Epic Poem
Adventure
Beowulf
Author
Years Composed
Original Language
Unknown
c. 700-750
Old English
INFLUENCE
Beowulf and
Fantasy Pop Culture
A pillar of today's fantasy genre, Beowulf has
shaped many of the most popular books, movies,
and TV shows of the last century.
Monster Outcast
Grendel,
Grendel, Grendel
1981
Grendel
1971
King Kong
1933
The Hobbit
The
1937
Ring-Givers
1958
Shrek
2001
How the Grinch
Stole Christmas
1957
Godzilla
1954
Beowulf
~700–750
Direct
Reference
Harry Potter
Dragons
1997
Eragon
2003
Buffy the
Vampire Slayer
1997 A Song of
Fire & Ice: A Game
of Thrones
1996
Beowulf
2007
Eaters of
the Dead
1976
Star Trek
1995
Xena
2000
Man vs. Beast
Overview
A central work of Old English literature, the poem
follows Beowulf’s defeat of three monsters.
1
2
Grendel
Grendel’s Mother
3
Dragon
Heorot, the great mead hall
Grendel’s “mere” (pool or lake)
Geatland, the dragon’s barrow
Grendel attacks Beowulf and his
men at night in Heorot Hall,
grappling with the hero until
Beowulf mortally wounds him by
wrenching off a claw.
After Grendel’s enraged mother
murders a Dane, Beowulf tracks
her to their pool and dives in. A
magic sword appears to help him
50 years later, a dragon attacks
Geatland. Beowulf tracks it to
its barrow, and though a loyal
warrior helps him triumph, he is
mortally wounded.
pierce her thick hide.
Popular
Translations
of
Beowulf
Main Characters
Beowulf
The Geats
Hrothgar
Prince of
the Geats
Hygelac
The Danes
King of
the Geats
King of
the Danes
Dragon
The Monsters
Queen of
the Danes
Grendel
Grendel’s
Mother
Themes
Death and Defeat
or
every one
of us, living
in this world /
Means waiting for
our end.
Let whoever
can Win glory
before death.
Lines 1386–1388
Loyal Warrior
to Beowulf
Francis Barton
Gummere
Retains
alliteration
of the original
1973
Michael
Alexander
Modern verse
translation
published by
Penguin Classics
Though the poem celebrates
victory, no hero can fend off
death and defeat forever.
Loyalty
Allegiance to tribe and leader
2000
Seamus Heaney
Most popular
modern
translation
shape characters' actions,
driving plot and relationships.
Hospitality
The great mead hall Heorot
symbolizes the importance of
hospitality in Beowulf's
culture and era.
Sources: The New Yorker, University of Rochester,
The Arizona Center for Medieval & Renaissance Studies
Copyright © 2016 Course Hero, Inc.
John Mitchell
Kemble
First complete
English
translation
1910
Wiglaf
Wealhtheow
1837
2014
J.R.R. Tolkien
Translation and
commentary
(completed in
1926)