Beowulf Vs The 13th Warrior

For the start of my blog I am going to look at the similarities and differences between Beowulf and The13^th Warrior. Beowulf, as many know, was the framework for the plot of The 13^th Warrior.  The 13^th warrior and Beowulf have a lot of differences but even more similarities in my opinion in common. Beowulf was composed by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet and is dated between the 8^th and the early 11^th century. The 13^th warrior was based on the book by Michael Crichton “Eaters of the Dead”and was filmed in the year 1999.

Instead of doing a direct translation of Beowulf, Michael Crichton uses his imagination to come up with or to fabricate a new story.

The 13^th warrior starts off in Arabia. The story of Beowulf is based in Scandinavia.

Similarities between The13^th Warrior and Beowulf are there to be clearly seen. For example when Ahmed and his men were attacked by the cannibalistic warriors in the large hut, and they fought with all their might trying to defeat the leader of the Wendols.  In Beowulf when the hero and warrior of the story Beowulf fights and defeats Grendel in the mead-hall, we can see the similarities as both warriors were attacked in their own place.

On the other hand, religion and nationalities in the two stories is very different. Beowulf is Anglo-Saxon and Ahmed is Arabic. Beowulf as mentioned is Anglo-Saxon and Buliwyf is Swedish.

Another difference between the two is the narration. Beowulf is told in the third person whilst The13^th warrior is told in the first person, through Ahmed Ibn Fadlan, played by Antonio Banderas.

Both leaders in Beowulf and The 13^th Warrior have similar names. Beowulf as we know is Beowulf and in The 13^th Warrior the leaders name is Buliwyf, showing us more evidence that The 13^th Warrior was based on Beowulf.

A difference between Beowulf and The 13^th warrior is that when at battle, Beowulf at first brings fourteen men with him to fight but ends up fighting alone. Beowulf also contains super human powers.  In The 13^th Warrior, Buliwyf goes to battle with several men. Buliwyf does not have superhuman powers so we can see why he needs more help.

Beowulf slays the the mother of Grendel. Buliwyf slays the mother of the Wendol.

Keeping on the theme of differences, the death of both heroes is not similar. Beowulf dies after getting a slash in the throat by the dragon. Beowulf ends up dieing as an old man. Quite differently to Beowulf Buliwyf gets poisoned. Both of the heroes do die as kings.

In Beowulf, Beowulf wanted to be famous for his fighting. Buliwyf and his men just wanted to help out.

Im my personal opinion, I think that Crichtons novel accomplishes a great deal. First of all it succeeds in being very similar to Beowulf and showing that it was based on Beowulf, but at the same time he is able to create this totally different story using similar plot ideas.

Aimee Morrison Article

In reply to the Aimee Morrison article I that it is a bit all over the place but  in my own personal opinion she does make some interesting points. These days the internet is used for everything even money can be made by working online, videos posted up, degrees online. In reference to the Aimee Morrisson article i feel the point that she finally gets across, amidst all her blabbing, is that blogging can be a very helpful way and more interesting way of learning. i feel blogging is very helpful because we can interact online and discuss topics like this for example and i find a greater learning off hearing views of fellow colleagues than hearing one critics review as in my own personal experience have always found it easier when a friend explains a certain topic to me rather than a teacher at times.

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Medieval Heroes

I am thinking about doing my project on Beowulf and how he is depicted as a hero. We have only just started class so the 13th warrior is also coming into play as well now too. further updates soon.