I had been familiar with Beowulf as a teenager. I was forced to read it as part of our instruction in the classics in tenth grade. I hated the story, with a passion. It was a difficult to read translation, written in old English. We were forced to parse it, dice it, and slice it in every way imagineable, as well as to compare it to another great epic we had read- The Odyssey, by Homer. I ranked Beowulf right down at the bottom of my list of things to read EVER again in my life, along with The Brothers Karamazov. Imagine the revulsion in my mind when I saw this book on the list of titles we were to read for class. "OMG, it's going to be 10th grade english all over again...." BUT- we had been assigned the Graphic Novel version of Beowulf. Hmmm...I was excited. I love Graphic Novels, and the thought of reading Beowulf in this format intrigued me enough to get me past the mental shudder that usually accompanies that name.
What did I love about the book? The vivid pictures bring the story to life. Where I found the language confusing when I was a teenager, I found the pictures provided the "context clues" that I needed to fill in the blanks. "The author and editors had prepared a new translation, based upon the translation by A.J. Church." (from the foreword.) This change, to me, made the poem much easier to follow and appreciate. I have read the book several times through now. The pictures drew me in to the story, and I found myself drawing my own parallels- if anything, I was reminded of the stories that Tolkien wrote in the Lord of the Rings as the history of the land, the elves, and the first wars against Mordor. (I have been interested enough to pull out my Tolkien and compare the styles.) I truly wish that Beowulf had existed in graphic novel format 20 odd years ago when I was a teenager. It wouldn't have been on my hate list for so long!
I think this story is a classic because it embodies timeless elements. The struggle against an ancient, evil foe. The cause of right vs. wrong. A brave, strong hero who saves his people and fearlessly leads them.
An interesting note here- reading it as an adult who has experience in Storytelling to large groups of people, I noticed the rhythm of the story itself. That is the rythm, the circular telling pattern that would make the story easier to memorize and tell orally. The fact that the poem itself would be easy to memorize would make it an easy one to be told over and over again- and enable the story to survive the oral tradition until it could be written down.
The elements that speak to teenagers today- (in my opinion)- the battle between right and wrong. The super hero figure who comes and helps to solve the problems. (oh- and according to the 12 year old girls who were at my house doing homework last night- Beowulf looks "HOT" in the drawings) I believe that the most endearing element to teenagers today is that this book is drawn from History. The characters were able to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and thrive. Sometimes, in today's world, I think the teens need to see that others have survived terrible odds.
Authors Website:
http://www.garethhinds.com/
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