Some background: Beowulf the epic poem is an 1,000 year old text, and is one of the oldest surviving texts in English. Old English, the language of the text is a different language than modern English (imagine if English didn’t have any latin based words and had grammar more similar to modern german except with even more complicated case endings). It’s set in a pre-Christian Anglo-Saxon kingdom, although at the time it was written, the unknown author would have been a Christian and writing about peole who existed hundreds of years before she/he lived.Recently, I read an article about The 13th Warrior on The Mary Sue. HereThe gist of it is that The 13th warrior is based on the Michael Chriton novel Eaters of The Dead. To quote the article “The 1976 book was based on two sources, one being Beowulf, and the other being the very real story of Ahmad Ibn Fahdlan, an Arab explorer whose journey to Viking lands in the 10th century is one of the best primary sources about Viking culture of the age.”There are many interesting things about the film although it was panned by critics, i.e. the Arab, overtly Muslim character, Ahmad (Antonio Banderas) being the “civilized” one while the European vikings are ones with strange customs. There’s also no female characters in overtly sexy outfits or scenes, and also female characters given important roles without feeling forced or shoe-horned, which is nice. I also agree with the author that the film is the best film adaptation of Beowulf, especially compared to the 2007 film.In the original poem Beowulf, a visiting warrior helps a king defeat a monster killing people in the night (Grendel). After Grendel’s mother (another monster?) kills people in revenge, Beowulf finds her secret underwater lair and kills her. He becomes king, rules for a long time, and then a greedy dragon attacks. Beowulf kills the dragon even though many of his men abandon him, but he dies shortly after, leaving no heirs.In 13th Warrior, the monsters are represented by an attacking rival kingdom or tribe of cannabals, but the the film includes the main beats of the poem and the battles, generally. Ahmad, the Arab is the main character, but Beowulf is the hero.The 2007 film sticks closer to the plot in that the monsters are actual monsters, there is no Arab added, and Beowulf is king for many years before he fights the dragon.The main difference from the poem is the Beowulf character.In the Poem, Beowulf is framed as humble, noble, effective, generous, respectful of women, not overly violent, etc. The monsters he kills are representative of anti-social behavior, blood vengeance, and greedy kings. Throughout the tale, other tales discussing morality, especially as it applies to leadership are woven in to the narrative. At the end of the poem, the narrator is mourning the loss of the great king/person who is Beowulf.The 2007 film seems to misread the cultural context of Beowulf’s boasting in the poem and makes him arrogant. It has him sleep with Grendel’s mother, and his son is the dragon, which ultimately kills him. In the film, Beowulf is still a hero, but he’s more similar to a tragically flawed hero you see more in Greek literature. The 2007 film warns you not to be like Beowulf, although the original poem (arguably) is mourning the loss of good men like Beowulf.In the 13th warrior, despite being poisoned and dying, Beowulf stands up and saves his people. Although his culture seems violent and strange, once Ahmad begins to understand the viking culture better, his respect for Beowulf only grows. In that way, he is a stand-in for a modern reader of the poem; some of Beowulf’s behavior in the poem can seem arrogant or strange when not understood in the context of the Anglo-saxon culture, but once the reader understands what’s behind his behavior, the point of the poem becomes clearerOf course the 13th warrior isn’t a great film or the best possible adaptation of Beowulf the poem, but the viewer does come away admiring Beowulf, not pitying him like in the 2007 film. The 1999 film also includes nods to the written language (the Vikings don’t write but Ahmad can write and he teaches Beowulf a simple sentence), and a nod to the cultural legacy of the poem itself by having Beowulf ask Ahmad to write his story. Even to the author of the original poem, Beowulf was already a legendary figure from the past and one of the themes of the poem seems to be passing on the legacy of good men.When talking about how to adapt written stories to films, I feel like people often discuss whether the film would be improved by sticking more closely to plot as its written or whether its appropriate to deviate. The 2007 Beowulf film shows that even if the filmmakers stick quite close to the plot, the adaptation can still fail when it fails to understand the goal or point of the source material. The 13th Warrior, while only a loose adaptation of the plot, actually embodies the spirit and message of the source more accurately. It also feels like the people behind the 1999 had a better grasp on the cultural legacy of Beowulf the poem.Edit: I apologize if I’ve gotten any details of the poem or the film wrong. I’m not a specialist and haven’t read/watched the poem and 2007 film in several years, but I’ve taken courses on Beowulf and Old English lit via /r/movies https://ift.tt/3hberyf
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