Home text homework help Comparative essay grendel and beowulf

Comparative essay grendel and beowulf

Compare and Contrast Essay: Grendel in Beowulf and in the Novel by John Gardner Most people think of evil and mayhem when they think of Grendel the monster. Grendel is one of the antagonists in the epic poem Beowulf that was written sometime between the eighth and eleventh century A.

Comparative essay grendel and beowulf

Words Heard and Words Seen 2. Oral Dictated Texts 3. Homer as an Oral-Traditional Poet 6. Beowulf and Odysseus 8. Interlocking Mythic Patterns in Beowulf 9. The Influence of a Fixed Text Central Asiatic and Balkan Epic Bibliography 7. There seems to be evidence that one of the patterns found in the story of Odysseus also underlies a section of the first half of Beowulf.

Rhys Carpenter has reviewed the adventures of Odysseus as told by the hero, concentrating especially on the incident of the Cyclops, and has found a parallel between them or it and the folktale of the Bearson.

They share at least one traditional story pattern. It is frequently pointed out that the taunting of Beowulf by Unferth is reminiscent of the challenge and insult to Odysseus by Euryalus at the court of Alcinous on Phaeacia.

So far as I am aware, no attempt has been made to compare the events leading up to the Unferth episode with those leading up to the taunt of Euryalus in the Odyssey to see if the parallelism goes beyond the single theme to include a larger complex.

In the Old English poem we have the following sequence: A Beowulf has a ship built, B crosses a body of water, C is met by the coast guard on the opposite shore, and D after identification, is led to Heorot, E where he is graciously received and entertained, except that F during the entertainment he is, without provocation, insulted by Unferth, but G after he has proven himself by the long story of his adventures with Breca, H the entertainment continues and is ended I when all go to bed.

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In the Odyssey the pattern is as follows A Odysseus builds a raft on the island of Ogygia, where he is being detained by Calypso, B crosses a body of water, on which he loses his ship but is provided a substitute for one by Ino, C encounters Nausicaa and her maidens on the shore, and D is directed to the palace of Alcinous, E where he is graciously received and entertained, except that F during the games he is, without provocation, insulted by Euryalus, but G after he has proven himself, H the entertainment continues, including his identification and story of his adventures, and is ended I by all going to bed.

It is clear that the two narratives share some elements. It will be worthwhile to examine some of the subdivisions in more detail. Both Beowulf and Odysseus are depicted as having neither means of transportation nor companions at the beginning of this section. They both acquire a new ship by building it or having it built.

Beowulf at this same time acquires companions. These companions are, however, not a necessary element in the section of story that we are considering. Only later, when one of them is destroyed by Grendel before the attack on Beowulf himself, do the companions enter the essential plot.

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At the moment of which we are speaking, namely the sequence of events from the departure of Beowulf from home to the end of the banquet, the companions are not necessary. In the Odyssey, although the companions have all been lost at the moment we are studying, they are, of course, a significant element in Odysseus's complete story.

Beowulf's sea voyage is uneventful. Beowulf also loses a comrade to Grendel. As a matter of fact, the "shipwreck" the loss of the raft in the Odyssey pattern under consideration could be thought of as a duplication of the great shipwreck in which the remnant of his companions was finally lost, just before his arrival at Ogygia.

Thus the sea voyage between Ogygia and Phaeacia with its method of landing, that is by swimming to shore with or without a wimple, is in reality a duplication of the journey from the Isle of the Sun, Thrinacia, to Ogygia.

Duplications are characteristic of Homer's poems, especially the Odyssey. But, granted all that, Beowulf's sea voyage from the land of the Geats to Denmark is not at all like that of Odysseus from Ogygia to Phaeacia.

Comparative essay grendel and beowulf

In both Beowulf and the Odyssey the traveler is met by someone. The coast guard fits well the stark Germanic heroic scene; Nausicaa and her maidens on the shore of Phaeacia are meaningful in their setting also. Indeed, the comparative absence of women in Beowulf contrasts strikingly with their important role in the Odyssey.

Actually, most of Odysseus' landfalls involve female figures; the land of the Cyclops is one of the few exceptions. What distinguishes the arrival of Beowulf in Denmark is the coast guard's questioning of him as to who he is.

Identification of the hero is present at this point in the northern song, but not in Homer. This element is in reality found in the Odyssey, but it is delayed until after the gracious reception of the stranger. It occurs at a different point in the story.

In both poems, however, the person who meets the hero conducts him to the abode of the leader, although Nausicaa, for reasons of propriety, does not personally take Odysseus all the way into town, but gives him directions.

The correspondences in the theme of entertainment are transparent and do not need to be commented on further here. The themes of insult and reply are the most distinctive in our sequence in both poems, because they mar the joy and peace of the banquet and entertainment.Essay Comparison Between Beowulf And Grendel alter someone 's personality.

In the movie adaptation, Beowulf and Grendel (Gunnarsson, ), Grendel’s character is sympathized with to show how an audience expects complex backgrounds and developments for characters which contrast with simplistic duality that existed in AD.

Comparative essay grendel and beowulf

The story of Beowulf is a heroic epic chronicling the illustrious deeds of the great Geatish warrior Beowulf, who voyages across the seas to rid the Danes of an evil monster, Grendel, who has been wreaking havoc and terrorizing the kingdom. Beowulf and Grendel Essay Grendel as a Bully or In the epic poem Beowulf, Grendel is described by the author as an evil and cruel creature that has a strong desire for man´s blood.

However, we get a very different characterization of the same character in the novel Grendel by John Gardner. In this book, Grendel is. Compare and Contrast How Grendel Is Portrayed in Grendel and Beowulf This Essay Compare and Contrast How Grendel Is Portrayed in Grendel and Beowulf and other 64,+ term papers, college essay examples and free essays are available now on regardbouddhiste.com Autor: review • December 25, • Essay • Words (4 Pages) • 1, Views4/4(1).

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Compare and Contrast: Beowulf and Grendel Essay Words 3 Pages There are many similarities and differences between the movie "Beowulf and Grendel", to the poem.

Grendel and beowulf comparison essay