I
Beowulf movies
man.-
sca:ry
mo:ns:ter s:to:ry is :to keep your monsters
clouded in mystery; a secret
:to
on modern movie makers.
(GRENDEL IN BEOWULFI
Grendel is one of the three monsters that feature in
the Old English poem Beowuli We are introduced
to Grendel as an "ellengaest" [bold spirit! who has
spent the last twelve years harassing the hall of the
Danish king Hrothgar, devouring anyone who spent
the night there. A Geatish hero, Beowulf, arrives to
save ihe day. After a long batile, Beowuli rips off
Grendel' s arm and the monster, mo·rtaliy wcmn.aea.
returns to his home in the swamp and dies.
A
a
a monstrous man or a hipedal dragon; what exadly is Grendel? The nature
of Grendel is a matter of scholarly debate and the
various soluiions offered
on circumstantial evidence. The poem itself reveals very
little about the monster; at one point the
simply confesses that Grendel is
ic nat
!an enemy, I do not know what kind!.
Throughout the poem, Grendel is described by
,...""',..,""'.,..1 ~""' terms, such as "grimma gaest" [grim
!enemy of
and "man"feond
sca~a" [vile ravager), and his physical description
leaves much io be desired. At first we only learn
that "him of eagum stod ligge gelicost leoht unfaeger"
!from his eyes issued a distorted light, most like a
flameL that he drinks human blood and eats their
bodies whole. It is only after Grendel is defeated
that we learn a little more about him. The Danes report that he was wretchedly shaped like a man and
very ·large:
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pcet hie gesawon
mearcstapan
moras
ellorgcestas.
ocera oaer wces,
gewislicost
gewitan meahton, I
idese onlicnces;
ooer earmsceapen I on
weres wrestmum
wrreclastas
I
nrefne he wces mara
ponne renig man
I pone on geardagum
foldbuende. No hiefreder cunnon,
!that they had seen two such massive . . . . . ,_..... ,.,. . . .
ers of no-man's land haunting the moors,
spirits ; one of them was, as they most ............................. :t
were able to discern, of the likeness
an; the other one wretchedly shaped,
of a man, trod in the tracks of an
he was larger than any other man; in
yore the earth dwellers named him
did not know
Whatever
be, what oecoJrnes
in
poem, we never
father is. We do learn that
and his mother are descendants
like "eotenas ond ylfe ond orcneas,
gantas" [ogres, elves, ores and
In short Grendel is a
unknown and different The BeowuU
have realised that the omission of de:scrip!JLVe
details was an effective narrative
would stimulate his audience :to oarnc:lpl..l.l.t:::
fhe few
of the 2007 film.
a
a:da:p1,ahon
Beowulf and some have
argued that film is an
unsuited medium for the
early me?feval epic poem
as long as
modern movie ·makers feel
that
J.U..LLJ.J.J.,......
BEOWULF
MOVIES)
screen on six
Beowulf has been brought to the
Each movie has
mystery in its own, unique way.
In Grendel Grendel Grendel (198It an ·anima±ed musicaL Grendel is
as a slightly
cte·ore!ss.ed. green crocodile or,
a dr,aaon
without wings. The film Beowulf (1999) features Chrisiopher Lambert as Beowulf who battles GrendeL a
muddy ogre of saris, in a 'post-apocalyptic ....... ,....,.....,,,..feudal future'. In The ]Jih Warrior (1999), the Viking
hero Buliwyf takes on the WendoL a group of bearskin wearing native Americans. Beowulf & Grendel
(2005) depicts Grendel as an oversized, hairy human, who hits himself
until his forehead
bleeds. In the 3D animation Beowulf (2007}_ Grendel
is "a hideously disfigured troll-like creature wifh superhuman strength". Finally, in. the m·ovie Ouila:iJ.der
(2008), Kainan (a man from ·another planet) crashes
his spaceship in an eighth-centU,ry N?!W~gkrnlake
and, accidentally brings along an .alien, known
as the Moorwen. The Moorwen takes on the role
of Grendel· and is ·best described ·as a fluorescent
reptile:..;like tiger with .various tentacles at the end of
its tail.
Aside from making the monster's. appearance
explicit, some. movies also try to. make .their audi..;;
ence sympathize for the creature by adding motives
for his vicious attacks on the Danes. In . Grendel
Grendei Grendel the monster is a misuhderstood
intellectual that wants to be friendswith the buffoonish Danes, who
him
his monstrous appearance. Beowulf & Grendel opens with a scene where
the young Grendel· (a bearded baby!) witnesses. the
murder of his father by the Danish
In OuJlander, we learn that the Moorwen is only trying to
avenge Kainan for having tried to colonize its home
planet
The films Beowulf (1999) and Beowulf (2007)
go one step further and even solve the problem· of
Grendel's parentage: Grendel turns out to be the
monstrous offspring of Hrothgar, the king of the
Danes. His vicious attacks on Hrothgar' s hall thus
become payback for a fatherless childhood. Far
ro,.,... ,....,.. :ror~ from the original poem, the only advantage
of this approach appears to be the
of a reaattractive actress for the role of Grendel's
mother. While ihe poem describes her as a "brimw[sea-wolfl and an "aglaecwif [monster-wile!, the
1999 film featured Layla Roberts, a former playmate,
and a naked 3D animation of Angeliria Jolie was
oc<:a~nOilS.l
bedroom scenes to
their modern audience.
Unlike the Old English
poem, none of these
movies can be called d
huge success in terms
of cultural impact . and
popUlarity. ·When it comes
to· effective storytelling,
there is still .a .lot we .can
learn from the .literature
proQ.u.ced. over a thousand
years ago.
The 13th J:"Varrior (1999)
Thijs Porck
Ourlander (:~008)
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