Beowulf & Grendel

Beowulf & Grendel

Beowulf & Grendel is a 2005 film loosely based on the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf. Filmed in Iceland and directed by Sturla Gunnarsson, it stars Gerard Butler as Beowulf, Stellan Skarsgård as Hrothgar, Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson as Grendel and Sarah Polley as the witch Selma. The film is a cooperative effort between Eurasia Motion Pictures (Canada) Spice Factory (UK), and Bjolfskvida (Iceland). The screenplay was written by Andrew Rai Berzins. The soundtrack was composed by Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson. The story takes place in the early half of the sixth century AD in what is now Denmark, but the filming of the movie in Iceland provided many panoramic views of that country's landscape.

While some of the film remains true to the original poem, other plot elements deviate from the original poem: three new characters, Grendel's father, the witch Selma, and Grendel's son are introduced, and several related plot points were developed specifically for the film.

In 2006, a documentary of the making of Beowulf and Grendel, called Wrath of Gods, was released and went on to win six film awards in Europe and the U.S.