a tale that’s hard to understand due to the dialect. The only way to keep a story forever broadcasted is to update and refine it. In the case of the 2007 film Beowulf directed by Robert Zemeckis, this idea was the same. The idea behind the movie was that it had to be entertaining to the modern day people. A movie alone wouldn’t keep the audience interested in a film most already know the outcome to, so a significant change was needed. The use of new technology, making the characters seem animated, yet still realistic, was a reason to go see the film in and of itself. Action was already the main focus point of the tale Beowulf to begin with, so the producers decided to include sexual innuendos/nudity, as well as crude humor and romance. The plot was changed almost as much as Grendel, even though that was not the intended idea, and many parts of the movie were completely made up. Yet all of this catered towards a younger, more modern audience of today’s world. The film manages to morph an old tale into a clever 21st century movie, while still keeping some main ideas. Whether historic book gurus enjoyed the strange interpretation of the
By hardly changing the plot, besides summarizing and removal of few parts, the Burton Raffel Textbook writing of the tale still makes the read authentic, just easier for the 21st century person. The dialect is entirely simplified, as little alliteration and few kennings are found in the entirety of the textbook. The vocabulary is infinitely easier then the original, completely simplifying the read. A key reason to the shortening of words in the textbook, is the fact that it had to fit inside only a few pages, while still keeping true to the real meaning of Beowulf. One instance of this was the summarization of Grendel’s fight scene verse Beowulf, as the textbook describes, “That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime, knew at once that nowhere on earth had he met a man whose hands were harder,” (Burton Raffel 273). Most importantly, the Burton Raffel version of the tale has a purpose, as it’s intended for a High School audience. Another text similar to the textbook is written by a man named Seamus Heaney, who grew up in a conflicted Northern Ireland area. As for his interpretations, it’s as close to the original as possible. The plot leaves nothing out, and is true to the Anglo-Saxon culture. This text is significantly more formal then the books previously discussed, and attempts to actually make an epic poem, as all alliterations, kennings and personifications are …show more content…
It’s unrealistic to the think that teenagers accustomed to reading behind a screen or viewing words on television would enjoy reading a tale that’s hard to understand due to the dialect. The only way to keep a story forever broadcasted is to update and refine it. In the case of the 2007 film Beowulf directed by Robert Zemeckis, this idea was the same. The idea behind the movie was that it had to be entertaining to the modern day people. A movie alone wouldn’t keep the audience interested in a film most already know the outcome to, so a significant change was needed. The use of new technology, making the characters seem animated, yet still realistic, was a reason to go see the film in and of itself. Action was already the main focus point of the tale Beowulf to begin with, so the producers decided to include sexual innuendos/nudity, as well as crude humor and romance. The plot was changed almost as much as Grendel, even though that was not the intended idea, and many parts of the movie were completely made up. Yet all of this catered towards a younger, more modern audience of today’s world. The film manages to morph an old tale into a clever 21st century movie, while still keeping some main ideas. Whether historic book gurus enjoyed the strange interpretation of the