The name used to mean little to those who weren't studying Anglo- Saxon literature. But now Beowulf is big box-office. As a new film about the macho monster-slayer opens, Paul Vallely looks for the truth behind the legend Saxon violence in the cinema...

'Beowulf! How's your father?' shouts Anthony Hopkins as Ray Winstone steps out of the boat which has brought the Geats' tribal leader from Sweden to Denmark. As a way of grabbing attention it probably works better than 'Hwaet!' -- the narrator's initial injunction to...

The tagline for Disney's upcoming "Enchanted" could well be the motto for the latest push in animation: "The real world and the animated world collide."Not simply colliding in the slapstick tradition of 1988's pioneering "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?," but in the more fundamental sense of...

The name "Beowulf" alone surely will inspire painful memories of high-school English class and pangs of dread.Never fear. This 3-D animated "Beowulf" is more like "300," only with more violence, if that's possible. And nudity — lots and lots of nudity.Director Robert Zemeckis, using the...

Provides a character analysis of the epic hero Beowulf. Describes how the character defined literary heroism. Details the traits of an epic hero.

When Beowulf slays the monster Grendal in the classic tale "Beowulf," he was considered a great hero. Slaying the monster required courage, bravery, intelligence, perseverance, and mental and physical strength. Certain passages in the story support the opinion that Beowulf has all these qualities.