Beowulf

This adaptation has kept alive the monsters and dragons that inhabited the original poem. However, it is told from the point of view of a Scop (Shope), a teller of tales, who had traveled and fought with Beowulf. The Scop is now a prisoner of the Saxons and while a prisoner tells this tale of courage to a priest who eventually agrees to preserve it by writing it down. The tale the Scop tells is substantially the same as the poem we know, however, the Christian ethic is removed and the tale is presented, as the playwright believes it originally was, with the gods of the Norsemen in their proper places. Odin, Loki, and Thor are in a struggle for Beowulf's life. In a sort of Job-like wager Loki, the trickster, bets Thor, the thunder god, that Beowulf can be made into a coward. In order to do this he plays on Beowulf's fears, especially the fear of death. Thor and Beowulf emerge victorious in the end. It causes the viewer to reflect on the nature of bravery and how to overcome your fears. This tale is action packed and full of adventure and would be a challenge to any group. High schools and colleges would find the subject matter particularly appealing.