Grendel And Beowulf Comparison

We as humans have always changed, from our everyday way of life to our perception of the universe. A thousand years can change a lot in society, and we see this in the Epic of Beowulf and the motion picture of Beowulf. They are separated in time and in the story to fit the audience of said time. The classic epic Beowulf differs significantly from the 2005 movie of its title directed by Sturla Gunnarsson. The differences included added characters, Beowulf is seeming more emotional and vulnerable in the movie, and Grendel is more human, especially because of an added backstory and deeds that make you question “He is really doing wrong?” in the movie. Ultimately, these differences reflect the cultural values of two vastly different civilizations, …show more content…
So, with the audience not being the same, the director of the movie added more characters that made the story more complex and relatable to contemporary society. With the Mock, Witch, and Grendel’s kid and father being put in the story for added flavor and color. However, they serve a more important role, with more detail in the values and to convey a lesson. Today, we do not value religion as strongly as back when the book came out, Beowulf refers to God most of the time. On the other hand, today we do not want a story that has religion as one of the main focus, and so today we needed a character to represent the element of religion in the story rather than Beowulf talking about religion throughout the movie. The mock is created for the story to tell people not to be afraid of death, this made another character able to continue the story by telling Beowulf the lair of Grendel, because he was no longer afraid to die. One of the most important added characters is the Witch. She is, in a way, Grendel’s conscience. The part in the movie that supports this is the scene where Grendel and Beowulf are arguing on the side of the hill, and Selma, the witch, translates Grendel’s