For my project, I decided to do something similar to what a few others have done and connect our curriculum to the game Dungeons and Dragons. What I ended up doing was making both Beowulf and Grendel from Beowulf character sheets. I assigned them each a class and a race based on my knowledge of the game and some research I had done. Doing this allowed me to think more deeply about the characters but also to explore one of my hobbies. (Goliaths are so cool!)
I started with, of course, Beowulf himself. I kept him pretty simple, much more simple than Grendel. He’s a human fighter. The reason I decided to keep him as a human was partially because I felt like he didn’t quite fit in any of the other categories, but also because I felt like it was important to his character. He’s not a monster or inhuman; he’s just a guy who’s pretty strong…which is why I made him a fighter. According to the official D&D Handbook, Fighters “are well acquainted with death, both meting it out and staring it defiantly in the face” (Player’s Handbook p. 70). In Beowulf, the title character says,
“I’m gonna do as real men do, / and render myself a reaper, bleed him dry, / or let Death attend me”
(635-637)
Beowulf knows what awaits him in fighting Grendel. He has been made well-aware that Grendel is a formidable enemy and that all who have attempted to fight him have lost. Despite this, he vows to fight him. This is a prime example of fighter ideology. I also decided to give Beowulf the background Royalty. Backgrounds give some extra proficiencies and help round out a character a little more. I didn’t take it into consideration too much besides to give him some extra things like proficiencies in History and Intimidation.
As for Beowulf’s stats, I decided to make Strength his best. This made the most sense to me, as Beowulf is well-known for being a very strong soldier. I rolled pretty good stats for him (and I’ll admit I did some fudging as to not have any super low scores — I’m not playing him in a real campaign, after all) and came to the conclusion that it made sense for him to have high scores particularly in Charisma, Wisdom, and Intelligence. He’s a king who has to be charismatic and knowledgeable in order to lead properly. In an ideal world, I would have made him proficient in persuasion, but his class didn’t allow for that. He is proficient in intimidation, though, which could be said to be similar enough.
Grendel was, in all honesty, more fun to make as a character than Beowulf. I had to ask myself more challenging questions and dig deeper into the text for reasoning to back up decisions I made. The obvious class for Grendel, in my opinion, was Barbarian. Barbarians “are defined by their rage: unbridled, unquenchable, and unthinking fury” (Player’s Handbook p. 46). Because of his rage, Grendel goes after the innocent townspeople of Heorot.
“Grendel, enemy to everyone, waged his war / without an army, lonesome as he lapped / the luxurious lengths of Heorot”
162-164
Grendel continuously hunts, his rage endless and bloodlust unquenchable. Barbarians can be played as not actually wanting to hurt people, but this one definitely does. He comes back night after night to kill upwards of thirty people at a time. Like with Beowulf, I didn’t put too much emphasis on the background besides some extra buffs.
For Grendel’s race, I used a more non-traditional (that is, not from the original Player Handbook) race called Goliaths. While humanoid, they’re large and imposing, having descended from Giants. Goliaths are also incredibly strong and add 2 to a Strength score, making Grendel’s Strength a 20. I felt this was appropriate for obvious reasons. Grendel’s lowest score was his Wisdom. It’s safe to assume he’s only ever had his mother, and he doesn’t have the wisdom to not murder large groups of people.
It was really interesting for me to combine one of my hobbies with a piece of literature, and it allowed me to look more deeply into the text. I had to really think about each decision I made and be able to back it up with evidence, almost like in a traditional essay. One thing I found difficult was melding the characters to fit into the confines of D&D classes and races. Usually you’d build a character based on the guidelines given from races and classes, but with this I had to just accept that no categories would fit the characters 100%. Doing this project, I had a lot of fun and looked at Beowulf from a completely different (and nerdy) angle.
Works Cited
Baker, Richard, et al. Elemental Evil Player’s Companion. Wizards of the Coast, 16 Apr. 2015.
Maria Dahvana Headley. Beowulf: A New Translation. New York, Mcd X Fsg Originals ; Farrar, Straus And Giroux, 2020.
“Royalty (5e Background) – D&D Wiki.” Www.dandwiki.com, http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Royalty_(5e_Background). Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
“The Goliath Race for Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) Fifth Edition (5e).” D&D Beyond, http://www.dndbeyond.com/races/22-goliath#GoliathRaceDetails. Accessed 19 Oct. 2022.
Wyatt, James, et al. Player’s Handbook. 2014. Wizards of the Coast, 2018.
Sprockets and Springes 