Introduction

Beowulf’s story tells the tale of the heroic character of the same name whom selflessly assists the people of his world by ridding the monsters which torment them — the recurring theme throughout the story. This theme of monsters in the world of people is one which we analyze in the Omeka A1, highlighting how Beowulf and the monster Grendel are portrayed in different iterations of the text, and how these depictions in turn illustrate the elements of what makes a hero and monster. There we found that Beowulf’s stories — through sensory, rhetoric, and stylistic devices — depict the hero and the monster’s super-natural features with a juxtaposed perspective. And even though both these characters pertain many of the same super-natural attributes, Beowulf receives a hero’s narrative and Grendel a monster’s throughout the story. Nevertheless, Beowulf and Grendel’s similarities blur the defining lines of what makes a monster; inspiring a variety of iterations upon Beowulf’s story, and its characters as well.

Thus, this digital essay will take a look at other Beowulf derivative texts, and highlight how they represent their heroes, humans, and monsters. Moreover, it will find that the narrow line which differentiates Beowulf from the monsters is one which also blurs into that of humans. Nevertheless, this digital essay will conclude that Beowulf’s ‘monster’ title is not limited to those which default to the villain roles, but one which is shared between the hero, the humans, and the monsters. To that end, this digital essay will make a comparative analysis between different adaptations of Beowulf’s story: Heaney’s and Meyer’s translations, as well as two Tolkien pieces derived from the same. Likewise, it will reinforce the importance of emblematic symbology in English culture during the time of Beowulf by adding the analysis of a sword’s pummel — an item which has been found to carry great cultural significance for the warriors at the time.