Epic Project

Archetypal Characters-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Ally

Explanation: Mr. Tumnus immediately becomes an ally when he first meets Lucy and invites her into his home.

Epic Project

Archetypal Characters-Beowulf

Shadow (villain)

Explanation: Grendel is obviously the villain of the story, but he could also be considered a "shadow" because he only attacks Heorot at night.

Text Evidence: "Heorot is Attacked" ll. 115-125

"So, after nightfall, Grendel set out for the lofty house...suddenly then the God-cursed brute was creating havoc: greedy and grim, he grabbed thirty men from their resting places and rushed to his lair, flushed up and inflamed from the raid, blundering back with the butchered corpses,"

Archetypal Characters-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Temptress

Explanation: The White Witch is a temptress because she tempts Edmund to come to her castle and promises him that he can be king.

The Hero's Journey-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Call to Adventure

Explanation: The Pevensie children are called to adventure when Mr. and Mrs. Beaver tell them about Aslan and his plans to defeat the White Witch and take over Narnia. The four children must help Aslan because it has been prophesied that when two sons of Adam and two daughters of Eve sit on the four thrones then the White Witch's reign will end.

The Hero's Journey-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

The Ordinary World

Explanation: The movie fast-forwards to fifteen years later, and the Pevensies are still in Narnia. They come upon the lamp post and suddenly, they tumble out of the wardrobe and turn back into children, as if no time had passed at all.

The Hero's Journey-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Entering the Unknown

Explanation: When the Pevensie children are playing hide-and-seek, Lucy finds the wardrobe and discovers the unknown world of Narnia.

Hero Characteristics-Beowulf

An epic hero is larger than life

Explanation: Beowulf tells Unferth the story of when he raced Breca in a swimming competition to Finland, and kills nine monsters on the way. This shows Beowulf's unbelievable power.

Text Evidence: "Feast at Heorot" ll. 544-577

"Shoulder to shoulder, we struggled on for five nights, until the long flow and pitch of the waves, the perishing cold, night falling and winds from the north drove us apart...However it occurred, my sword killed nine sea-monsters. Such night dangers and hard ordeals I have never heard of nor of a man more desolate in surging waves."

The Hero's Journey-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Laney Moreton

Shelley, 3rd Period

Return with the Elixir

Hero Characteristics-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

An epic hero is larger than life

Explanation: Edmund is mortally injured in battle, so Lucy uses her elixir to heal him and save his life.

The Hero's Journey-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Explanation: Aslan sacrifices himself to the White Witch for Edmund. Lucy and Susan watch as she fatally stabs him. The next morning he is resurrected. Aslan is even more powerful than death.

The Hero's Journey-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Supernatural Aid

Reward

Explanation: The Pevensies are rewarded for their bravery by being declared kings and queens. They are crowned King Peter the Magnificent, Queen Susan the Gentle, King Edmund the Just and Queen Lucy the Valiant.

Explanation: Father Christmas gives the children magical weapons to defend themselves. Susan receives a magical horn that can summon help and a bow and arrows. Lucy receives a cordial that can heal any injury and a knife. Peter receives a sword and shield.

Archetypal Characters-Beowulf

Ally

Explanation: King Hrothgar's greatest ally, Aeschere was killed by Grendel's mother in Heorot hall.

Text Evidence: "Another Attack" ll. 1306-1309

"And the old lord, the gray-haired warrior, was heartsore and weary when he heard the news: his highest-placed adviser, his dearest companion, was dead and gone."

Epic Imagery-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Monsters/Enemies

Explanation: Aslan's enemy is the White Witch and her army of monsters. He saves Peter takes Narnia back from her.

Epic Imagery-Beowulf

Monsters/Enemies

Explanation: Beowulf finally defeats the enemy of the Dane tribe: an invincible monster named Grendel.

Text Evidence: "The Fight with Grendel" ll. 818-823

"Grendel was driven under the fen-banks, fatally hurt, to his desolate lair." His days were numbered, the end of his life was coming over him, he knew it for certain; and one bloody clash had fulfilled the dearest wishes of the Danes."

Cultural Influence-Beowulf

Christianity

Explanation: Grendel is said to be the descendant of Cain. In the Bible, Cain is the first son of Adam and Eve and Abel is the second. They both make sacrifices to God, but God favored Abel's sacrifice. Cain killed Abel and God punished him to a life of wandering. Cain is the originator of evil, violence and greed.

Text Evidence: "Heorot is Attacked" ll. 102-114

"Grendel was the name of this grim demon haunting the marshes, marauding round the heath and the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time in misery among he banished monsters, Cain's clan, whom the Creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel the Eternal Lord exacted a price: Cain got no good from committing that murder because the Almighty made him anathema and out of the curse of his exile there sprang ogres and elves and evil phantoms and the giants too who strove with God time and again until He gave them their reward."

Hero Characteristics-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

A hero is judged by his actions

Explanation: Aslan sacrifices himself for Edmund even though Edmund betrayed him. He is a noble and selfless hero.

Hero Characteristics-Beowulf

A hero is judged by his actions

Explanation: The Danes are overjoyed when Beowulf finally kills Grendel. They praise him and throw a huge celebration in his honor at Heorot.

Text Evidence: "Celebration at Heorot" ll. 855-860

"Beowulf's doings were praised over and over again. Nowhere, they said, north or south between the two seas or under the tall sky on the broad earth was there anyone better to raise a shield or to rule a kingdom."

The Hero's Journey-Beowulf

Allies and Helpers

Cultural Influence-The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Explanation: King Hrothgar is grief-stricken when he finds out the news that his greatest ally, Aeschere, has been killed by Grendel's mother.

Christianity

Text Evidence: "Another Attack" ll. 1306-1309

"And the old lord, the gray-haired warrior, was heartsore and weary when he heard the news: his highest-placed adviser, his dearest companion, was dead and gone."

Explanation: The movie presents several parallels to the Bible. Edmund eats the candy from the witch, like Adam and Eve ate from the tree of knowledge, and he betrays Aslan by going with the witch to her castle. Then, Aslan sacrifices himself for Edmund just as Christ sacrificed himself for mankind's sins. Aslan resurrects the next day.

The Hero's Journey-Beowulf

Entering the Unknown

Explanation: Grendel's mother lives in a cave at the bottom of a monster infested lake. In order to defeat her, Beowulf must swim down to her lair.

Text Evidence: "Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother" ll. 1492-1495

"After these words, the prince of the Weather-Geats was impatient to be away and plunged suddenly: without more ado, he dived into the heaving depths of the lake."

The Hero's Journey-Beowulf

Supernatural Aid

Explanation: When Beowulf is in battle with Grendel's mother in her cave, he finds a huge, magical, ancient sword and finally kills her by slicing her neck.

Text Evidence: "Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother" ll. 1557-1568

"Then he saw a blade that boded well, a sword in her armory, an ancient heirloom from the days of the giants, an ideal weapon, one that any warrior would envy, but so huge and heavy of itself only Beowulf could wield it in battle. So the Shieldings' hero hard-pressed and enraged, took a irm hold of the hilt and swung the blade in an arc, a resolute blow that bit deep into her neck-bone and severed it entirely, toppling the doomed house of her flesh; he fell to the floor."

The Hero's Journey-Beowulf

Call to Adventure

The Hero's Journey-Beowulf

Reward and the Journey Home

Explanation: After Beowulf killed both demons, he is rewarded with treasure from King Hrothgar and King Hygelac.

Text Evidence: "Beowulf Returns Home" ll. 1866-1869

"Then the earls' defender furnished the hero with twelve treasures and told him to set out, sail with those gifts safely home to the people he loved, but to return promptly."

Explanation: Beowulf's father, Ecgtheow, is in debt to King Hrothgar, so Beowulf and his men answer the call to defeat the demon, Grendel.

The Hero's Journey-Beowulf

Restoring World Order

Explanation: After Beowulf killed both Grendel and Grendel's mother, peace was finally restored to the Danes' land and they no longer had to live in fear. Once Grendel's mother was dead all of the evil disappeared.

Text Evidence: "The Hero Comes to Heorot" ll. 409-426 "Then the news of Grendel, hard to ignore, reached me at home: sailors brought stories of the plight you suffer in this legendary hall, how it lies deserted, empty and useless once the evening light hides itself under heaven's dome...Now I mean to be a match for Grendel, settle the outcome in single combat."

Text Evidence: "Beowulf Fights Grendel's Mother" ll. 1620-1622

"The wide water, the waves and pools, were no longer infested once the wandering fiend let go of her life, and this unreliable world."