How does Beowulf differ in the two versions of the story? Beowulf is not the protagonist in Beowulf, so he is more static and only appears in the last portion of the story of Grendel. He also takes on more negative qualities with the diction of negative connotations.

In the movie and book Beowulf dies in the end a hero. In the movie and the book, Beowulf brings 14 men to help him slay Grendel. In the movie Beowulf lies about killing Grendel’s mother. In the book and the movie Beowulf kills both Grendel and the dragon and is the hero of the epic.

Beowulf, for example, was a very heroic person. His whole life was dedicated to being a hero. From the time he was just a warrior until he was king. Thor, The warrior god, on the other hand was a loyal and honest hero.

Grendel is a character in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf (AD 700–1000). Grendel is feared by all in Heorot but Beowulf. A descendant of Cain, Grendel is described as “a creature of darkness, exiled from happiness and accursed of God, the destroyer and devourer of our human kind”.

The standard reading of Grendel assumes that Gardner chose to retell the story of Beowulf because he wanted to champion Grendel’s “modern” point of view. In the first chapter, as if to emphasize the point, Gardner has Grendel repeatedly express his haunting sense of life’s meaninglessness.

To put it simply, Grendel’s mother tried to kill Beowulf because she wanted vengeance for her son. When Grendel staggers into the cave, he is mortally wounded. Instead of grieving, Grendel’s mother goes to seek revenge. When Beowulf comes after her, she attacks him in a lake, and he is helpless until they reach land.

John Gardner chose a character in Beowulf because he felt that “Beowulf is a terribly interesting story. Also rather than simply emphasizing on Beowulf’s view of Grendel, he goes into depth on how Grendel views Beowulf. In doing so, Gardner sheds a new light on the story.

Grendel is not a monster, due to the fact that he did all the killing and eating unknowingly. Grendel cannot be held responsible for his actions. This is mainly because he has been rejected by his mother for years and in turn, it has taken a hefty toll on him.

Grendel grabs one of the Geat warriors and mauls him, drinking his blood and tearing lumps off him with his teeth. Grendel raises his arm to attack Beowulf, but Beowulf grabs his arm with the strongest grip Grendel has ever felt. Grendel’s shoulder begins to tear, and eventually, his arm comes off entirely.

Beowulf’s tragic flaw was his hubris. Aging and aware of it, and acting recklessly and similarly aware of it, Beowulf needlessly battles the dragon alone and is fatally wounded. Had he not been blinded by hubris, he would not have died.