Beowulf Comparison Essay

Beowulf is an old story that originated from the Anglo-Saxon time period. It was often told by a Scop, a man that memorized stories and told them to the entire tribe, and each story often had a message that was supposed to be given to the warriors or the king. These stories were often told to younger generations for it to be remembered, and every time it was passed down, it had some changes made to it. It was finally recorded by two monks. Since then, there have been many movies of Beowulf, with the most recent being made in 2007 as an animated movie with somewhat related plot, but it had many revisions to make the movie mostly different from the poem itself, and with those changes it shows how our society is different from the Anglo-Saxons. In the Beowulf movie and poem, there are similarities and differences in Beowulf himself, religion, and themes, which reveals themes that reflect both Anglo Saxon and modern societies.

There was a central theme that was referenced throughout the movie and the poem. However, The theme for the movie was that history would repeat itself while the theme for the poem was good versus evil as well as how kings and thanes should act. In the poem, The main theme that was present was how kings and thanes should act, and in line 691, it was said that, “None of his comrades/Came to him, helped him, his brave and noble/Followers; they ran for their lives, fled/Deep in a wood. And only one of them remained, stood there, miserable, remembering,/As a good man must, what kinship should mean.” On the other hand, the theme for the movie was that history was doomed to repeat itself. This is because Hrothgar was the first person to be seduced by Grendel’s Mother, then Beowulf was the one to follow in Hrothgar’s foot steps. Lastly, the movie ended with Wiglaf holding Grendel’s Mother’s cup while he was staring at her in the