Beowulf

Beowulf

By Gareth Hinds

 

Bibliography:

Hinds, Gareth. Beowulf. Somerville, Massachusetts: Candlewick Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780763630225

Summary and Critical Analysis:

In Gareth Hind’s gorgeous graphic novel adaptation of Beowulf, the author allows the stunning drawings to tell the majority of the story.  The included text, based on A. J. Church’s 1904 translation, which is my favorite, is beautiful and poetic, and serves more to lay the background of the story and to delve into the deeper philosophical aspects of the story.

I struggled a bit with how to review this book.  Should it be reviewed as poetry, since it is based on an epic poem?  Should it be reviewed as fantasy or as a traditional tale in the oral tradition because it is both?  But in the end, I came to believe that the best way to review this book was as all of these genres, and of none of them.  Gareth Hind’s has created a new thing here.  It isn’t the epic poem, many editions which I have read, it has elements of the fantastic, though some interpretations of the poem contend that Beowulf and his mother were less monsters than representative of deformed humans, and it originates in the oral tradition.  However, the author has taken all of these aspects and melded them into something quite different and beautiful.

To be sure, this is not a compete retelling of the story, but is a terrific adaptation of some of the more exciting and interesting aspects of the poem.  Told in two parts, the first part with Beowulf as young man who comes the Denmark to slay Grendel and subsequently his mother, and the second part, many years later, after he has become a King rather than a warrior, and he sacrifices his own life to slay the dragon that is threatening his people and his kingdom.

The first section, illustrated in deep rich browns, blacks, blues, greens and purples tells the story of Beowulf’s coming to Denmark and his heroic struggle to slay Grendel.

“Therefore I shall carry neither sword nor coat of mail to this battle.  With the grip of my hands only will I confront this enemy, struggling with him, life for life.  But who shall live and who shall die, let it be as God shall will.”

Beowulf’s words here seem to be somewhat arrogant and boastful, but are then backed up by his actions and the tale of his 5 day swim and battle with sea creatures.  And true to his word, Beowulf does battle and mortally wound Grendel with his bare hands.  This first section of the book is an excellent example of the heroic tradition in ancient literature, where a man is either who he is because of this lineage, or because he has done great deeds that will long be remembered.  Although the tale of Beowulf’s lineage is not told in this adaptation, he is who he is because of his noble lineage and his heroic deeds. 

The battles between Beowulf and Grendel and subsequently his mother are rendered in spectacular fashion in Gareth Hinds’ illustrations.  His visually stunning, graphic, and sometimes horrendous drawings will stick with the reader long after reading the book and tell the story of the battles in a way that the poem cannot.  I simultaneously wanted to turn the pages as fast as I could to follow the action and to linger on each page to enjoy and study every frame in all of its glorious action and detail.

When Grendel and his mother have both been dispatched, and Beowulf prepares to return to his home, King Hrothgar beseeches him to heed his advice:

“Now, indeed, thou art in the pride of thy strength and the power of thy youth; but there will come of a surety sooner or later, either in sickness of the sword, fire shall consume thee or the floods swallow thee up.  Be it bite of blade or brandished spear, or odious age, or the eyes’ clear beam grown dull and leaden”

“Come in what shape it may, death will subdue even thee, thou hero of war.”

This advice from an old King to a young warrior is prophetic and figures heavily in the second section of the book.  Having combined Book 1 and Book 2 into one section above, Book 3 marks a dramatic shift in both the tone and the look of the book.  Now, Beowulf is old, and he is king.  A thief has disturbed the nest of a dragon that now threatens Beowulf’s people and kingdom.  Like the warrior he was as a young man, he sets out to kill the dragon himself, knowing this time that he will almost surely not survive the battle.

This section drawn in shades of grey, slate, black and white is much starker than the first section of the book as if befitting the tone of the tale.  However, this time he doesn’t have to fight alone.  Having earned the devotion and love of his soldiers through being a good and decent king, they follow him into the battle despite his protestations.  But their actions are not enough to save Beowulf, who, even though he slays the dragon is bitten and mortally wounded.  Stark as they are, the battle scenes in this section are no less exhilarating. 

When Beowulf lay dying, he asks that the treasure they have won from the dragon be brought out so that he can see them.

“With better contentment shall I depart, knowing how great are the riches I have won.”

Here, Beowulf knows that even though he has saved his people from the dragon that his death may well lead to their annihilation at the hands of enemies long stayed by the legend and power of Beowulf.  He asks his people to build a great barrow to mark his greatness.  They honor him in this way, burying inside the barrow the treasure won from the dragon.

“And in its vault they heaped the hoard – glittering spoils they had taken from the worms lair – trusting it to the ground, gold in the earth useless to men of yore as it was”

The final illustration, of the barrow brought down by time and the elements, is a testament to the vastness of time and the shortness of life in relation to that vastness, that even the barrow built to honor the greatest of heroes or warriors will one day crumble and fall.

Gareth Hinds had created a beautiful book, assembling the essence of the poem, and highlighting that essence with illustrations that both shock and move the reader.  His Beowulf is a work of art in the best tradition of heroic tales.

Review Excerpts:

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–This epic tale is exceptionally well suited to the episodic telling necessary for a successful graphic novel, as the warrior-hero fights Grendel, Grendel's mother, and, ultimately, the dragon that claims his life, and (in true comic-book fashion) each challenge is significantly more difficult and violent than the one before. Although greatly abridged and edited, the text maintains a consistent rhythm and overall feel appropriate for the poetic nature of the story. Dialogue and narration are presented in identical text boxes, but astute readers will be able to decipher from the images which character is speaking. Each specific event is complemented by illustrations that effectively convey the atmosphere–historical details are paired with sketchy, ethereal drawings, the violent battle scenes are darkly tinted with red, and the end of Beowulf's life is indicated by gray, colorless imagery. Hinds’ version will make this epic story available to a whole new group of readers. This book is likely to be especially popular when the Beowulf movie, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is released in November 2007.–Heather M. Campbell, Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

 

From Booklist

Candlewick's first foray into the graphic novel format proves an odd blend of ancient history and modern action. It's an epic poem seen as a video game. Beowulf, written circa 800 CE, is the story of a warrior-hero charged with dispatching the marauding monster Grendel and its terrible mother. An action epic in any form, this abridged translation is no exception, and it retains the original's dominant themes, including what warriors, and fathers, leave behind for future generations. The original's poetry has become prose narration, loaded with portent and melancholy even amid images of bloody (very bloody) battles between sword and claw. Hind's watercolor art is thick with atmosphere and grand in its conception of vast halls and shadowed caves, but the line work is somewhat amateurish. The book makes a gorgeous whole, though; the long, wordless battles reproduced on glossy, high-quality paper are particularly noteworthy. It all feels a bit like dressing a Lethal Weapon movie up like a Shakespearean drama, but this offering will have high appeal for many, particularly fans of video games and action movies. Jesse Karp
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved.

 

Connections:

Have students choose their own literary story and adapt it into a short graphic novel.  Discuss how illustrations can create the same poetic imagery as words and how authors choose to adapt literature of this time.

Discuss the Heroic tradition and the ways in which it does or does not apply to our literature and our world today.

Choose a short section of the Church translation that is recreated in the book.  Have students read the selection and compare it to the graphic novel.

Have older students read The A.J Church translation or a translation of your choice in its entirety and discuss.