Beowulf is an epic poem that tells of a Geatish hero and his encounter with Grendel. This epic has been told for hundreds of years since its creation, and with that has come many different iterations.Individuals around the globe continue to speak and uphold the journey and tales of Beowulf, and have passed it down from generation to generation, consequently altering some portions throughout the poem. Much of what changes with each iteration surrounds changes in cultural values. An author in the 1000 AD Turkish Empire, for instance, would have different morals, values, and an overall different personality when compared to a person in Canada, nearly one thousand years later. A perfect example of this value shift can be found in the original
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There is no apparent character complexity, as in, to whom he is or how he thinks. As an example, Beowulf travels to the land of the Danes to repay a debt to King Hrothgar. The original epic (Heaney, Seamus, trans. Beowulf. New York: Norton, 2000. Print) claims that Beowulf did this for the honor found in his success from aiding in the help of King Hrothgar. The hero hears of the dreaded troll named Grendel and accepts the challenge of killing the troll, thus saving the King’s kingdom from its torment. This situation is preserved through both the original epic and the movie (Gunnarsson, S. (Director). (2005). Beowulf and Grendel [Motion picture on DVD]. Canada: Movision.). Throughout the movie, however, the main protagonist, Beowulf, seems to change from seeing his opposer, Grendel, as a mindless and pure evil monster to a misunderstood equal. Details are fabricated through the movie to sway the protagonist’s opinion, making for a more interesting and relatable motion feature. The son of Grendel in the movie is never mentioned in the epic, nor is the slaughtering of Grendel’s father as seen at the beginning of the movie. The movie also fails to mention all the great feats performed by Beowulf. The two characters begin almost parallel to each other but rapidly divert when progressed through the
There is no apparent character complexity, as in, to whom he is or how he thinks. As an example, Beowulf travels to the land of the Danes to repay a debt to King Hrothgar. The original epic (Heaney, Seamus, trans. Beowulf. New York: Norton, 2000. Print) claims that Beowulf did this for the honor found in his success from aiding in the help of King Hrothgar. The hero hears of the dreaded troll named Grendel and accepts the challenge of killing the troll, thus saving the King’s kingdom from its torment. This situation is preserved through both the original epic and the movie (Gunnarsson, S. (Director). (2005). Beowulf and Grendel [Motion picture on DVD]. Canada: Movision.). Throughout the movie, however, the main protagonist, Beowulf, seems to change from seeing his opposer, Grendel, as a mindless and pure evil monster to a misunderstood equal. Details are fabricated through the movie to sway the protagonist’s opinion, making for a more interesting and relatable motion feature. The son of Grendel in the movie is never mentioned in the epic, nor is the slaughtering of Grendel’s father as seen at the beginning of the movie. The movie also fails to mention all the great feats performed by Beowulf. The two characters begin almost parallel to each other but rapidly divert when progressed through the