Beowulf

[Chandler_Greg]

I struggled through Beowulf. Can't say that the story meant much to me. Maybe it was a bad translation. But I recently read Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton and realized as I was reading that it was a modern retelling of the Beowulf story. I recommend it for anyone who isn't as fond of the original, or anyone who wants to see what a modern retelling might look like.

[DWish2000]

I find Beowulf quite captivating to me. I'm usually not interested in stuffs such as this story but this particular one grabbed my interest. Reading this book (story) brought back old memories of the God of War which we all know and gave me the mental picture of an ancient time when monsters were common in both villages and kingdoms. I would like to give the author of this story a thumbs up and would also recommend others to view it as well.

[NRoach]

I'm not too much of a fan of the "descendant of Cain" idea, given that the story was almost certainly in the oral tradition long before Christianity made it to the Anglo-Saxons. Personally, I do like the idea that it was meant to be just some man who was cast out, but the idea of him being a giant makes the most sense to me. If it was an outcast, it'd be very strange for him to cause such chaos alone.

[magnoparisi]

A well written and highly informative example of 11th Century literature. While the story is supposed to take part
between Beowulf and Grendel in ancient Denmark, it was originally composed in Old English (Anglo Saxon) and it would be wonderful if more of us could read and speak this ancient form of English. Interesting insight into the times.

[LinaMueller]

One of my favorite classics. Beowulf shows how literature can be a form of social anthropology. If you are interested in the culture of the dark ages Anglo Saxon, this book is the best choice.

[Laila_Hashem]

There was really no specific title in the story, but I thought Grendel to be some sort of monster. He might be a dragon, yes, but it was fantastical and I thought of him as more a metaphor for enemies of a nation or people and some sort of evil.

[PhyllisAnne]

I have loved this story since I found a few dusty copies of it in the corner of my school library in middle school. At my school it was a book reserved for study in AP Literature, but I couldn't just let these books gather grow a day older without being loved. Since that first day, I have read it more times than I can count and in at least 6 different translations.

When it comes to Grendel, I'm afraid I must debunk a good number of theories. The story of Beowulf was an oral tradition until a Catholic monk took it upon himself to write it down, which explains the sporadic references to God that contrast with the mythology followed by the actual characters. So it would more likely be in reference to some kind of bear or mythological beast than the descendant of Cain. I can also confirm that he was not any form of a dragon because, throughout the tale, Beowulf is made to fight three different monsters: Grendel, Grendel's mother, and a dragon.

If anyone is interested in some additional trivia about "Beowulf," the poem was actually originally made a classic and studied for purely historical information. It wasn't until much more recently that anyone began to see the literary value. For any classic fantasy nerds like me, it might also interest you to know that J.R.R. Tolkien compiled a whole translation of "Beowulf" and used it as a focal point for two decades of essays and teaching Anglo-Saxon at Oxford. He introduced the idea that "Beowulf" was actually the beginning of fantasy. In fact, he used "Beowulf" to inspire his Lord of the Rings and especially influenced The Hobbit (he directly pulled his mythology of dragons, their lairs, and habit of hoarding from the dragon in the third part of the poem). For further reading I would definitely suggest Tolkien's Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary and his The Monsters and the Critics and other Essays.

[Carolreads30]

I read this story in high school for a literature class, but I truly don't remember much of the story. I might add it to a bookshelf and see if I can read it once again.

[Peyton4]

I loved reading this story. It made me want to understand Old English so that I could have read it with the original rhythm. I also found the Beowulf character a bit comical. What kind of person gets himself into a swimming competition and decides to kill 9 sea monsters just for fun?

[Sav Sparkman]

I'm not sure which translation I have read, but nowhere did I read anything about Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel. Grendel and his mother were portrayed as dragons. I actually did a huge project in school about Tolkein, and he was greatly influenced by this story in his writing of LotR.

Same here, I’m not sure which translation I read, but Grendel was very much portrayed as a dragon. I did not know Tolkien was influenced by this epic, but it makes so much sense!

[Bradley Twesten]

Might watch 'The 13th Warrior' with Antonio Banderas. I love historical(ish) adventure films and this is a great interpretation of Grendel and the Mother, making them realistic and plausible horrors rather than a mythological beast.