Connection Between Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings: A Comparative Exploration
Beowulf is an epic poem depicting the hero, Beowulf, battling monsters to aid King Hrothgar. The saga of bravery, valor, and epic confrontations in Beowulf mirrors themes found in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, showcasing the timeless allure of heroism and adventure across both works.
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Beowulf and The Lord of the Rings THE LINK BETWEEN THE EPIC POEM AND TOLKIEN'S FAMOUS FANTASY NOVEL.
Beowulf Introduction to Beowulf Beowulf is an epic poem of approximately 3000 lines that was written somewhere in the midlands of England and some time between the eighth and tenth centuries CE. In the poem, the young hero, Beowulf, goes to help the Danish king, Hrothgar. Hrothgar s problem is that each night a foul monster, Grendel, steals into Hrothgar s Great Hall, rips off the heads of several of the king s loyal kinsmen, and then eats them. Beowulf vows to rid Hrothgar of Grendel and so lies in wait for the monster. One night, Grendel appears. Beowulf wrestles with him, and defeats the monster by tearing Grendel s arm out of its shoulder socket. The next night, Grendel s mother arrives at the hall to revenge herself on Beowulf. Beowulf tracks her back to where she lives and kills her too.
Firstly, read this account of Beowulfs fight to the death with the monster Grendel to appreciate something of the character of the great hero.
Beowulf The captain of evil discovered himself In a handgrip harder than anything He had ever encountered in any man On the face of the earth. Every bone in his body Quailed and recoiled, but he could not escape. He was desperate to flee to his den and hide With the devil s litter, for in all his days He had never been clamped or cornered like this The two contenders crashed through the building. The hall clattered and hammered, but somehow Survived the onslaught and kept standing: .
Beowulf (continued) The story goes That as the pair struggled, mead-benches were smashed And sprung off the floor, gold fittings and all. Before then, no Shielding elder would believe There was any power or person upon earth Capable of wrecking their horn-rigged hall Unless the burning embrace of a fire Engulf it in flame. Then an extraordinary Wail arose, and bewildering fear Came over the Danes. Everyone felt it Who heard the cry as it echoed off the wall A God-cursed scream and strain of catastrophe, The howl of the loser, the lament of the hell-serf Keening his wound. He was overwhelmed, Manacled tight by the man who of all men Was foremost and strongest in the days of this life ..
Beowulf (continued) Then he who had harried the hearts of men With pain and affliction in former times And had given offence also to God Found that his bodily powers failed him. Hygelac s kinsman kept him helplessly Locked in a handgrip. As long as either lived, He was hateful to the other. The monster s whole Body was in pain, a tremendous wound Appeared on his shoulder. Sinews split And the bone-lappings burst. Beowulf was granted The glory of winning; Grendel was driven Under the fen-banks, fatally hurt, To his desolate lair.
Next read this extract from The Lord of the Rings which tells of the fight between the wizard hero Gandalf and the Balrog.
The Lord of the Rings. From The Fellowship of the Ring, Part 1 of The Lord of the Rings trilogy [The Balrog] came to the edge of the fire and the light faded as if a cloud had bent over it. Then with a rush it leapt across the fissure. The flames roared up to greet it, and wreathed about it; and a black smoke swirled in the air. Its steaming mane kindled, and blazed behind it. In its right hand was a blade like a stabbing tongue of fire; in its left it held a whip of many thongs The Balrog reached the bridge. Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed, cold and white. His enemy halted again, facing him, and the shadow reached out like two vast wings. It raised the whip, and the thongs whined and cracked. Fire came from its nostrils. But Gandalf stood firm. You cannot pass , he said The Balrog made no answer. The fire in it seemed to die, but the darkness grew. It stepped forward slowly on to the bridge, and suddenly it drew itself up to a great height, and its wings were spread from wall to wall You cannot pass! [Gandalf] said. With a bound the Balrog leaped full upon the bridge. Its whip whirled and hissed.
The Lord of the Rings continued: At that moment, Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud, he smote the bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog s feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood cracked into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock thrust out into emptiness. With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the thongs lashed and curled around the wizard s knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. Fly, you fools! he cried, and was gone.
And finally read this extract from Beowulf which tells the story of the hero s fatal fight with the dragon. Notice how closely the events and style of both extracts match each other.
BEOWULF Hard by the rock-face that hale veteran, Saw a stone arch and a gushing stream that burst from the barrow, blazing and wafting a deadly heat. It would be hard to survive unscathed near the hoard, to hold firm against the dragon in those flaming depths Pouring forth in a hot battle-fume, the breath of the monster burst from the rock the outlandish thing writhed and convulsed and viciously turned on the king, whose keen-edged sword, was already in his hand The serpent looped and unleashed itself. Swaddled in flames, it came gliding and flexing and racing towards its fate
BEOWULF continued: [Beowulf] threw his whole strength behind a sword-stroke and connected with his skull. And Naegling snapped. Beowulf s ancient iron-grey sword let him down in the fight . Then the bane of that people, the fire-breathing dragon, was mad to attack for a third time. When a chance came, he caught the hero in a rush of flame and clamped sharp fangs into his neck. Beowulf s body ran wet with his life-blood: it came welling out.
