An analysis of the comparisons between The Hobbit and Beowulf reveals that the two epic stories are tremendously similar, with a few differences. The epic poem of Beowulf shares many comparisons with Peter Jackson’s adaptations of The Hobbit: the protagonists, the antagonists, and the epic hero cycle. The protagonists of the two stories share similar fights just with different villains and gain respect through proving themselves among their groups. The enemies share several similarities as well; some of the antagonists being nearly identical. Very few differences appear while examining the epic stories, only being in the plot and traits of the heroes. The poem and movies follow the epic hero cycle very carefully as well, which further enhances the number of similarities between the two. …show more content…
After fighting off the elves and enormous spiders in the movie’s first major battle, Bilbo gains a tremendous amount of respect from the dwarves. Once Beowulf defeated Grendel and tore off his arm, also in the first major conflict of the poem, the people of Herot believed the stories they had heard about him respectfully. Neither of the heroes are parts of the kingdoms that they are fighting for, yet they fight bravely with them. Bilbo is not a dwarf, yet works in unison with them to challenge their conflicts. Beowulf is not a part of Hrothgar’s kingdom, yet takes care of the king’s difficulties as if they were his own. The protagonists are not the only characters that share similarities, the enemies do as
What is hero? A hero, under the Merriam-Webster definition, is a person who is admired for brave/great acts or fine qualities. This is a very broad definition that combines both ancient and modern belief of what --or who-- a hero should be. Beowulf is an epic poem that focuses on an Anglo-Saxon hero. As such he embodies the traits that his culture valued most. Deadpool, on the other hand, portrays the most recent ideas of what traits a hero should embody. With these examples from contrasting periods, we are still able to see similarities and differences that shows how modern and Anglo-Saxon idea of heroism reflects its culture.
Grendel in the novel Grendel by John Gardner, and Grendel in the poem Beowulf, which has an unknown author, presents two different views of the same character due to the perception differences of Gardner and the unknown author. Grendel in Beowulf and the story of his namesake both have notable similarities and differences that make each distinctive from one another.
Do people ever talk about superheroes, and monsters? Especially people into comic books and children. Every child, even adults, have a superhero they look up to, or a role model they want to grow up to be like. Superheroes are everywhere from movies to books. Children even sit in their room playing with toy superheroes, hoping one day they can be just like them. Even hundreds of thousands of years ago there were superheroes! A long time ago in the Anglo-Saxon Period there was a brave and loyal hero! His name was Beowulf, and everyone looked up to him. This hero definitely brought peace to many people, and if it wasn’t for the mighty hero Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxons would have been terrorized forever. Therefore, the times were hard before Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon warriors always stood for three values, and the time was changed without monsters.
There are numerous similitudes and contrasts between Beowulf the motion picture which was made in the year 2007, and the poem by an obscure Angelo Saxon poet. A large portion of the likenesses and contrasts are clear. The poem was changed into a motion picture and was more advanced and simpler to see then the epic poem itself. The movie happens to be more modern and gives the audience a better understanding of Beowulf and what happened during his life. It also helps the audience visualize it rather than having to picture the occurences while reading the poem.
Throughout the story, Beowulf fights three battles against frightening monsters. Beowulf, the prince of the Geats, was a well known warrior with extreme strength who makes a promise to protect his people under any circumstance. In the poem, his strength is tested, but he uses it to save many people in battles against: Grendel, Grendel 's mother, and a dragon. Before, during, and after each of these battles Beowulf shows many similarities and differences in his actions.
In conclusion, it is through Bilbo’s intelligence and courage, and the loyalty he showed to the others around him that establish him as an indubitable hero. Bilbo was able to heroically lead the dwarves and without his contribution in the adventure, it would not have been possible for them to achieve what they did. Bilbo is a small person with a big heart, who was able to make a difference without fighting or using his power to change anything through force. He was able to demonstrate his compassion, innocence, and ethics in his development into a hero. Nevertheless, his heroic deeds did not change whom he is as a person, which contrasts greatly with how a hero is defined today. Overall, Bilbo was a hobbit with courage that contributed into shaping his world into one where honesty, peace, forgiveness, and merry meals make it a better place.
Bilbo begins his long journey with the dwarves, who at the time were still skeptical of Bilbo’s abilities. The dwarves didn’t see why they needed such a small incompetent hobbit with them along their journey. Gandalf tells them to stop complaining and to trust that there is more to Bilbo than meets the eye (Tolkien 6). Bilbo soon shows his courage and heroism for the first time in the story when they run into their first obstacle, three large trolls huddled around a campfire. Bilbo, who was once a shy, non-adventurous type, begins to develop into a hero as he tries to steal one of the trolls’ money purses. This is a dramatic scene in the novel because it was Bilbo’s very first act outside his comfort zone. It was this...
Digressions and episodes are the finest literary devices utilized in Beowulf. Each digression and episode tells a different story apart from Beowulf’s main plot, however contributes to plot development. The Sigemund episode is one such episode. It talks about gallant King Sigemund who earned honor and glory through his possession of hoard and by killing the dragon. The king became honorable and experienced, however he was betrayed and he eventually fell. Sigemund and Beowulf were similar; they were both heroes. The Sigemund episode presents a comparison with Beowulf, augurs Beowulf’s downfall and parallels the satire in Beowulf’s shortcomings.
At the start of both stories, the protagonists are quite similar. The Beowulf from the epic boasts with every new person he introduces himself. This shows that he is very confident and arrogant. This Beowulf is willing to slay beasts in the name of glory without deciding for himself
In both John Gardner’s Grendel, and the poem Beowulf, there are significant differences between characters, and the way they are portrayed in each of the tellings. The interpretation of a hero is usually altered in order to fit the audience, such as, Saddam Hussein in America is made out to be this monster whereas, in his home country Iraq, he is looked at as a hero and idolized by some. In each telling, Grendel and Beowulf have many similarities in how they are described in each writing, but each character is also shown in a different light in each of the writings.
Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Garth Hinds’ Beowulf are both works of art. Both display great acts of heroism and they are both great stories to follow and enjoy. We see in both The Hobbit and Beowulf the hero’s journey. We see the characters develop throughout the works. We see the ways they handle tough situations, almost wriggling out of them by the skin of the teeth. It can be said that as much as Bilbo Baggins from Tolkien’s The Hobbit displays acts of heroism, he is still very much different from Beowulf portrayed by Garth Hinds.
Erika Mercado Essay 2 Modern Heroes: Dante vs Beowulf A modern hero is a good-hearted person with these attributes: bravery, strong, and contributes to saving the lives of his homelands. Beowulf demonstrates the characteristics of a modern hero: a leader, fearless, and generous. Beowulf is a young hero whose character exerts powerful strength in battles. Dante the Pilgrim does not display hero attributes in The Inferno.
Another example would be the similarity of Sam in Lord of the Rings to Wiglaf in Beowulf. Sam is the companion of Frodo in Lord of the Rings, and he stays with Frodo throughout the story and he helps Frodo even in his hardest times just like Wiglaf in Beowulf. They are both extremely loyal, which is their main feature. When Shelob, a giant spider, attacks and stuns Frodo, Sam comes to help Frodo and kills Shelob to save his life. Wiglaf on the other hand, helps Beowulf to defeat the dragon while every other companion of Beowulf forsakes him when they realize that the dragon is too strong for them to defeat.
In the stories of Beowulf and A Knight's Tale, there are many different themes. One of the major themes is the religion that runs through both of them, yet both stories have a very different view of religion. In Beowulf, it seems as if God has chosen where our life will end and where it will begin, everything happens by the will of God in a fair and just way. In The Knight's Tale, we see Greek gods playing with the characters and when they "play" with them, there is no real pattern to how they choose things. Each vies is different and this affects the stories in different ways.
The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf is glorified for his heroic deeds of ridding the land of a fiendish monster and halting its scourge of evil while the monster is portrayed as a repugnant creature who deserves to die because of its evil actions. In the epic poem, Beowulf the authors portrays Grendel as a cold-hearted beast who thrives on the pain of others. Many have disagreed with such a simplistic and biased representation of Grendel and his role in the epic poem. John Gardner in his book, Grendel set out to change the reader’s perception of Grendel and his role in Beowulf by narrating the story through Grendel’s point of view. John Gardner transforms the perceived terrible evil fiend who is Grendel into a lonely but intelligent outcast who bears a striking resemblance to his human adversaries. In Grendel, John Gardner portrays Grendel as an intelligent being capable of rational thought as well as displaying outbursts of emotion. He portrays Grendel as a hurt individual and as a victim of oppression ostracized from civilization. The author of Beowulf portrays Grendel as the typical monster archetype as compared to John Gardner’s representation of Grendel as an outcast archetype.