So Beowulf is a movie again. This oft-told saga that, strangely, few have heard of, gets the digital treatment this time around. No, I haven't seen it yet but I'm anxious to. It seems whenever Beowulf gets filmed it disappears rather quickly.
This was one of those stories I learned at an early age, like the story of Chanticleer. Well, we had an unusual household. But I remember quite clearly the illustration of Grendel's mother pulling our hero into the depths of the water. I thought everyone knew this story. Guess not. In each retelling, it changes slightly. Which is entirely fair, since, like the Old Testament, it started out as oral stroytelling and was passed down and down until it was finally written down. So any incarnation is up for grabs, I suppose, though some of the earlier filmed versions left out the dragon. Why would you leave out a perfectly good dragon? Dragons are cool.
Anyway, the thing that excites me most about this is the action figures. How many opportunities are there to get Old English Action Figures? I mean, here are the "real life" basis for all those Lord-of-the-Rings-cum-fantasy-video-game guys. There may be hope for literature yet!



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