ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the part from Grendel's perspective as he approaches Heorot, and breaking the cardinal rule of filmmaking, a narrator describes his fight with Beowulf. The oft-repeated refrains in the film are "All we have are our own stories" and "a man's story is all that he has." It's not Beowulf who is seeking to establish a reputation or construct his identity, but instead the sons of Hygelac. The Northern scop regales the young man's African tribe with a tale about "monsters who dwell in our own bonehouse," a story that begins with Hrothgar intentionally building Heorot over Grendel's cave, burying him alive, and ends with Beowulf's burial at sea. The complicated and unusual frame story-it is revealed that Beowulf's father, a fisherman who preferred adventure and sailed to Scandinavia by means of a primitive compass-is used to explain Beowulf's appearance since the actor portraying the authors's hero is Jayshan Jackson, an African American.
