Hrothgar And Beowulf Comparison

What makes an epic hero? An epic hero must undergo a dangerous journey that threatens the lives of a society, while upholding the values and ideals of that society. Although there are many differences between Beowulf the movie and the poem, both the poem and the movie basically follow the same story line. Beowulf is an amazing story of an epic hero told through text with vivid descriptions and a film version, which portrays the story in a more exaggerated manner.

The film and the text illustrate the characters in different manners. In the film, Beowulf and Hrothgar are portrayed as men who are unfaithful to their wives, while the text gives the impression that kings were loyal and honest men during those times. Grendel’s mother, in the film,

The film portrays Grendel’s attack on Heorot as a thrill inducing scene. In the scene, Grendel smashes down the door and kills the victims while they are all singing and drinking mead in a large gathering hall. In contrast, the actual text, states that the attack happens at night as “Then, when darkness had dropped, Grendel went up to Herot, wondering what the warriors would do in that hall when their drinking was done. He found them sprawled in sleep, suspecting nothing, their dreams undisturbed. The monster's thoughts were as quick as his greed or his claws: He slipped through the door and there in the silence snatched up thirty men, smashed them unknowing in their beds and ran out with their bodies, the blood dripping behind him, back to his lair, delighted with his night's slaughter “(30-40). In the film, Beowulf’s return to become king is vastly different from the text. The film portrays Grendel’s mom seducing Beowulf with the promises of wealth and a long life if he can provide her with a son. He then returns to Heorot with Grendel’s head. Soon after, King Hrothgar commits suicide because he couldn’t have a son and Beowulf became king. In contrast, the text tells of Beowulf fighting Grendel’s mother until her body “fell to the floor, lifeless, the sword was wet with her blood” (643-645). Upon her defeat, he was given the

Beowulf the poem and Beowulf the film both show Beowulf’s arrogance. Beowulf’s arrogance is shown in the poem through his boasting. He states, “They have seen my strength for themselves, have watched me rise from the darkness of war, dripping with my enemies' blood. I drove five great giants into chains, chased all of that race from the earth” (151-155). In the text, it is important to note that his boasting may be a product of the era that he is living in. In contrast, the film shows his arrogance by bragging about slaying sea monsters when he went swimming in the sea. In actuality, his followers can be seen showing that he was making the numbers much larger than they actually were. Another great example of arrogance is when Beowulf goes to fight Grendel without any weapons. This holds true for both the text and the movie. However, the movie takes it a step further by portraying Beowulf stripping prior to the fight. The second similarity is the illustration of Beowulf’s fight with Grendel. In the film, Beowulf is seen fighting with Grendel and eventually removing his arm. The arm, in both the film and text, establishes Beowulf as an epic hero as it represents the struggle that he has went