Background

Being a lively adaptation of an ancient English poem, this film does not disappoint the viewers at all. The film structure and the fundamental storyline structure are in tandem with the initial literary sources. The original poem, depicts Hrothgar, a Denmark king, being troubled by a monster by the name Grendel who feeds on human flesh until a character called Beowulf travels to Denmark to kill it.  Just as the poem postulates, the film depicts Beowulf tearing off the monster’s hand; it escapes but// passes on because of the wound. Immediately, the mother of the monster revenge for her dead son through terminating the lives of many men.  As a result, Beowulf gets aggravated and goes on to execute Grendel’s mother.  Beowulf carries the head of the monster. This activity makes him receive a great reward from Danes. The Beowulf’s death characterizes the film’s end after executing the dragon.  Diachronically, the movie does not sway away although just like other films which adapt their characters and theme from works of literature, several compromises were made to make the episodes fit the film genre more appropriately (Cavill,45).

Beowulf in the film displays a substantial Christian influence which was left by the monks during the story-recording. This means that the flow of the events depicts a new connotation. Traditionally, the story of Beowulf as shown in the movie was usually blended with Christian beliefs by monks.  The episodes and the flow of events in the film provide various references to the God of the Bible.  Beowulf is depicted as Jesus Christ. These kinds of references run throughout the movie from the beginning to the end. At the beginning of the epic, a description is provided regarding how God created the earth. A narrator states that the Almighty created the universe, shaped the beautiful plains surrounded by oceans, set the moon and the sun to illuminate it, beautified the earth’s corners with leaves and trees, made haste with life even with all nations that currently move on it.

The film depicts Grendel as the devil. He is malicious and executes humans (Ismeurt, 19). One of the attributes of Satan in the bible is to kill amidst stealing and destroying (John 10:10).  He is the primary source of evil which counter’s Christ’s goodness. Beowulf identifies with Jesus Christ who came to redeem the world from the oppression of the devil. Grendel is the son of two evil monsters who are Cain’s descendants (Cavill, 45). They are murderous whom God banished after Abel’s demise. Grendel has also established his dwelling place (home) in the fiery hell.  These attributes are for the devil who continually opposes God.

The depiction of faith in God even in dangerous moments is shown by the putting of his fate in the hands of the living God. He challenges a man-eating monster and finally kills it. This is exactly like it happened with David and Goliath. Goliath was mighty in strength, but David’s faith in God made him overcome the giant. To Beowulf, Grendel and his mother were opposed to God and just like the devil, and they do not have a place in terminating evil.  Upon killing of Grendel together with the mother and bringing peace to Hrothgar kingdom, Dane gives Beowulf great rewards (Goldsmith,23).

In the same way, David was richly rewarded by Saul in the bible after killing the giant, Goliath. He was offered the king’s daughter for marriage. Of course, this does not happen in Beowulf’s film, but it is a good replica of the rich reward Beowulf got from Danes.

Moreover, Grendel’s mother is exceptionally fierce (Goldsmith,57). She kills very many people after her son dies of a wound which was inflicted by Beowulf. The decision made by the main character of this film (Beowulf) to execute the monster (Grendel)’s mother shows courage. Christ had no sympathy for the devil. He faced him with a lot of courage to liberate the world from evil oppression. No wonder the bible says that Christ snatched the authority keys from Satan. Beowulf shows sheer courage throughout the movie which is a credible Christian attribute. Furthermore, the cowardly will never inherit God’ kingdom (Ismeurt, 89).

Christ was loyal to God and did accomplish his mission regardless of the many challenges he underwent. The death of his son aggravates Grendel’s mother. She, in turn, opts to kill as many people as possible to avenge for the demise of the son (Goldsmith, 34)   the coming down of Christ to carry out the mission of salvaging humanity is an act of allegiance and utmost loyalty, God always does what is right and is against the devil. Correspondingly, Beowulf has no choice but stand in the position of the Messiah who came to terminate all the works of the devil, Beowulf kills both the son and the mother who are monsters to accomplish a good mission which is likened to Christ’s. The film shows that Beowulf died after slaying the man-eaters. In the same way, Christ completely defeated the devil and died.

works cited

Goldsmith, Margaret E. The Mode and Meaning of Beowulf’. A&C Black, 2014.

Ismeurt, Katherine Marie. “The Hero’s Journey: Beowulf, Film, and Masculinity.” (2010).

Cavill, Paul. “Christianity and theology in Beowulf.” The Christian Tradition in Anglo-Saxon England: Approaches to Current Scholarship and Teaching 1 (2004): 15.

Do you need high quality Custom Essay Writing Services?