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Beowulf and Angelina Jolie

I discovered yesterday while sitting in the dentist chair and thumbing through People magazine (nothing else there, really!) that Angelina Jolie will be starring in a Robert Zemeckis animated adaptation of Beowulf. As my son and I are now reading the excellent Robert Nye version of the story, I am beginning to wonder if there is some cosmic connection between the books I read to my children and the cartoons Hollywood is producing. Probably not. But I hope they keep the Nye telling of the story in mind in producing this film. Consider this beautiful description of the character of Beowulf: "Beowulf had made the best of all he had, putting each imperfection to work in the service of his integrity. Thus, his real strength lay in the balance of his person--which is, perhaps, another way of saying that he was strong because he was good, and good because he had the strength to accept things in him that were bad."

Discussions - 6 Comments


At least someone in this will look good.

A soft and fuzzy Beowulf? Germanic hero-myths aren’t your typical Dr. Seuss fare. Did someone bastardize this work?

Nothing soft and fuzzy about Beowulf turning Grendel into a pile of blood and guts on the floor of Hall Heorot. A thing need not be soft and fuzzy just because it is deep and well written. Kids can handle more than Dr. Seuss--though I’ve nothing against him either.

That’s one of my most favorite quotes. Thanks for spreading the knowledge of it.

Where is that quote from? I'd like to cite it properly but everywhere I look, it is quoted but not cited.

It is from the Robert Nye edition of Beowulf (it's a re-telling of the story in Nye's words) . . . I think it's still available on Amazon.

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