From Epic Characters to a Movie Transformation: Tracing the Journey of Beowulf from Old English Poetry to Contemporary Motion Picture
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: Beowulf, the tale of a celebrated hero and slayer of monsters, is the one of the finest and oldest epic poems of English literature.This poem was finally written down by an unknown poet after being passed on orally from one generation to another for many years.Beowulf has been translated from Old English to contemporary English by many scholars and has also been an inspiration for numerous films and games.Beowulf gives vivid descriptions of ancient Germanic people, an era of heroworshipping, supernatural beliefs and pagan rituals.It offers a re-living of the centuries-long phase of transformation of Europe.In this magnificent tale of war between 'the good and the bad'; the human and the monster; the hero and the villain; the saviour and the killer and the stronger and the strongest, there are several characters which stand out.Sturla Gunnarsson's Grendel and Beowulf (2005) and Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf (2007) are well-directed movies based on this famous epic.These movies borrow the central idea and characters from the epic while at the same time, also open broader doorways to view and interpret the text through variegated lens.This paper aims to compare and contrast the portrayal of the four important characters of the epic with these two movies.This paper will try to explore the inconsistencies in the depiction of these major characters of this poem in the contemporary films.Keywords-Beowulf, Hero, Monster, Mother, Film 'Epic poetry has shaped the way that we perceive our universe.We've used these epics to justify ourselves…' 1 'Oral traditional epic is not merely entertainment, as it tends to become in the course of time and social change, but has a serious function in society.' 21 "Looking at Epic Poetry Through 21st-Century Eyes -The New York Times."The New York Times -Breaking News, World News & Multimedia.N.p., n.d.Web.7 Jan.2020.
Source: Litinfinite Journal
Authors: Trishita Gautam, Piyush Kumar Banerjee
Institutions: Government of West Bengal, Erasmus+, University of Haifa
Language: English
Subfield: Literature and Literary Theory
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W3072940827