Beowulf vs. The 13th Warrior Beowulf, an Old English epic poem—written sometime between the 8th and 11th century by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet, and The 13th Warrior, a 1999 action film—produced and directed by John McTiernan, share many similarities and differences regarding character, setting, plot, and theme. Because John McTiernan’s film is so similar to the epic poem, it is widely assumed that The 13th Warrior is directly inspired by and based off of Beowulf. Not only is the plot and setting of the two works very similar, but the characters and overall theme is as well. As always, with the similarities, we also see many key differences. The differences, however, do not stray far from their original interpretations. The most fundamental comparison of characters begins with the analyzation of the two epic heroes—Beowulf, from Beowulf, and Buliwyf, from The 13th Warrior. Both Beowulf and …show more content…
Beowulf and The 13th Warrior share the same general storyline of a kingdom in need of an epic hero to aid them in defeating a ferocious, evil being. In the poem, this ferocious, evil being is a single monster known as Grendel. In the film, this ferocious, evil being is a multitude of monsters known as the Wendol. In both Beowulf and The 13th Warrior, there are three battles that take place throughout the storyline. Both of which consist of a victorious battle against Grendel and the Wendol, as well as the slaying of the two’s mother. The point at witch the two storylines steer away from each other comes right after the second battle. In the film, directly after the second battle, Buliwyf dies—leaving it up to his fellow warriors to fight the third battle alone. In the poem, Beowulf waits fifty years to fight his third and final battle against a fire breathing dragon, ultimately leading to his heroic
The two works used in this essay are the story of Beowulf, by Seamus Heaney, and the movie of King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, directed by Guy Ritchie. Some things that appear in the King Arthur movie are included due to Hollywood effects that are not mentioned in the real story of King Arthur. Other than that, most of the information in the movie contains the same information as the mythical story. The two heros in both works play major roles in the storyline and have a huge effect on many different things that happen throughout the plot. Two major things that these two are remember for are their heroic acts and that they were both kings.
Extra Characters in Beowulf Beowulf is a story that has been around since the year 580, or since 1000 AD. With that being said, there are bound to be several adaptations and modern re-imaginings of the same story about this dynamic warrior and all his glorious battles. The epic Beowulf (Heaney,Seamus) and one of its modern adaptation Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarson, S) has a few similarities, but they also have a great deal of differences, ranging from views on religion, Women, and even changing some of the story’s main characters. The movie’s addition of the main characters such as Grendel’s son, the witch, and Grendel’s dad, show that we, as the modern people, have a vastly different worldview with regards to the hardships of life’s complexities. A major addition to the main character 's roster was Grendel’s son.
The movie called 13th Warrior has many similarities and also differences at the same time when compared to the poem, Beowulf. There are a lot of changes in plot of the poem, and the sequence of things in the movie. The idea of the existence of an old race and the need for an epic hero is evident in the movie and in the poem as well. The differences and similarities shown in The 13th Warrior and Beowulf can be found through the plot, setting, supernatural, and the central idea.
The first comparison is how they are both fighting for a good cause, and they are trying to help and protect people. In the epic poem, Beowulf is fighting to destroy the monster that is eating all of Hrothgar’s men in the mead hall. Beowulf defeats the monster and all the other monsters that were being evil and doing
Everyone has a perspective on good and evil; the battle line between good and even runs through the heart. “Beowulf” illuminates characters that come from dark and deep backgrounds that construct their dauntless actions. In the heroic tale “Beowulf,” the author’s tones strongly demonstrates themes of loyalty, honor, and courage. Raffel’s tones remotely displays the act of loyalty within multiple characters. “Hail to these who will rise to God, drop off their dead bodies” (101).
The Webster's definition of a hero is “A person who is admired for great or brave acts or fine qualities”, this also happens to be one of the qualifications of being an epic hero. There are many things that can be used to compare and contrast Beowulf as an epic hero and a modern day hero, but you’ll find that the human idea of a hero was primarily the same in 700 CE as it is now although the job descriptions of hero’s have changed. In today’s time a person is usually considered a hero if they help the public good, like a police officer, soldier, firefighter and so on. In Beowulf’s time a person was considered a hero if they were a great warrior. When looking at the characteristics of what makes Beowulf an epic hero and the characteristics
Throughout history epic tales have been told about heroes attempting to explain various occurrences such as the ones in the Gilgamesh and Beowulf. Gilgamesh and Beowulf compare and contrast in beliefs, their leadership styles, and the journeys they go on. Although both Beowulf and Gilgamesh can be compared to each other, because of their opposing locations and personalities, they are contrasting to each other. Beowulf and Gilgamesh leaderships styles, although very different, do have some similarities. Both Beowulf and Gilgamesh possess great physical strength, and courageousness as leaders of their respective cultures.
In the epic poem Beowulf, the protagonist, Beowulf, faces three “monsters” at different times in his life. The poem begins with Grendel, a monster who attacks only in the dark of night, tormenting the kingdom of Hrothgar. The last two sections of the epic detail the conquering by Beowulf of Grendel’s mother and the dragon. The battle between the monsters and Beowulf represent the theme of good versus evil in the poem, as well as the fusion of pagan and Christian ideals in the changing Germanic society. Grendel’s mother’s actions directly juxtapose the role of a woman in this time period, and the greediness of the dragon with his treasure contrasts with the virtues of what would be considered a good king.
Compare/Contrast Essay Beowulf is an epic hero, who is a strong and powerful man who comes from Sweden to Denmark to help a village that is being attacked by a man-eating monster named Grendel. Arthur, is a romantic hero who is the courageous king of Camelot who is a devoted leader and will do anything to protect his kingdom and people. Even though Beowulf and Arthur are two different heroes, they both share similar traits such as devoted followers, the use of magical weapons, and courageous traits throughout the story. Both epic and romantic heroes had devoted followers that helped them throughout battles. Beowulf was very strong, but when the people of Denmark thought he needed help.
In a way it showed their heroic ways, and the concept was that both stories did what they did for reason. For example, when they fought the monsters the concept was for Beowulf to show that he is a hero and he is the bravest. He wanted to prove his point that he could defeat, or kill any monster or creature, because of Beowulf offering to help Denmark with “their monster”, he felt he had something to prove; no one expected him to be that brave, and to even kill
The film and epic poem Beowulf may seem alike because of their similar plots and characters, but when looked at deeper, it is clear that their cultural differences set them apart. Traditionally, epic poems are lengthy stories that praise the deeds of heroic warriors whilst reflecting the brutal reality of life. They expressed cultural pride and teachings, while telling everyone that we are hopeless in the hands of fate; that all human ambition ends in death. In our modern world today, movies are made to entertain, but more importantly to sell and make a profit.
Their differences can be categorized in their amount of patience, how they hold themselves around others, and their personal actions. Although both great warriors, Beowulf and Lancelot’s methods when acting on a mission differ. Lancelot shows a great amount of patience when
Beowulf and King Arthur are both portrayed as heroes and someone to look up to. Some similarities are both of them are very brave. They are also both very compelling leaders in their own respective ways. Even with their similarities they have differences in their heroic qualities such as Beowulf not really being a human in the sense that he can do superhuman things and King Arthur being a normal human being. It's also interesting to note that King Arthur was more of a hero for his character whereas Beowulf was more of a hero in the sense that he slays monsters and dragons.
Flaws by Contrast Comparisons and contrasts play a huge role in literary works, especially between characters. Not only do they show similarities and differences between various characters, but they also bring out specific qualities that make a character unique and help guide the readers towards a common conclusion. In the popular Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf, the protagonist and hero, Beowulf, is emphasized for his extraordinary greatness. Throughout his story, he, as an advocate of good, encounters many opposing forces in the form of other characters. In a society where heroism and bravery are honored as essential aspects of culture, the contrasting values of these characters, or foils, help define Beowulf as the model hero.
Have you ever heard of the story Beowulf? If not, then I will be telling you the different scenarios that occurred in the movie and the book. Beowulf is about a heroic fellow who saves a kingdom from a magical named Grendel. He went through numerous of battles between Grendel, Grendel’s mother and the Dragon. In this essay I will be discussing the different event that happened in the story and the movie.