Long before J.R.R. Tolkien published The Lord of the Rings in the 1950s and The Hobbit in the 1930s, the author had an academic career that heavily influenced the writing of his epic fantasy. As a student and then professor of literature, Tolkien would have been exposed to Anglo-Saxon poems like Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. While it falls in and out of popular culture, Beowulf is fairly well-known in academic circles as a seminal work of the genre of epic poetry. Attempts have been made to adapt the hero Beowulf’s story for the screen to varying degrees of success. But it could be argued that none has done it true justice.

Tolkien himself struggled with the ancient text. Long before his writing of The Lord of the Rings, he attempted a translation of Beowulf from the Old English in which it was originally written. And though this particular work of his would not see the light of day until after his death, it’s still arguably one of the most influential texts for Tolkien when he was creating Middle-earth.

J.R.R Tolkien Was Working On a Translation of Beowulf Before He Wrote The Lord of the Rings

Tolkien became a professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford University in 1926. There, he was known as a foremost authority on the Old English poem Beowulf. Old English is fairly Germanic in appearance. Modern English speakers would likely not recognize it as the same language. As a poem, Beowulf is known for using the convention of alliteration throughout its verse — the repetition of consonant sounds. Meaning an attempt to maintain this convention while adapting it to Modern English would be especially difficult.

While works such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight are written in the more understandable Middle English — Beowulf would have presented more of a challenge for Tolkien. Tolkien had a love for the poem at an early age. In the private literary club he founded with his schoolmates, he began meetings with a declaration in Old English: “Hwæt!” (“Lo!”). This he would continue on into his years as a professor, although some of his students mistook Tolkien’s words as compelling them to “quiet” down. Despite Tolkien being the rare person who could actually speak Old English fluently, he never finished his effort at translating Beowulf. He completed his translation at the age of 34 in 1926 and proceeded to shelve the project for the remainder of his life.

Tolkien placed the time of Beowulf’s writing around the eighth century, though scholars do not know when it was actually written. And the original poem’s author is unknown. The truncated version of Beowulf tells the tale of a Geatish tribal prince, Beowulf, who faces off against the monster Grendel. The creature has been attacking the Danes, and Beowulf offers his assistance to their king, Hrothgar. Scholars have noted that many of Tolkien’s monsters and nameless things in The Lord of the Rings may have been influenced by Grendel. Especially since descriptions of Grendel are vague except that “He is apparently about four times the size of a man. He has claws; he does not speak. But he also has human qualities.”

In 1936, a year prior to the publication of the first edition of The Hobbit, Tolkien gave a renowned lecture on Beowulf. Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics was subsequently published as a paper in Proceedings of the British Academy and has been reprinted in countless collections since. But it’s not just Tolkien’s monsters — specifically his wordless trolls or fearsome dragons — that scholars credit to Beowulf’s influence. Readers have noted linguistic parallels such as the use of the words “orþanc” and “searo” in Beowulf, which, when linked, suggest Tolkien’s creation of the character of Saruman and his dwelling, Orthanc. Races of Middle-earth such as Tolkien’s Orcs and Elves have also been tied directly back to Beowulf from passages describing “eotenas ond ylfe ond orcnéas.” The culture of Rohan is especially inspired by Anglo-Saxon traditions, as depicted in Beowulf.

Beowulf Has Had Multiple Screen Adaptations

Tolkien’s own translation of Beowulf would not be published until long after his passing. In 2014, Christopher Tolkien — his third son and literary executor — edited a large volume of his father’s writings, which contained his translation of Beowulf. Though Tolkien’s translation was not in verse, as is the original text, it was received well by critics like Max Alexander of The Guardian. Alexander wrote at the time of its publication, “This “new” Tolkien translation, originally composed in 1926, is in a prose that sticks as closely as possible to the meaning and clause-order of the original. It has great accuracy and a sense of rhythm.” Others said at the time that it’s not quite fair to compare Tolkien’s adaptation to poet Seamus Heaney’s 2000 version — Heaney did translate the poem in full verse. In total, Tolkien spent about six years of his life working on his translation of Beowulf.

Unlike many fairy tales and folk tales which have been told and retold cinematically time and time again, Beowulf has not been attempted a great deal. An almost comical action version Beowulf was released in 1999 and has been all but forgotten by movie-going audiences. And for good reason. One critic described it as “a shambles for the ages.” A more earnest but almost equally unsuccessful adaptation was released in 2005, starring Gerard Butler in the title role. This version was more loosely based on the poem and tends to deviate from the source material. It did not fare well at the box office and was described by some critics as “a rendition that’s about half as good and half as harsh as it needed to be.”

Film Adaptations of Beowulf

Grendel Grendel Grendel (1980) • Animated

Beowulf (1999) • Live-action

Beowulf & Grendel (2005) • Live-action

Beowulf (2007) • Animated

It’s not surprising that filmmakers have had difficulty in adapting Beowulf if even a master such as Tolkien found the text challenging. Tolkien struggled to find words which could be readily translated into modern contexts. Possibly contributing to why he made the choice to translate into prose instead of verse. To date, the most successful adaptation of Beowulf for the screen is the motion-capture version released by Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures in 2007. Still, audiences didn’t seem quite as taken with it as critics. It currently holds a 71% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 50% audience score. A TV series, Beowulf: Return to the Shieldlands, also premiered in 2016 but was canceled after its first season.

J.R.R. Tolkien Published a Definitive Edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Beowulf was one of many sources of inspiration for Tolkien in his literary endeavors. Tolkien worked on an authoritative edition of the 14th-century chivalric romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as well. Also written by an unknown author, the story involves the fabled King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. The story surrounds Sir Gawain, not yet a knight to King Arthur, who accepts the challenge of a mysterious Green Knight to exchange blows with him a year after their first meeting. Sir Gawain goes through a series of trials during this time which put his honor and loyalty to the test.

The most recent adaptation of Sir Gawain was produced in 2021 by A24. The movie captures the enigmatic nature of the source material. It starred Dev Patel as Sir Gawain and Ralph Ineson as the Green Knight. Similar to Beowulf’s highest-performing adaptation, The Green Knight was largely praised by critics and left audiences with more questions than answers. One recent audience review reads, “Be sure you’re tripping on something before watching this weird nonsense.” While Vulture said: “at the film’s heart is a lesson that’s as timeless as any legend — travel as far as you like, but you’ll never be able to leave yourself behind.”

In a way, Tolkien took many of the myths and legends he so loved and distilled them into a more modern form for contemporary audiences. After which director Peter Jackson then took it a step further and made Tolkien and, subsequently, these themes and ancient stories, yet more accessible. It’s entirely possible every Tolkien fan may not have read the works that helped bring The Lord of the Rings to life. However, if they ever find themselves wanting more than what Tolkien was able to complete in his lifetime, turning back to the texts that inspired the author’s work is a great place to start.