Comparing Beowulf's Heroism

Throughout the years, Hollywood has transformed various original texts into twenty-first century films. The story of Beowulf was written in approximately 1000 AD, it is an Anglo-Saxon poem that depicts their version of heroism. Beowulf was an outstanding warrior who slain many monsters, which gave him a reputation of being the bravest warrior of his time. He traveled to relieve the king , Hrothgar, of the horrific attacks that a monster named Grendel brought upon Herot. Later in the text, Beowulf also battles Grendel’s mother. In the original text, Beowulf is perceived as a hero of the Geats and Danes. The film, directed by Robert Zemeckis, displays Beowulf's heroism as more of a problem than a solution. Although there are various differences …show more content…
In the film, they display Beowulf's opposition, Grendel, as a depressed, childlike creature who found the happiness and noise lingering from the men in Herot deeply disturbing. “ A powerful monster, living down in the darkness, growled in pain, impatient.” (Raffel 5) After growing impatient, Grendel traveled to Herot and began murdering the Danes while they were fast asleep. After Beowulf finally arrives to relieve Hrothgar, we get the opportunity to see just how much courage Beowulf has. This is in both the film and in the original text. In the poem, Beowulf makes an honorable decision to battle Grendel without using any weapons to keep the fight fair “ My lord Higlac might think less of me if I let my sword go where my feet were afraid to.” (Raffel 12) Beowulf has a lot of faith in himself as a warrior to battle Grendel armour less and weaponless. By this point, us as readers, get the opportunity to see …show more content…
However, in the movie he possessed a flaw that would drastically change the story’s course over time. His love of women changed the tale dramatically. In the poem, Beowulf battles Grendel’s mother, who was portrayed as a hideous hag, and killed her. While on the other hand, in the movie, Grendel’s mother is a cartoon version of the beautiful Angelina Jolie. Unfortunately, he gave into temptation, which resulted in him fathering her child. This is when Beowulf’s flaws become relatively apparent to us as viewers. Instead of killing her, he negotiated for gold, specifically, a golden horn for secrecy and no further attacks on Herot. Since he didn’t kill Grendel’s mother, Beowulf gave her the opportunity to disturb the people of Herot, as well as the king. Grendel’s mother had an abundance of power over the land and would continue to bring upon urges and temptation to the men of the land until someone could overcome what she brought upon them. After many years of living peacefully in Herot, it has again become chaotic because of Beowulf’s actions in both the poem and the