Reading Notes: British and Celtic Stories, Part B

Beowulf

This time I chose both Grendel Attacks

Firstly, this is the first time Grendel is really really seen in all his monstrous glory.  My favorite part of the beginning is how the fog closes back up behind him, making "a sucking sound."  The imagery there is fantastic and I really want to use it in my own retelling if possible.  When Grendel arrives at Herot he casts a spell that makes those already asleep sleep deeper.  Which is a nice sentiment if he hadn't then eaten a bunch of people.

Beowulf finally sees Grendel, which will have a different tone in my version, but here is what the original describes: "And now, at last, Beowulf saw what manner of thing this Grendel was. His legs were like the trunks of trees, and they were covered with a kind of gray dry scale that made a noise like paper as the fiend moved this way and that. The body of the beast was shaped like that of a man, but such a man as no mortal eyes had ever before beheld, and the size and shape of it were something to be marveled at.

The head was the head neither of beast or man, yet had something of the features of both, and the great jaw was filled with blunt fangs that ground the bones of the unhappy Hondscio to pulp. Shaggy, matted hair hung over the low forehead, and the eyes in the face of Grendel were the color of milk."

Beowulf is "horror-struck" however I plan to make him "awe-struck" by the terrible beauty in the villain.

The main bit from the Battle With Grendel I really wanted to include in this post was just the description of Beowulf at the end, after he has had the arm hung up on the wall like a prize. "wrapped close in his scarlet mantle, his yellow hair about his head like a golden cloud, and his sea-blue eyes flashing with the pride of a conqueror."

I think this will be a really fun rewrite, turning it romantic instead of a glorious fight.  It will probably be a little cheesy, but definitely an interesting story.

Beowulf and Grendel from a Liveblog

I feel like this will be a great image to display how "their eyes met in battle and suddenly, the fight no longer seemed worth the bloodshed."

Source: The Story of Beowulf by Strafford Riggs with illustrations by Henry Pitz (1933).