The Art of Beowulf

The legend of Beowulf - and his battles with Grendel, the monster's mother, and, of course, the dragon - have inspired artists down through the ages.

Here are just some of the more recent takes on the Scandinavian superman and his enemies...

And what sort of art will BEOWULF BEASTSLAYER inspire? You'll just have to wait and see...

Beowulf Pulled My Arm Off

Kari Maaren has a new album of geeky songs available. It’s called Beowulf Pulled My Arm Off and it’s described like this:

This album collects 14 of the geeky ukulele songs Kari Maaren wrote and performed in 2011 and 2012 at Toronto’s Chiaroscuro Reading Series. The songs tend to be about monsters, heroes, and other highly fictional properties. No mythical beasts were harmed in the making of this album.


You can listen to the album by following this link, and should definitely check out the titular track Beowulf Pulled My Arm Off!

Grendel

How do you visualise the iconic monster Grendel?

Like this?

Or this?

Or this?

Or do you see him in some other way? I'd love to know how you imagine him to be, and any budding artists out there, feel free to send me your interpretations of the malevolent monster.

Beowulf as re-imagined by dreamweaver Neil Gaiman

There have been a number of different versions of the Anglo-Saxon epic committed to film over the years - including Beowulf & Grendel (2005) and Outlander (2008) - but one of the best is the Robert Zemeckis-helmed 2007 version, written by award-winning comic-book writer Neil Gaiman and Pulp Fiction co-writer Roger Avary.

Beowulf adds a bold new dimension to the story of the hero's battle against the monstrous Grendel, in its interpretation of the monster's 'hag-like' mother, and very effective it is too. And then there's the fact that it was all created inside a computer. (Ray Winstone has never looked so buff!)

Zemeckis creates a dark fantasy full of haunting images, and the film's on TV tonight, on ITV1, at 11.00pm.

Julian Glover reads from Beowulf