Heroes are the main focus of many stories, the stories revolve around them and the struggles that they face in order to save those around them. Although they are very similar Beowulf is written as an epic poem and Eaters of the Dead is written as a novel. The evil forces that they face are different Beowulf faces two forces that are very different from one another a dragon and a sea creature; Buliwyf faces a half animal half human creature that hides in a cave away from anywhere it can be found. On the other hand Beowulf and Eaters of the Dead although written in different time periods both are very similar. On both the rulers of a kingdom turn to someone in order to save them from monsters that are attacking their kingdom and the citizens of their country. Through both of these stories we see the heroes of the stories go through many struggles before actually achieving their main goal. Both of these stories show Beowulf and Buliwyf going on a quest; leaving their homeland and traveling far in order to save those in need. Both Beowulf and Buliwyf are also shown as Christ figures because they sacrifice themselves in order to save the citizens that are in danger because of the monsters that are haunting their homeland. The works show intertextuality which is the interaction between old works and new works that have been created and how they reference each other. Both of these works revolve around one thing and that is evil and how evil can break a kingdom, but also how evil can unite a nation in order to defeat the evil forces.
A difference between both of the stories are the evil forces. In Beowulf Beowulf has to deal with the evil Grendels and the thief of the cave. While the Grendels are trying to attack and get revenge on the people, the Grendels achieved that by killing the people and trying to gain the places that they were slowly gaining. Not only did Beowulf have to face one evil force but had to face two, he had to fight the dragon on his country and save his citizens. Once he had gone home he had to face the dragon that was terrorizing the people that he protected. The dragon had been awakened by a thief and Beowulf had to take care of the mes that someone else had started, he was able to defeat the dragon but not without getting a bad bite that would kill him. Although Beowulf was able to clean up after the messes that someone else had started he died after doing so. In Eaters of the Dead Buliwyf has to fight the evil of the Wendol who was a half human half animal creature that had been terrorizing a country that Buliwyf was not a part of but wanted to protect them. It was a long and tiring journey for Buliwyf, but by helping others he is able to prove himself and save those in danger. He died after battle, but not without having saved those in danger.
Both of these works show a hero traveling to faraway lands to defeat the monsters that terrorize the citizens of a kingdom. As stated by Foster who is a professor of English at the University of Michigan-Flint. “A quest consists of five things a) a questor, b)a place to go, c) a stated reason to go there, d) challenges and trials, e) a real reason to go there, the real reason is always self knowledge.” On Heaney’s Beowulf, shows Beowulf who travels to Denmark in order to help King Hrothgar and aid him in terminating the problem that the Grendel has started since the Grendel has been killing the citizens of Denmark. The Grendel was angered because King Hrothgar had been celebrating in a hall that he had created for his people, since the Grendel was angered it had decided to take revenge on the King and his people that he went at night and killed the King’s adviser. Beowulf fought the Grendel unarmed, proving himself stronger than the demon “Beowulf got ready, donned his war-gear, indifferent to death; his mighty, hand-forged, fine-webbed mail would soon meet with the menace underwater. It would keep the bone-cage of his body safe;” (Beowulf, 1442-1452) he rips off the arm of the Grendel and being wounded he sinks back in the water where he dies. Beowulf successfully is able to defeat the Grendel, but that is not the only thing he needs to do. A challenge arises and that is that by killing the Grendel he angered the Grendel’s mother; now Beowulf must defeat the Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother comes back looking to avenge the death of her son, Beowulf goes underwater with her to kill her as well. That is not it as Beowulf goes home he now has to defeat another monster that is now terrorizing the citizens of his country. A dragon has been terrorizing them all because of a thief that had tried to steal from him and Beowulf being the hero that he is decides to defeat the monster. Although he is able to defeat the dragon he gets bitten by it resulting in his death. The reason for Beowulf to risk his life and go on that quest was because he was promised to be king as soon as he came back from helping the Danish people and King Hrothgar. In Crichton’s Eaters of the Death has a similar storyline but this story is told from the point of view of Ibn Fadlan, a Muslim, who helped the Vikings on their journey to the North Country.Fadlan and the Viking were very different both in the way that they acted and what they believed in, but as time progresses the Vikings learn to appreciate him and how much he could helped them. Buliwyf is the hero of this story he sets out on a journey to defeat the Wendols, human-like traits but are not fully human, but the road isn’t always easy. In order to be able to defeat the wendols Buliwyf has to defeat the mother of the wendols who is hidden in a cave away from the others, although it took some time to find her Buliwyf is able to find her and fight her to free the people of the North Country. Buliwyf is able to defeat the leader of the wendols but not without receiving a fatal would that would soon be leading him to his death, dying after having defeated the wendols made Buliwyf seem like a divine figure to the people of the North country. Ibn Fadlan having fought with them knows how heroic Buliwyf had been and decides that he is worthy of Fadlan retelling the story of the journey. The reason for Buliwyf to travel to the North Country was that he wanted to help those vulnerable to the claws of the wendols, like the true hero that he is “Thus fear is only a preference, to be counted the same as the preference for one woman or another, or mutton for pig, or cabbage for onion”(Crichton 265).
On both works the heroes sacrifice themselves in order to protect the citizens of the country that they are protecting. By sacrificing themselves to save others shows both Beowulf and Buliwyf as a Christ Figure, a Christ figure is someone who martyfies oneself for others. Beowulf sacrificed himself to save the people of his country from the dragon, but he also sacrificed himself in a foreign land to save the people of Denmark, he sacrificed himself two times “Behaviour that’s admired is the path to power among people everywhere.” (Beowulf, 20-25) By sacrificing himself for other it made them look up to him in an adoring way because he saved them but died while doing so. The citizens are proud of their king Beowulf; they follow his wishes and have a huge funeral and bury him with a massive treasure. In Eaters of the Dead Buliwyf also sacrifices himself to save the people of the North Country, they look up to him as a divine figure because he too sacrificed himself to save them from the claws of the wendols. This is considered an honorable death for Buliwyf as he died in battle, thus earning a place alongside the gods and the heroes who met their deaths before him “Animals die, friends die, and I shall die, but one thing never dies, and that is the reputation we leave behind at our death.”(Crichton, 155). Both heroes on both works sacrifice themselves to save the people from countries that they were not from but simply because they wanted to save those that were in need. By becoming Christ figures they become even more important to the people of the country because they are the ones that are willing to sacrifice themselves in order to save other that they weren’t supposed to be protecting.
Eaters of the Dead shows intertextuality, as said by Foster “intertextuality is a dialogue between old and new texts that is always going one level or another.” The intertextuality mostly comes from Eaters of the Dead because it was written after Beowulf but they both have similar storylines. Both works share similar plots between each other they have the same goals in mind they must save the citizens that were being attacked by evil forces. Also the works show the heroes going through a long journey in order to achieve their goals that is the quest that they needed to do. They have the same common goal and that is to save others from evil and they are able to achieve that while at the same time looking like Christ figures not only to the citizens but to the readers. They both achieve the goal that had been proposed, but unfortunately they end in the same way. In each work of literature, a king turns to a hero from a far away land to help kill a monster that is a threat to his kingdom and his citizens. Both heroes go in a great battle and ultimately defeat their opponents,but there is one big catch, the heroes in the end suffer fatal wounds as a result of their heroic deeds therefore they end up dying but end up as a God-like figure to others around them.
