In lines 106 to 108, Grendel is compared to Cain from the book of Genesis in the bible. For those who don't know, Cain killed his brother, Abel, in order to be the favorite son. Loki basically does this by sending a giant robot, that shoots a fire-laser out of its face, to kill Thor so that he can become king of Asgard.
All Grendel and Loki wanted was to rule over the people using fear; “one against all (145).”
One last point, Loki is a frost giant and Grendel is a giant; therefore, Grendel = Loki.
Beowulf is totally Thor. Line 418, Beowulf says that he is known for his “might of…strength.” Plus he says that he has fought a “tribe of giants,” another thing Thor has done before. In lines 431-432, Beowulf says,“ I might alone, o my own band of earls/and this hardy troop,” will defeat Grendel. Could Beowulf’s band of earls and hardy troop be similar to Thor’s Lady Sif and the Warriors Three?
That's what it looks like to me. In line 670, Beowulf is describe as “the Maker’s favor,” in other words, he is blessed by God. Something that many people don’t know about Thor is that his hammer, Mjöllnir, was not only a weapon, but was used to bless marriages, births, and funerals. http://norse-mythology.org/symbols/thors-hammer/ So in this case, Thor is the one giving the blessings. Lastly, in lines 818-819, “Beowulf was given/glory in battle.” I wonder who else has glory in battle? You guessed it; Thor.
You may disagree with me, but I’m pretty sure Beowulf and Thor are practically the same person. Fight me if you want to but the similarities are there.
Oh, I love this comparison. The conflict between Thor and Loki as a parallel to Beowulf in Grendel is marvelous. (Eh? Marvel-ous? Ehhhh?)
ReplyDeleteI agree, the similarities do seem rather apparent. (I could totally see Beowulf chucking his drink mug at the ground and shouting "ANOTHER!" like that scene from Thor.) Beowulf's personality strikes me as very reminiscent of Thor prior to his character development in his first film; a cocky hero eager to boast of his achievements/might. In fact, the upcoming speech that Dr. MB mentioned, where Hrothgar lectures Beowulf about being wary of pride immediately reminds me of Odin telling Thor that he isn't fit to be king/exiling him to Earth for his arrogance.
I can definitely see where you're coming from, and I love it.
*Beowulf AND Grendel. Not in Grendel. (If there's an edit button for comments, I can't find it.)
DeleteBlog 4 Gift From God
ReplyDeleteBeowulf does seem like the British version of Thor. With all things considered, Beowulf has a Britishness that is not foreign to me. Not that Thor is foreign to me, or any of the other Scandinavian gods. There is a correlation between the two societies. It seems that the British do many of the things that the Scandinavians do and vice versa. This includes many forms of government, religion, culture and media. For example, there were two versions of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. The original version was Scandinavian and then an English version was made. Thor is in many ways the typical warrior. Thor is designed to incorporate all the features of the expectations for a classical warrior in a relatable way. The Scandinavian pagan gods almost seemed human. There is this typical-ness that Beowulf possesses because it sets up the typical plot that can be discerned in most movies or songs. There is this fight between light verses dark. In Beowulf there is conflict between friend and foe while in Scandinavian mythology there are gods against gods with some gods being good and others evil. Loki is a typical evildoer. He plots to become king and kill his father because he wants all the power to himself. I can see this contrast between good versus evil. If I were to compare Beowulf to anything in literature, it would be the Epics of Gilgamesh where Gilgamesh is a swashbuckling, brutish warrior stronger than his surroundings. This epic includes great stories of Gilgamesh fighting demons, winning every battle and he also always gets the girl. Gilgamesh is expected to be incredibly prestigious from the start of the story unlike Beowulf who grows into it in the end. Gilgamesh and Beowulf share similar courage and manliness. Gilgamesh is a much older tale, but Beowulf’s character flaws make reading about Beowulf more exciting even though it has all been written before.
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ReplyDeleteI love that you made this comparison, because as much as i love those type of movies, (superhero movies) i dont think I would have even thought to make this comparison. I like that Thor is one of the first things you thougt of, and i like that in this blog you actually found specific events in the life of Thor and compared them to the life of Beowulf. You were even able to find a comparison between their enemies. What if Grendel and Beowulf ended up being brothers?
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