BEOWULF: The Review is Here at Last!

SARAH'S REVIEW OF BEOWULF THE BELOVED:

When it was related to me by my dear mother that we would be reading the epic narrative poem "Beowulf," my initial thought was: "Oh goody! A werewolf story!" Please do not mock me for my ignorance, for I am now fully aware that there are no wolves at all in the tale. In fact, let it be known that Beowulf is not half-wolf, nor was he raised by wolves, nor did he meet with any wolves during his adventures. Still, his name sparks confusion.

I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's exciting and suspenseful!

The story is about- guess who?! Beowulf!! And it begins when he travels to a nearby kingdom to rid them of a terrible monster, Grendel, who wreaks havoc upon their mead hall (FYI: mead hall=bar) and kills a lot of thanes (FYI: thane=BFF of the king). King Hrothgar is the ruler of these people.

Grendel is a great monster: terrifying and grotesque! He munches on the organs of the beer-drinkers.

But Beowulf is a beast. And he knows it. He pretty much thinks he's Jesus (a.k.a. bit of an ego). He says he will slay the beast and guess what? He does! Actually, he only succeeds in getting the arm of Grendel, but no one seems to care and they have a big party and give Beowulf lots of gold.

But then...guess who comes back for revenge?! Grendel's MOM! That's right. Grendel's mom is ticked off that some random guy ripped off her kid's arm and so she goes back to show them who's boss.

She kills King Hrothgar's BFF, like his ultimate BFF. So Hrothgar is heart-broken but Beowulf says, "No worries. I'll go kill Grendel's ma."

Beowulf travels to the lair of Grendel's mother and has a showdown, which, of course, ends in his favor (he kills her).

So Beowulf receives more cash and such from Hrothgar.

Time goes on and Beowulf fights a dragon.

Oh horror! I have given the whole story away.

Anyways, I loved this book! Yes, loved it. The translation I read was wonderful.

Oh, and just in case you were planning on watching a movie about Beowulf, DON'T. Just say NO. Mom and I watched like 7 and they all sucked. (More on that later...)