A Comparative
Analysis of Beowulf’s Poem and the
Movie
By: Ryo Potter
Abstract
Many movies those are adapted from a novel. There will be several
distinctions between the movie and the source story. In the case of Beowulf
movie, it is not adapted from the novel but the story comes from the poem. However,
the way to perform the distinction is the same with the novel adaptation. This research
is aim to analyze the similarities (comparative analysis) and the differences (contrastive
analysis) between Beowulf the poem and the movie. This research uses a theory of adaptation
from novel into film by George Bluestone.
A.
Introduction
Morris (617) argues that poetry is one of the oldest works of English
Literature. He also adds, “it is a form of
literature that many readers hold in a special kind of affectionate of admiration and poets have always reflected the
temper of the ages in which they live.” Moreover, Wolowsky (18) points out, “poetry can be
philosophical, or emotional, or
sentimental, and it can paint pictures, in a descriptive mode, or tell stories, in a narrative one.”
Beowulf is known as the very oldest epic poem
in English literature. Samekto (2) points out that Beowulf poem is the biggest
work of Old English period. It is also stated in the official website (http://beowulfepic.com) that it consists
of 3,182 lines. It also adds that the poem was written between 720 – 796 A.D.
It has been preserved in the Cotton
Vitellius A XV manuscript, in the British Museum, which was written about the
year 1000. Although the characters and the digressions belong to Germanic, but nobody
knows who the writer of the poem is. However, it becomes the first poem from Old English era that still
exists and can be read and be analyzed
by everyone as the material of study about Old English literature.
Beowulf is interesting to analyze because the
poem has been adapted to a movie with the same title. Its official
website (http://beowulf-movie.com) writes that the
movie of Beowulf itself, which is
released in 2007 under the director Robert Zemeckis, is best known in cinematographic circles
for the unique "motion capture process" similar to the technique used
in The Polar Express and Monster House.
The story is almost adapted from the whole story based
on the poem. However, as most films in general which is adapted from the novel
or from the story of poem, there are several points which are different from
the story in the poem. These differences are generally similar to another film.
For example, the serial film of Harry Potter which is adapted from its novels,
each novel is adapted to the movie with some differences, especially in the
plot, characters, and setting. Sometimes the plot is made shorter, sometimes
some characters are not included, or the setting which is made be different
from what describes in the novel. This pattern is always used in most film
adapted from novel.
In this paper, under the title “A Comparative Analysis
of Beowulf’s Poem and the Movie”,
will focus on the analysis of similarities and differences between the poem and
the movie. The similarities will be taken from the whole story of the poem and
the movie, while the differences will focus on the plot by taking some events
on the story. Therefore, the paper is intended to find and to answer these following questions:
1.
What are the similarities between Beowulf the poem and the movie?
2.
What are the differences between Beowulf the poem and the movie?
The method is used in this
study is firstly by data about the poem and the movie. Secondly is by selecting
the data that is necessary to be comparison. The last is by analyzing the
selected data. The main data of this paper are taken from some references. It consists
of literary sources from book and internet sources. The literary sources are
directly taken from the poem itself, poetry theory, English Literature period
theory, and the movie. The electronic book (E-Book) is used to support the
theories. The internet sources become supporting source of this paper. It
consists of some websites related to the literature theories, the poem and the
movie.
B.
Review of
Literature
Beowulf poem
has been adapted to a movie. The adaptation movie like Beowulf is not something new in literary field. Arne Engelstad (431) states in her essay that an adaptation is not a
new phenomenon at all. The biggest movie production, Hollywood, has released
many adapted films that most of them are adapt from myth, epic folk, fairy
tales, and novels. Engelstad also adds that the British scholar Christopher
Booker recently published a very thorough piece of research in which he showed,
and in fact proved, that most stories of the world – from myths and
fairy-tales, novels and plays to Hollywood films and TV soap operas can
structurally and thematically be reduced to “seven basic plots” – which is also
the title of his study.
The reason why the story is adapted
to a movie is to attract people to be interested in the original story. Then,
they want to read it and compare it as their criticism. This reason deals with
Engelstad’s statement. She argues that the adaptations from novels into film clearly
stimulate the interest for literature (Engelstad: 431). Some adaptation films
have been made before Beowulf.
Engelstad (434) adds that after successful Norwegian film adaptations, long
forgotten novels like Knut Hamsun’s Sværmere and Bjørnstjerne Bjornson’s
Fiskerjenten have been reprinted published in paperback with pictures
from the film on their covers and sold in newsstands along with magazines,
papers and comic books. Even an author with a more limited accessibility, like
Virginia Woolf, gained a considerably enlarged circle of readers after the
adaptation of her own Mrs. Dalloway (1997) and of Michael Cunningham’s The
Hours (2002).
1.
Beowulf Poem
a.
General Information
Beowulf is one of work from Old English Age. Samekto (2) states that in the Old English
Age, Beowulf is the biggest work. Beside
that, Beowulf poem becomes the ancient epic poem. Cobb (1) adds that Beowulf is an ancient Saxon epic poem,
probably composed in the English kingdom of Mercia more than a thousand years
ago. The
official website (http://beowulfepic.com)
states that it consists of 3,182 lines. It also adds that the poem was written
between 720 – 796 A.D. It has been preserved in the Cotton
Vitellius A XV manuscript, in the British Museum, which was written about the
year 1000. The genre of the poem is epic poem which tells
about heroic person, battle, and death of Beowulf.
The origin poem is written in the Old English language by anonymous poet. To
make it easier to understand, Lesslie Hall (1) has divided it into 43 chapters.
b.
Summary
Beowulf poem is divided into several chapters.
Each chapter tells the story. All chapters consecutively tell Beowulf
adventure. Lesslie Hall (1) has divided it into 43 chapters which tells the
story from the beginning until the ending of the poem.
Chapter I tells about life and death of
Scyld. He is great-grandfather of king Hrothgar. He has a son named Beowulf
– a name afterwards made so famous by the hero of the poem. Then he is dead and his body is laid on a vessel and wafted seaward as what he has
requested.
Chapter II tells about Hrothgar’s mead-hall. King Hrothgar build a
great hall in which he may feast his retainers. Then, the monster Grendel comes
and madly envious of the Danemen’s joy.
Chapter III continues the story of Grendel’s arrival. He attacks
the sleeping heroes. A cry of agony goes up, when Grendel’s horrible deed is
fully realized.
Chapter IV tells about Beowulf’s arrival to assist king Hrothgar. He
comes with fourteen companions. Then he challenges using vessel.
In the Chapter V, the Geats – people from Geatland, reach Heorot.
They offer theirselves to king Hrothgar to help him against the horrible
creature.
Chapter VI-VIII tell about Beowulf’s introduction in the palace to
the king Hrothgar. Hrothgar remember to his father because of Boewulf. Beowulf
intends to fight Grendel unaided and he will be able to beat him since he has
no weapon.
Chapter IX and X tell that Unferth taunts Beowulf. He hestate with
Beowulf’s ability to fight Grendel. Beowulf just keeps silent and prepare
himself to fight Grendel.
Chapter XI-XIII tell about the battle between Beouwulf and
Grendel. When others sleep, he takes a rest to prepare his battle. Then,
Grendel comes and seizes some warriors. Beowulf fight him suddenly. Grendel is
amazed with Beowulf’s strength. Finally, Beowulf vanquishes Grendel. His
hand and arm are suspended by Beowulf in
Heorot.
Chapter XIV-XIX tell about rejoicing of people in Heorot. Hrothgar
then gives Beowulf a gift. He lavishes him and his companions, including those
had been killed by Grendel. They are paid for in gold.
Grendel is away from Heorot and goes to the cave. Here, his mother
is introduced as a devil shaped woman. She is angry with the people of Heorot
and wants to revenge them. Then she comes to Heorot to avenge for his son.
In the Chapter XXII-XXIV tell about meeting Beowulf and Grendel’s
mother. Beowulf tries to fing Grendel’s mother in the cave. After he arrive at
the cave, he meets and fight with her. He is almost beaten by her, but he can
finally escape from her and brings Grendel’s head to King Hrothgar.
In the next chapters, the poem tells
about his homeward trip after farewell from Heorot and gets gift from king
Hrothgar. Queen Hygd, a noble queen of Hygelac, is told in Chapter XXVIII. She
lavishes him of gifts. While King Hygelac is told in Cchapter XXIX who is
interested in Beowulf’s adventures.
The hoard and the Dragon are told in
the Chapter XXXII. In the cave, there are a number gems and jewels. But in the
cave, there’s a fire-dragon. The dragon is infuriated because he feels his
treasure are disturbed. Beowulf then seeks the dragon. He realizes that the
dragon is his reminiscences. Then, he has his last battle.
After a heroic battle between Beowulf
and the dragon, he is finally dead. In the Chapter XXXVIII, he gets a fatal
wound from the dragon. Before his death, he asks Wiglaf to save the hoard for
his poeple and Wiglaf fulfils his lord’s behest.
Wiglaf sends the news of Beowulf’s
death to liegemen near by. He delegates the messenger to deliver it. Then,
Wiglaf prepares a funeral-pyre for Beowulf’s funeral. The burning of Beowulf is
told in the last chapter. His body is placed on a
pyre. Then, his body is burnt with the pyre until the funeral-flame appears as
a smoke-cloud. People mourn for their lord and sing his praises.
2.
Beowulf Movie
a.
General
Information
Beowulf is an
American fantasy movie that draws upon the tale narrated in an Old English
poem. The official website (http://www.beowulf-movie.com)
states that it is released by famous director Robert Zemeckis and written by
Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary. Beowulf
was best known in cinematographic circles for the unique "motion capture
process". Similar technology had been applied earlier in films like Monster House. The stars of the movie
were Anthony Hopkins, Angelina Jolie and Ray Winstone. Supporting cast included
Robin Penn, John Malkovich, and Crispin Glover among others. The launch date
was 16th November, 2007 in the United States and United Kingdom. It is
distributed by Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros Pictures and from the studio
of Sangri-La Entertainment and Image Movers. This film spends $ 150 million and grosses $196,149,662 when
it becomes box office.
b.
Summary
The
story of Beowulf movie is quoted from its official website (http://www.
beowulf-movie.com)
the movie starts by Hrothgar’s mead-hall (King Hrothgar is played by Anthony
Hopkins). In the middle of party, a horrible monster, Grendel (Crispin Glover),
comes angrily. He makes the party so terrible. People are afraid of him.
Beowulf
(Ray Winston) hears about the monster. After he arrives in Denmark he finds
himself enamored by Hrothgar's wife, Queen Wealtheow (Robin Wright Penn). Then
Beowulf joins in the mead-hall to entice the monster Grendel out of hiding. Beowulf
discovers that the reason for Grendel's dislike of celebrations is his acutely
tuned hearing, which makes the noise painful to him. Finding this out, Beowulf
uses it to his advantage and wounds Grendel. The hurt Grendel flees back to his
cave on the outskirts and tells his mother what happened.
Grendel’s
mother (Angelina Jolie) knows that his son was slain by Beowulf. She comes into
the mead-hall and kills everyone but Beowulf and Wiglaf. After that, she goes
back to the cave and Beowulf chases her and enters, he finds that Grendel's
mother is actually a beautiful woman who offers Beowulf a kingdom if he will
sire a son through her to replace Grendel.
A
royal wedding was in the offing. Years afterwards, Beowulf is married to
Wealtheow. But their union is not blessed. And so Beowulf starts an affair with
Ursula.
Seduced
to accept her advances, Beowulf returns to hear from Hrothgar that he too had
once been through the same experience - and that Grendel is really his son! In
a dramatic shift of events, Hrothgar crowns Beowulf king and kills himself. The
rest of Beowulf movie traces the rule of the new king until the point where he
is forced to confront a dragon sent by Grendel's mother to destroy him.
Beowulf
realizes that the dragon is his son, but he has to kill the dragon to save the
kingdom. It is the last battle of Beowulf. In the movie, the battle is
described as a heroic battle. Although the dragon is powerful, Beowulf can
defeat it. Yet he gets a fatal wound in the battle. He is finally dead as a
hero. At the same time, the dragon changes into a solid man – his own son.
Wiglaf
raises his body and put him on funeral-pyre. Then, the body is put on the
vessel and he sails it into the sea. After the vessel is far away from the land, it is burnt. Then, the
Beowulf’s body is drowning with the vessel into the deep sea. Before the
vessel is drowning, Grendel’s mother appears upon the Beowulf’s body and she
comes into the sea with the body.
C. Discussion
The discussion in this study
will be divided into two main discussions. Each will attempt to answer the
question will try to find in the study. To find the similarities of the novel
and the movie, it will apply comparative analysis. To find the differences of
them, it will apply contrastive analysis.
1.
Comparative
Analysis
In this analysis, some
similarities will be discussed. The similarities are taken from general aspect.
The aspect can be taken from the theme, the character, the plot, and the
setting. Below are the similarities that can be found between the story of the
poem and the movie:
a.
Theme
Both poem and movie tell about heroism. The
heroic adventures of Beowulf both in
the poem and in the movie are his battle with Grendel, his battle with the
dragon, and his death when he fights with the dragon.
b.
Main Character
The main character of the movie is similar to
the main character in the poem. They are:
1) Beowulf who is played by Ray
Winstone in the movie.
2) Wiglaf
who is played by Brendan Gleeson.
3) King
Hrothgar who is played by Anthony Hopkins.
4) Queen Wealtheow who played by Robin
Wright Penn.
5) Grendel’s
Mother who is played by Angelina Jolie.
6) Grendel
(in an animated monster) who is played by Crispin Glover.
c.
Setting (Places)
Some settings which are shown in the movie are
similar to the setting of the poem. The settings are:
1) Great Mead-Hall
It is a hall in
Danes Kingdom which is used to have party of the king and the people. It
is mentioned in Chapter II line 23-26:
To adorn the great folk-hall. In due
time it happened
Early ‘mong man that was finished
entirely,
The greatest of hall-buidings; Heorot
he named it
Who wide-reaching word-sway wielded
‘mong earlmen. (Chapter II: 23-26)
2) The Cave
It is a great
cave where Grendel and his mother live. Beowulf meets Grendel’s mother there
and brings Grendel’s head from there.
c. Beowulf’s Palace
The palace is the place
where Beowulf was born. He comes back to the palace after he beats Grendel. In
the last chapter, Beowulf fights the dragon at that palace.
2.
Contrastive
Analysis
In the story of the poem and
the movie, there are some differences. Those differences will be analyzed by
contrastive analysis. It tries to find the differences in some aspects. In
general, there are some common differences occur between both works. Bluestone
(48) states, “The story of the poem has three tenses but film has only one
tense.” The story is told by narrative explanation (using past tenses) and
conversational statement (using present tenses). He adds that in the film is incapable in
maintaining the illusion for very long (Bluestone: 60). It causes the process
of cutting down the time-flux in the film. Consequently, the plot of the film
is shorter than the story.
The discussion of this study
mostly focuses on two aspects. First, the poem and the movie are different in
describing some characters, Grendel and his mother. Second, the poem and the
movie are different in the plot when it describes the beginning and the procession
of Beowulf’s funeral.
a.
Character
The movie is different from the poem in
describing Grendel and his mother. In the poem, Grendel is described as a
horrible creature – a horrible monster. While in the movie, Grendel is
described as a bad creature. He looks like a human rather than a monster but he
has physical disability.
Grendel’s mother is described as a devil
shaped a woman in the poem. She is not specifically described as a beautiful
woman. While in the movie, she is described as a beautiful woman (played by
Angelina Jolie). She doesn’t look like a wicked devil. Even, Beowulf firstly assumed that she is a
monster like Grendel. Therefore Beowulf is persuaded her flattery when he meets
her in the cave.
b.
Plot
The poem starts the story by telling about
Scyld, the king of Danes kingdom. He is explained as Hrothgar’s
great-grandfather. When he is dead, his body is laid on a vessel and wafted seaward. In the movie, this scene is not
exist. The story starts by telling about
Hrothgar’s Mead-Hall. The description of Hrothgar’s mead-hall is similar
to the poem description until the arrival of Beowulf.
In the end of of the poem, the poet tells about Beowulf funeral. The funeral is held on the top of a hill. His body is
placed on a pyre. Then, his body is burnt with the pyre until the funeral-flame
appears as a smoke-cloud. In the movie, Beowulf’s body is laid on the vessel
with pyre. The vessel is then ptu into the sea. After the vessel is far away
from the land, it is burnt. Then, the Beowulf’s body is drown with the
vessel into the deep sea.
D.
CONCLUSION
This study focuses on
finding the similarities and the differences between Beowulf’s poem and the movie. The discussion applies comparative
analysis to find the similarities and applies contrastive analysis to find the
differences. The discussion shows that the theme and the main characters are
same. The theme is about heroism. The main characters are Beowulf,
Wiglaf, King Hrothgar, Queen Wealtheow, Grendel and his mother. Beside that,
both stories have two same places as the setting of the story. They are the
mead-hall, the cave, and the Beowulf’s
palace.
The differences between Beowulf’s poem and the movie are the
description of Grendel and his mother. Both also differ in describing the
beginning of the story and the procession of Beowulf’s funeral. In the poem, Grendel is described as a horrible
creature-horrible monster and his mother is a devil shaped a woman. While in
the movie, Grendel is described as a bad creature that has physically
disability. His mother, in contrast, is described as a beautiful woman. Beside
that, the poem begins by telling about Scyld, the king of Danes kingdom. He is
explained as Hrothgar’s great-grandfather. While in the movie, the story begins
by describing the King Hrothgar mead-hall.
E.
REFERENCES
Beowulf: An Anglo-Saxon Epic Poem. Trans. Lesslie Hall.
Washington: D.C. Heath & Co., Publishers. 2005.
Bluestone, George. Novel into Film. Los Angeles:
California UP, 1956. Print.
Engelstad, Arne. Literary Film Adaptations as Educational Texts. -------------
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA: Handbook
for Writer of Research Paper. 7th ed. New York: MLA, 2009. Print.
Kendall, Calvin B. The
Metrical Grammar of Beowulf. New York: Cambridge UP, 1991. Print.
Morris,
Alton C,. Bradshaw, Hodges, and Whitten. Colleges English:The First Year.
4th ed. New York: Hartcourt, Brace &
World, 1964. Print.
Samekto. Ikhtisar Sejarah Kesusasteraan Inggris.
Jakarta: Daya Widya, 1975. Print.
Wolowsky, Shira. The Art of Poetry: How To Read A Poem.
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“Beowulf movie: The Unofficial Fan Sites”. n.d. Web.
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