In the actions of Wiglaf, the Beowulf poet demonstrates the necessity for courageous men to go out and defend the public who may or may not even know what was put at stake for the individual in doing so. Rather than running as all of the other thanes had done, Wiglaf boldly stands beside Beowulf and rushes in to defend Beowulf when the dragon manages to get him between his jaws. To bear our shields back to our homes would seem unfitting to me unless first, we have been able to kill the foe and defend the life of the prince of the Weather-Geats” (2650-2656). In an attempt to encourage his other warriors to assist him in helping Beowulf, Wiglaf tells the other men, “I had far rather that the flame should enfold my flesh-frame there alongside my gold-giver – as God knows of me. However, in the book, Beowulf is assisted in killing the dragon by his second, the young kinsman Wiglaf, without whom he would have lost the fight leaving the dragon free to continue terrorizing the people. Beowulf is burned horribly by the dragon’s fire as he attempts to kill it and knows of the dragon’s certain death before he dies himself of the wounds received during the battle. Beowulf is driven off by flame, is failed by his sword, and must then attack using little more than a stabbing knife. Many of the key events of the actual battle between dragon and man remain the same as well. In each case, Beowulf goes to face the dragon with a group of men but arrives at the dragon’s lair with only a single helper, a young kinsman in the book, and an aging friend in the film. While this is an unidentified and otherwise meaningless cup accidentally removed by a peasant in the book, the return of a profoundly significant cup in the film helps to establish a connection between the earlier battles with Grendel and his mother and the upcoming battle with the dragon. In both the book and the film, Beowulf’s encounter with the dragon begins with the removal of a golden cup from his hoard. ![]() By comparing the film and the book, similarities between the two stories can be traced as well as differences which can then be analyzed as to how each strives to make this theme evident. Comparing this scene as it appears in the ancient poem with its portrayal in the recent film Beowulf released in 2007 reveals that while there are some significant changes made to the action as the literature is brought into a filmic context, this same theme of self-sacrifice for the greater good remains a central element. ![]() This theme is particularly brought out when Beowulf faces the dragon toward the end of the saga.
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