Casey Long

Compare and Contrast Between Beowulf Poem & Film.

Beowulf the movie and Beowulf the poem stay pretty close in comparision except for a
few details.

In the film Grendel is a troll who basically wants revenge on the Danes for the death
of his father. The Danes kill Grendel's father because he took food from them. Although in the
poem, Grendel is just described as a blood thirsty monster. Also, in the movie Grendel is a
little more like a human he speaks to Selma and tells her why he will not fight Beowulf but, in
the poem he is more monster like. Grendel actually has a reason to want revenge in the movie
while in the poem he is just killing the Danes because he is a monster and that is his nature.
In the film Grendel does not want to harm Beowulf or the Danes becaues they did no wrong to
him, unlike in the poem where he kills just to do it.

Another difference from Beowulf would be: in the poem Beowulf goes back to his
homeland of Geatland to become king, but in the movie Beowulf stays to take over for
Hrothgar in Denmark after his death. Beowulf then becomes king of Hrothgar's kingdom. The
poem and the movie have different ways that they end, therefore this is another way each are
different.

In addition to the big differences there are also more not so important differences
between the poem and the movie. One of these differences happens to be in the poem,
Grendel kills the Dane who wronged him and proceeds to get away from Beowulf, but as
Grendel is running away Beowulf catches his arm. Although Beowulf catches his arm in the
poem that is not what happens in the film. In the film, Grendel runs and Beowulf gets a rope
around his wrist and as Grendel jumps out of the building he gets caught on the rope, then
Grendel proceeds to cut his own arm off in order to get away from Beowulf and the other
Danes. In the movie Beowulf has no part in cutting off Grendel's arm.

Another point in the movie that is different from the poem is while Beowulf and the
Danes are on the boat Grendel's mother trys to grab on of the men down into the water where
she lives. In the poem his mother does not show up until after Grendel's death. Also, in the
movie Beowulf doesn't kill Grendel's mother but he does return and say that he has killed he,
but we do not see it. Another difference is in the movie Grendel has a son with the witch
Selma, but in the poem he has no son. Also, there is no mention of the witch Selma.

Although there are many differences between the two, both the poem and the movie
basically follow the same story line.