Compare and contrast Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf to the Robert Zemeckis film Beowulf.
In the text, we see that Beowulf is not yet a king, but, a king to come. He is not quick to react without thinking. Beowulf ordered his boat, picked out his men. A Saviour hero, thanking God after sailing. In the film, the heathen of gods was good, but Christ Jesus was bad.
Likewise, the difference was gold. In the book Beowulf was rich. Back in those days when you were pouring with gold you were a good warrior. A good warrior could pay for a good army to win fights. In the book gold was not important, it was about Glory.
Beowulf was Achilles in the movie. He possessed no awe of the tempests. He shows no thankfulness to God for safe traveling. Equally for the book Beowulf was thankful for safe change of location. Making sure his men were safe on the boat with many weapons to protect them. In his day, he was the mightiest man on earth, highborn and powerful.
In the film, there was only one watchman (the Shielding’s’ look out) who meet Beowulf and his men. Beowulf men want to get their swords, but, Beowulf stops them. Beowulf tells the sentry duty that they are there to kill their demon. The watchman verbalizes “thought there were no more heroes left ready to kill the monster for our gold” Beowulf responds “he is not doing it for the gold but for the glory. Beowulf is willing to risk his life and all his men live for glory. In the film Beowulf is a great man, he is like a shot in front of the sphere the guardsman is holding. Beowulf never blinks an eye.
In the book, the watchman saw “shields glittering” (230) on the gangplank and battle equipment. The horseman of Hrothgar’s and challenged them in formal terms, flourishing his spear: “What kind of men are you who arrive rigged out for combat in your coats of mail, sailing here over the sea lanes in your steep-hulled boat? (235) We have come here on a great errand to the master of the Danes, (270) I come to offer my wholehearted help and guidance. (275) Beowulf remains polite while talking to the guardsman. In the book Beowulf is loyal to his family mention only of his father’s name. In the film- Beowulf is a modern hero, with no need of relatives. As well,
In addition to traveling with a group of people, Beowulf accomplishes a multitude of valorous deeds. The first way in which this is demonstrated is through The Battle
Movies and books are never the exact same, sometimes even the whole plot is changed around. In the book Beowulf the plot, characters, and setting are a lot different than they are when the movie was created. If a person watched the movie before they read the book, it may be totally confusing to read. In the book, Beowulf shows up and plans to fight with his men, then leaves to go back to his own kingdom. In the movie Beowulf, Beowulf ends up staying and becoming king of Dane Land.
Beowulf is from a time where heros never die. They would live on through stories. There would be amazing tales, poems recited, and songs sung about what the hero had done. To be a hero you had to follow the Anglo-Saxon codes. Which meant showing respect to those who had raised you and in turn helping them when they are in need. It means proving yourself and doing what was expected of you, even when it is something like dieing for your people. To live on through stories, Beowulf fought because of his duty, for glory, and as a sacrifice.
Beowulf is a very brave and noble prince. He proves this statement in the way he humbly boasts about his ability to complete quests, fighting monstrous creates continuously, and going into each battle or challenge by his lonesome. “Hail! King Hrothgar! I am Hygelac’s thane, Hygelac’s kinsman. Many a deed Of honor and daring I’ve done in my youth… The best of my people, prudent and brave, Urged
As Beowulf lies at rest, the question must be asked. Was he a true hero? Wanting only to help the towns people and keep them safe? Or just a mighty man wanting to be king, loathed in fame and riches? That is something that may always stay
Many readers of the poem Beowulf may find it difficult to distinguish the 'good' kings from the rest – indeed, almost every man who holds a throne in the epic is named at one point or another to be 'good'. By examining the ideals of the time period as identified by the 'heroic code', it becomes clearer that a truly 'good' king is one who generously distributes treasure and weaponry to deserving retainers to honour courage and strength displayed in battle and to encourage the defense of the kingdom (Intro). When Beowulf ascends the throne of the Geats, the heroic traits of courage and strength for which he was so highly praised as a warrior do not serve well in making him a good king. Indeed, by exhibiting the traits of a thane, that is, by
This section also does not fit into Beowulf. There is no indication that Beowulf refuses the chance to help King Hrothgar and his men. In fact, Beowulf is not even asked to help King Hrothgar. He hears about his troubles with the beast Grendel, gathers his best men, and goes to meet King Hrothgar to help (21). When he gets to the hall to meet King Hrothgar, he also begins to boast about his past achievements to make sure everyone knows he is up for the challenge (21). This arrogance is looked down upon today but in Anglo-Saxon era, this helped to show a true
In the beginning of the book Beowulf is described as the greatest hero of the world. Beowulf comes to hear about the destruction Grendel has caused and travels to the land of the Danes to try and help Hrothgar defeat Grendel. He brought to sea with him 14 brave warriors and voyaged to Hrothgar’s kingdom. As they exit the boat the mounted guard asks what Beowulf and his warriors are doing, Beowulf responds in a long message about what they are doing there and who they are going to save. The mounted guard responds “I believe your words, I trust in your friendship. Go forward, weapons and armor and all, on into Denmark. I’ll guide you myself and my men will guard your ship, keep it safe here on our shores” (Raffel 15). Beowulf gives off the feeling to people that do not even know him that he is a great hero and that he can be trusted.
Beowulf is seen as a superhuman, almost like a god. In the story he had incredible strength and was look up to by the Danes. He, Beowulf, was going to help the
As the story progresses, the deeds Beowulf is capable of are developed. He is respected in battle, as his people “have seen [his] great strength for themselves and watched [him] rise from the darkness of war” (ll. 151-152). They believe in his strength, which pushes him to sail across the sea in hopes of honoring a favor. Beowulf
The importance of the sword in both stories plays a major role in the development of the character traits of each hero. In the epic “Beowulf”, there are two important swords, Hrunting given to Beowulf by Unferth, a coward, and the
A true “Epic Hero” is near spotless with no visible flaws or imperfections. Beowulf, in the poem, embodies these traits. He stands by the true heroic values that the Anglo-Saxon culture demands of him. His behavior, actions and words all speak true that he is an Epic hero. The text goes on about this fact, “Nor have I seen a mightier man-at-arms on this earth than the one standing here: unless I am Mistaken, he is truly noble. This is no mere hanger on a hero’s armour.” This quote sums up Beowulf in the text perfectly. In the film, Beowulf fails to meet this criteria. The Beowulf we see on screen has a cesspool of flaws to tear him down.
In both the movie and poem, men are seen as fearless and strong people. Beowulf is considered a hero who’s fearless and protected his people from evil monsters. While, in the poem he killed her and didn’t think twice about it because he had so much love for himself, his thanes and his people. Also, Beowulf was seen as someone that was strong and only cared about protecting his people. For instance, on lines ___ and ___ it states “ “.
Beowulf was a good king. He wasn’t greedy or mean or selfish, he put his people first. And it’s evident in the fact that he went to fight the dragon himself, when he could’ve got some other “hero” to do it. “...he saw nothing to fear, thought nothing of the beast’s claws,
The Beowulf book and movie were both made differently. There is always an argument of which was better: the book, or the movie. Some people feel as if the movie didn’t include crucial parts from the book and that the differences between them ruined the film. Sometimes the movie makers were able to keep those big changes at bay and stay on track with the novel. Though, no matter how hard they work to keep the changes contained, the book lovers will always stand on the side of the book, and the people who loved the movie better won’t cross the thick line between author and producer because the changes were much too big to become accustomed to. If you read the book, you’d be able to point out every one of them, as countless as they are. Some