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Miguel Ornelas Mr. Maynard English IV 11 February 2013 Beowulf/The 13th Warrior Comparison and Contrast Essay The epic poem Beowulf has survived through centuries without being vanished like other orally told poems. The author of Beowulf is unknown, but evidence show that he was a Christian monk due to the syncretism of beliefs between Christian and pagan culture. Unlike Beowulf, The 13th Warrior, directed by John McTieran, was very such parallel to the epic poem and in other ways unalike. John McTieran used the ideas from the novel Eaters of the dead, a Scandinavian epic poem of Beowulf, and applied it in the film. Juxtaposing the Anglo Saxon epic poem Beowulf and the film The 13th Warrior, one can encounter comparable and individual equalities in elements like character and setting, also in literary devices resembling tone and foreshadowing, as well as conventions involving syncretism and epic traits. To begin with, the character Buliwyf in The 13th Warrior is very similar to Beowulf in the epic poem. For example, in the film King Hrothgar said to Herald, I know the man! I sent for him! Knew him as a boy and I know him now. Grown to a man. Grown to a fine, strong man. King Hrothgar described Buliwyf as a brave and strong man that fights for honor like to Beowulf. In the poem, Beowulf described himself to King Hrothgar as the strongest man of the Geats to have ever walked on Earth. In the poem King Hrothgar said to Beowulf, They live in secret places, windy cliffs, wolf-dens where water pours from the rocks, then runs underground, where mist streams like black clouds, and the gloves of trees growing out over their lake are all covered

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with frozen spray, and wind like snakelike roots that reach as far as the water and help keep it dark (line 425-432). The setting in this part of the poem was when King Hrothgar was describing that the monster, Grendal, that lived underground. Reciprocal to the setting in Beowulf, in the film the warriors followed the tracks of the bearlike humans to a cave where they journeyed underneath the ground in snakelike tunnels until they reached the nadir, or lowest point. Also, the narrator in The 13th Warrior had an uneasy feeling when the Wendals were about to attack the village of King Hrothgar. Ahmed spoke to himself right before the battle between the Wendals and said, Merciful Father, I have squandered my days with plans of many things. This was not among them. But at this moment, I beg only to live the next few minutes well. For all we ought to have thought, and have not thought; all we ought to have said, and have not said; all we ought to have done, and have not done; I pray thee, God, for forgiveness. Much to Ahmeds chagrin, he had never fought for honor and bravery before; furthermore, he did not believe that slaughtering was correct. In the other hand, Beowulf and his burly warriors feared nothing. A difference in characters between the epic poem and the film is that in the film there are only thirteen warriors; however, in Beowulf, he chooses 14 brave men. One can encounter foreshadowing in Beowulf when he was infected by toxic venom of the dragon. The narrator in the poem spoke fearfully knowing that Beowulf was about to die and said Beowulf spoke, in spite of the swollen, livid wound, knowing hed unwound his string of days on earth (line 736-738). The narrator foreshadowed this quote before Beowulf died because he sought to make the reader to understand that an epic hero always dies. Correspondingly, the film also illustrates a visual image what is going to happen afterward when Buliwyf fights his

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last battle wounded; additionally, he fights with fate against him and kills the leader of the Wendals but minutes after the battle he dies. In addition, at the beginning of the film, one can see the syncretism in both pagan and Christian beliefs. In that event, one of the men was translating to Ahmed what the village men were saying. He quoted, Lo, there do I see my father. Lo, there do I see my mother, my sisters, and my brothers. Lo, there do I see the line of my people, back to the beginning. Lo, they do call me. They bid me take my place among them in the Halls of Valhalla, where the brave may live forever. At the old kings funeral in the film, a young lady was chosen to go along with the king so he can be occupied; given that, she was willing to sacrifice herself. One of the men said to Ahmed that he would not see that no more because that is the old way. Also in the epic poem, the narrator blended the belief of the Anglo- Saxon people to the new religion that was taking over. Not to mention, in the introducing of Beowulf, the narrator mentions some epic traits that characterizes Beowulf. In lines 109-111 he states, Beowulf, Higlacs followers and the stronger than anyone in the world... When Beowulf arrived in Denmark with his fourteen burly men, he was stating some of the some striking deeds involving monsters and sea creatures that he has done with no weapon only using his bare hands. Similarly, Buliwyf was described as a strong man and fights for honor. Finally, one can come across parallels and dissimilarities between the Anglo Saxon epic poem Beowulf and the film The 13th Warrior. For example, one can juxtapose both of them and view some changes in characters like when John McTieran any put thirteen warrior instead of fourteen like in Beowulf; in contrast, the setting was almost the alike in the way that both narrators emphasized deep caves were they trying to find the mother to kill it. One can encounter an individual equality in the tone of The 13th warrior; moreover, Ahmed was afraid that he will

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not survive the battle between the bearlike human and asked his god for forgiveness. In spite of that, Beowulfs warriors feared nothing and fought with fate. When Beowulf was infected by the toxic venom of the dragon, the narrator foreshadowed that he was going to die and that he was doing to be buried as a king. Similar to the film when Buliwyf is scratched by a sharp bone that was covered with snake venom, King Hrothgar told Buliwyf that he was going to be buried as a king. In both the epic poem and the film, they are parallel to each other in the topics of syncretism and epic traits.

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Works Cited Beowulf. Trans. Burton Raffel. McDougal Little Literature:British Literature. Ed. Janet Allen et al. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2008. 38-66. Print. The 13th Warrior. Dir. John McTieran. Perf. Antonio Banderas. Touchstone, 1999. VHS.