Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of anonymous authorship. Its creation dates to between the 8th^[1] and the 11th century, the only surviving manuscript dating to circa 1010.^[2] At 3183 lines, it is notable for its length. It has risen to national epic status in England.^[3]

Beowulf has been adapted a number of times in cinema, on the stage, and in books.

Cinema and television adaptations and references

Adaptations

• Some critics have compared the Alien film series to Beowulf.^[4]
• 1981: Grendel Grendel Grendel
• 1995: Star Trek: Voyager: In the episode "Heroes and Demons", Ensign Harry Kim runs a holographic version of the Beowulf poem in which he plays the central character. Most of the episode takes place inside this Beowulf holonovel.
• 1998: Animated Epics: Beowulf ^[5]
• 1999: Beowulf, a science-fiction/fantasy film starring Christopher Lambert.
• 1999: The 13th Warrior, action movie directed by John McTiernan mixing Beowulf with the travels of Ibn Fadlan; this is a film based on Critchton's Eaters of the Dead (see below).
• 2005: Beowulf & Grendel, starring Gerard Butler and directed by the Icelandic-Canadian Sturla Gunnarsson.
• 2007: Grendel, a made-for television movie on the Sci Fi Channel (United States).
• 2007: Beowulf, a computer animated film directed by Robert Zemeckis and created through motion capture, a technique similar to that used by Zemeckis in The Polar Express. The manuscript was written by Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman. It deviates significantly from the original poem.^[6][7][8]
• 2008: Beowulf: Prince of the Geats ^[9]

References

• Annie Hall: a 1977 film starring Woody Allen as Alvie and Diane Keaton as Annie. When Annie tells Alvie that she is thinking of taking an English literature course, Alvie responds, "Just don't take any course where they make you read Beowulf."^[10]
• Gilmore Girls: In Season Six, Episode 10 ("He's Slippin' 'Em Bread...Dig?"), Loreli tells Rory, "Oh, I started reading Beowulf, that new translation you recommended," to which Rory responds, "The Seamus Heaney? Good for you." Loreli then tells her, "Yeah. And stopped reading Beowulf."^[11]
• Xena: Warrior Princess: Beowulf and Grendel appear in several episodes of Xena including "The Rheingold". [1] Grendel is the son of the monster Grinhilda. Beowulf searches for Xena in order to stop Grendel and Grinhilda. [2]

Literature

• Eaters of the Dead: The Beowulf story, in combination with a fictionalized 10th century Arabic narrative of Ahmad ibn Fadlan created by the author Michael Crichton, was used as the basis for this novel. This story is portrayed in the movie The 13th Warrior.
• Grendel: The Beowulf story is retold from Grendel's point of view in this (1971) novel by John Gardner.
• The Ring-givers: a novel by W. H. Canaway (1958). It is historical novel based closely on the poem.[3]
• The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings: Beowulf exercised an important influence on J.R.R. Tolkien, who wrote Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics while a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University. Numerous parallels have been drawn between Beowulf and these works.
• Whose Song is Sung: A 1996 novel by Frank Schaefer. The narrative is told from the point of view of a dwarf named Musuclus, who becomes an advisor to Emperor Heraclius in the last days of the Roman Empire. Eventually, he makes his way north and becomes a traveling companion to Beowulf.[4]
• Neil Gaiman: The Monarch of the Glen: a novella published in his anthology Fragile Things involves "modernized Beowulf characters."[5]; Bay Wolf: a poem which retells the Beowulf story and appears in Smoke and Mirrors.[6]

Graphic novels

• Beowulf by Gareth Hinds, Published by TheComic.com (2000) and Candlewick Press (2007). A faithful adaptation with historically-detailed, fully painted illustrations. [7]

• Beowulf: The Graphic Novel[8] by Stephen L. Stern and Christopher Steininger [9] will be released by AAM/Markosia in October, 2007. [10]

• Beowulf Cartoon: Bookwork by Michael J. Weller with introduction by Bill Griffiths.[11]

• Kid Beowulf (Spring 2008) by Alexis E. Fajardo. A series of eight graphic novels, that depict the characters of Beowulf in the years leading up to the epic poem.[12] Published by Bowler Hat Comics [13]

• Biowulf by David Hutchinson. "A cyberpunk adaptation of the classic tale of Beowulf." Published by Antarctic Press in 2007.[14]

References

• The Heorot series: science-fiction novels, by Steven Barnes, Jerry Pournelle, and Larry Niven, is named after the stronghold of King Hrothgar and partly parallels Beowulf.

Music

• Grendel: A song by Marillion is the B side to their first single, "Market Square Heroes" (1982). The recorded version of the song is 17:40 long, while the live versions regularly ran to over 20 minutes. [15]
• The Lament for Beowulf: (1925), op. 25, by American composer Howard Hanson (1896-1981). Large-scale work for chorus and orchestra. Translation by W. Morris and A. Wyatt. [16]
• The Beatles 1968 album Yellow Submarine makes a comparison between the adventures of Beowulf and the adventures of the Beatles in the fictional Pepperland. [17]

Opera & Theater

• 2008: Beowulf - A Thousand Years of Baggage: a SongPlay by Banana Bag & Bodice[18]. Text by Jason Craig, Music by Dave Malloy[19]
• 2007: Beowulf: The Heart Off Guard Theatre Company produced a musical adaptation for children of the Beowulf story at the Edinburgh Fringe [20]
• 2006: Grendel: an opera composed by Elliot Goldenthal and directed by Julie Taymor. [21]
• 2005: Beowulf: rock opera composed by Lenny Picket, lyrics by Lenny Pickett and Lindsey Turner, produced October–November 2005 by the Irish Repertory Theatre, directed by Charlotte Moore [22]
• 1984: Beowulf: adapted for live performance by the founding members of Theatre in the Ground. [23]
• 1977: Beowulf: A Musical Epic: a rock opera by Victor Davies (music) and Betty Jane Wylie (libretto). [24]

Popular culture

Comics

• Antarctic Press: is currently running a manga adaptation of the Beowulf legend, written and drawn by David Hutchison. [25]
• Speakeasy Comics: this series debuted a Beowulf monthly title featuring the character having survived into the modern era and now working alongside law enforcement in New York to handle superpowered beings. [26]
• 1999-2000:The Collected Beowulf: by Gareth Hinds & Leslie Siddeley. [27]
• 1975-1976: Beowulf Dragon Slayer, published by DC comics and edited by Dennis O'Neil, written by Michael Uslan and primarily illustrated by Ricardo Villamonte.^[12] Later, Beowfulf appears in Wonder Woman #20 (2008).
• Issue #49 of the Animaniacs comic book featured a Pinky and the Brain story featuring Brain as Brainwulf, who, accompanied by Pinknarf (Pinky), attempts to defeat Grendel so that he can take over Denmark afterwards. [28]
• IDW Publishing is putting out a comic book adaptation of the 2007 Beowulf movie. [29]

Computer games

• Beowulf is the name of a character who can join the player's party in the video game Final Fantasy Tactics.^[13][14] In the game, Beowulf is in love with a dragon (Reis). Another character depicted in this game, Weigraf, is a reference to the Beowulf character - Wiglaf.^[15]
• Adventure PC-game based on Beowulf's legend
• Beowulf:Viking Warrior[30] : action adventure game based on the original story, developed by 4Head studios.
• Beowulf: The Game [31]: action adventure game based on the 2007 film, developed by Ubisoft coming for PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and PSP.
• Grendel's Cave: a MUD role playing fantasy game based on the original story.
• Beowulf (romanized on official sites as "Beowolf") is a character in Fire Emblem:Seisen no Keifu, he is portrayed as a mercenary interested only in money. [32]
• Devil May Cry 3 for the Playstation 2 (2005) includes a boss named Beowulf, though the physical manifestation can be tied closer to Grendel. [33] Beowulf is also the name of Dante and Vergil's weapon composed of gauntlets and greaves.
• In Super Robot Taisen: Original Generations for the Playstation 2, the protagonist Kyosuke Nanbu is touted as the "Steel Beowulf", also reflected in his theme song of the same name. Kyosuke's Shadow Mirror counterpart is known by the codename "Beowulf" as well.[34]

Notes

External links

• BEOWULFIANA: MODERN ADAPTATIONS OF BEOWULF - University of Rochester
• Beowulf: The Movie(s). A Comprehensive Look at the (Brief) List of Cinematic Adaptations of the English Language's Most Enduring Epic Poem an article from Film as Art: Danél Griffin's Guide to Cinema