Gerard Butler
Beowulf
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Beowulf & Grendel is a 2005 Canadian-Icelandic fantasy adventure film directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, loosely based on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. It stars Gerard Butler as Beowulf, Stellan Skarsgård as Hrothgar , Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson as Grendel and Sarah Polley as the witch Selma.
Grendel is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf (700–1000 CE). He is one of the poem's three antagonists (along with his mother and the dragon ), all aligned in opposition against the protagonist Beowulf. He is referred to as both an eoten and a þyrs, types of beings from wider Germanic mythology.
Exiled to the swamplands outside the boundaries of human society, Grendel is an outcast who seems to long to be reinstated. The poet hints that behind Grendel’s aggression against the Danes lies loneliness and jealousy.
Inspired by the challenge, Beowulf sails to Denmark with a small company of men, determined to defeat Grendel. Hrothgar, who had once done a great favor for Beowulf’s father Ecgtheow, accepts Beowulf’s offer to fight Grendel and holds a feast in the hero’s honor.
May 15, 2024 · What is Beowulf? Where does Beowulf take place? Who was Beowulf written by? What does Beowulf present to Hrothgar? Was Beowulf real? Beowulf preparing to cut off the head of the monster Grendel, illustration from Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race, 1910. (more)
The first night that Beowulf is with the Scyldings, Grendel stomps up from the swamp, bashes open the mead-hall's door with a single tap, and quickly wolfs down one of the Geats inside. The passage describing Grendel's ascent from the fen (710-727) is one of the finest in Anglo-Saxon poetry.
The epic poem follows Beowulf, a hero who comes to aid Hrothgar, King of the Danes, in his fight against the vicious monster Grendel. Before the tale is over, Beowulf fights and defeats Grendel, Grendel’s mother, becomes king of the Geats, and vanquishes a dragon.
