Heroic tales of conquest over malicious foes in the face of incredible odds always reverberate in the imagination. Especially if details are slight, for it leaves us to envision and have different interpretations of such a tale. Beowulf, the famous epic poem written sometime between the seventh and tenth centuries in the Anglo-Saxon language known as Old English, about the heroic battles of a brave warrior against two monstrous ogres and a dragon, has just this effect. The poem is set in Scandinavia around 500 A.D. and Beowulf, from Geatland, which is now southern Sweden, pledges to Danish king Hrothgar that he will fight the ogre Grendel who has been preying on local inhabitants for twelve long winters. Beowulf corners Grendel in Herot, a …show more content…
He is described as the epitome of a strong hero and an even superior king. His men would go towards the ends of the earth for him, “"He took us/ For soldiers, for men. He meant to kill/ This monster himself, our mighty king, / Fight this battle alone and unaided, /...By almighty God, / I'd rather burn than see/ Flames swirling around my lord...I swear that nothing/ He ever did deserved an end/ Like this, dying miserably and alone, / Butchered by this savage beast," (2641-2659). Beowulf not only made sacrifices, but he stood by what he believed in and never backed down from a challenge. Not only because he wanted to be remembered, but because his pride and loyalty to his people never allowed him to. In the film, he is portrayed quite similarly to this, but there are scenes within the film that just don’t add up to the Beowulf that is seen in the text. When he gave his word that he would rid of Grendel’s mother and went into the mere to finish the deed to avenge the life lost, he was instead seduced by a beautiful siren that promised him royalty and riches. Afterwards he went to Hrothgar and told him the beast had been slayed when she really hadn’t been. In the text Beowulf was never in fact a