Beowulf 

By: Isabel Goicochea 

 Beowulf, an epic story passed down for decades. Since it is an epic, it has been orally passed down. Translations of Beowulf vary. There are various noticeable likenesses and differences in its translations. This story varies in text versus film. A few visible differences between text and film are the reasons behind his attack to herot, what happened to Grendel’s mother, and Beowulf becoming king at the end of this epic.

The reasoning behind Grendel’s attack in the text differs from what is seen in the film. It is said in text, that Grendel attacked Herot because he was curious to see what the humans did while they were quiet. In contrast, in the film it is shown that he decided to attack Herot because he could not stand the noise. Herot was too loud and he disliked the noise. Those are two very different reasons for him deciding to attack Herot. Also in regards to his attack, in film he attacks while they are In the middle of a celebration but in text that is not the case. In text he attacks while everyone is sleeping.

Grendel’s mother is described a demon type figure in the text. What you see in the film is not a demon. You see a human like figure. She does posses demon like qualities and can turn into a dragon. Beowulf is told to defeat Grendel’s mother. In text we are made to think that Beowulf did indeed defeat the monstrous creature (Grendel’s mother). In the film we see that Beowulf fell for Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mom promised Beowulf riches, and to become a powerful king. She seduced him, and ended up kissing. There is no way he killed her, yet he went back up to Herot claiming he had killed her.

One last difference is Beowulf’s ending. He indeed became king after all the battles. What changes in the film is what place he became too. In the text we are told that he became king of Sweden. In comparison Beowulf became king of the Danes in the film. He becomes king for 50 years.

In both film and text the main message of the story is the same. The way things occurred is what changes. The attack, the meeting with Beowulf’s mother and becoming king are a few major differences.  They have the same characters, and setting but the events change. You will notice that most of the time when stories are made into films directors have to change a couple of events or the manner in which they occur for sales. The main event and idea will remain the same.