by Neil Gaiman
43
Inside the hall, the party is just beginning. It’s not the same party as before, however. For a start there are much fewer males, even counting Beowulf’s 14 Thanes. For second, everyone seems more subdued and miserable than they did at the previous party -- like a party at a funeral. Still, a HARP IS PLAYING, and people are sitting at long tables, and maidens are pouring golden mead into cups.
Hrothgar is sitting at his throne, which has been carried into the hall by FOUR BRAWNY THANES.
Wealthow is sitting on the side of the throne, and Hrothgar’s hands are, absentmindedly, stroking her hair.
Unferth is behind and to the right of the throne.
Beowulf is walking about the hall, deep in thought, in another world entirely.
Hondshew is staring at Yrsa, the plum girl, who is pouring mead somewhere across the hall.
Wiglaf is talking to the other 13 thanes.
WIGLAF
Look, all I’m saying is we don’t want any trouble with the locals. So, just for tonight, no fighting, and no fucking. Okay?
OLAF
I wasn’t planning on doing any fucking.
WIGLAF
Well, I obviously wasn’t talking to you then Olaf, was I?
Yrsa sticks her tongue out at Hondshew. He smiles a yellow-toothed smile at her.
WIGLAF
Hondshew. Make me feel like you’re pretending to listen to me. It’s only been five days since you waved your wife goodbye.
This maybe so, but Hondshew is still driven by his loins.
CUT TO:
44 EXT. HEROT - DAY
44
The sun continues to move West. Now the shadows are long, and the light has taken on a late afternoon glow. We hear, muffled, the PARTY NOISE. A little louder than before.
CUT TO:
45 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - DAY
45
Beowulf walks behind Wiglaf, to Hrothgar’s throne. Wealthow’s face, unearthly in its beauty, stares at him.
WEALTHOW
I hope that God is kind to you, Sir Beowulf. It would be a great shame on this house, if one so brave and noble were to die in it.
BEOWULF
There is no shame to die in battle with evil.
Hrothgar, perhaps getting a little drunk, does not realize that this is a private conversation, and announces, to everyone listening, including Unferth, standing in the shadows…
HROTHGAR
Hear that? I said that before I fought the great dragon of the Northern moors! Killed him, too. There’s a soft spot beneath the dragon’s chin,
(he points to it)
and you go in with a knife or a dagger…
Wealthow ignores her husband. She says, directly to Beowulf, eye to eye contact.
WEALTHOW
And if you die?
BEOWULF
There will be no corpse to weep over, no funeral to prepare, and none to mourn me. Grendel will dispose of my body in a bloody animal feast, taking my bones and sucking off my flesh, swallowing me down.
Wealthow is obviously sexually turned on by the thought of sucking and swallowing on Beowulf. She swallows, moistens her lips, slightly upset by her reaction.
She forces a smile.
WEALTHOW
I would mourn you, my lord.
BEOWULF
It is up to fate, and fate will go as it must.
Hrothgar has completely missed the moment of strange romance between his wife and the young warrior. Or perhaps he hasn’t…either way, he begins to talk, getting up from his chair.
HROTHGAR
Your father came here fleeing the Wylflings. He’d killed one of them--
BEOWULF
Heatholaf.
HROTHGAR
(nodding vigorously and then continuing)
--that was him! I paid the blood debt for your father, and he swore his oath to me. No good deed goes unrewarded, though. I saved his skin, now you’re here to save ours, eh?
He SLAPS Beowulf on the back.
We hear A LOW, BITTER, LAUGH from the shadows behind the throne. Unferth steps out of the shadows into the light, CLAPPING his hands.
UNFERTH
All hail the great Beowulf!
(softer, to Beowulf)
Here to save our pathetic Danish skins, eh?
(bitter irony & plenty of it)
And we are so damned grateful, mighty Beowulf. But can I ask a question -- as a huge admirer of yours?
Beowulf simply stares at him, with the sort of unblinking stare that Clint Eastwood made famous.
UNFERTH (CONT’D)
You see, there was another Beowulf I heard tell of, who challenged Brecca the
(more)
UNFERTH (CONT’D)
mighty to a swimming race, out on the open sea. Was that you?
Beowulf wonders if he’s being set up. But he nods.
BEOWULF
I swam against Brecca.
UNFERTH
Hmm. I thought that it had to be a different Beowulf. Someone else of the same name. You see
(he has raised his voice here, to try and make sure that everyone in the mead hall can hear him)
--the Beowulf I heard of swam against Brecca, and lost. He risked his life, and Brecca’s, in the deep ocean to serve his own vanity and pride. A boastful fool. And he lost. So I thought it had to be someone else…
Beowulf stands, and slowly walks toward Unferth. You could hear a pin drop. All the Thanes, both Hrothgar’s and Beowulf’s, are preparing themselves for a brawl to break out between the two men.
BEOWULF
I swam against Brecca.
UNFERTH
(loudly)
But victory was his, not yours. A mighty warrior who cannot even win a swimming match. Speaking only for myself here, I not only doubt that you will be able to stand for a moment against Grendel, but I doubt you will even have the guts to stay in the hall all night.
He grins up at Beowulf. This is a drama, being enacted for everyone else, and we should get REACTION SHOTS from some of the people around -- Wealthow and Hrothgar, but also the commoners. Beowulf’s Thanes, however, are not interested in any of this -- they’ve heard this a thousand times.
BEOWULF
I find it difficult to argue with a drunk. And it is true that I did not win the race…
DISSOLVE TO:
46 THE MEMORY OF THE RACE WITH BRECCA
46
Beowulf is a tiny Jan Svankmajer doll, swimming in stop-motion animation a race with Brecca, another doll. Bony, strange, nightmare creatures, like marine versions of the Wonderland inhabitants of Svankmajer’s “Alice”, rise up from beneath Beowulf, and drag him down beneath the sea.
BEOWULF (V.O.)
(continuing)
We swam for five days, neck and neck. And I was the more powerful swimmer. I was conserving my strength, for the final stretch. Then a storm blew up, and with the storm, came sea monsters.
We HEAR the Thanes in the hall MURMURING with approval.
We watch the little Beowulf killing the monsters, one by one.
BEOWULF (V.O.)
One of them seized me in its jaws, and dragged me to the bottom. I hacked at it with my sword, and killed the huge beast with my own blade. Again and again the monsters attacked, dark things from the sea’s dark depths. I was to have been their banquet. When morning came they were lying on the shore, their guts spilling crimson into the salt-water. Luck was with me, perhaps, but still, I killed nine of them. I did not win the race, but I braved their hot jaws, making those lanes safe for seamen, and survived the nightmare.
DISSOLVE TO:
47 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - DAY
47
EXTREME CLOSE ON: Beowulf’s face. We see something in his eyes that reveals that what we have just been told may not be the truth.
He shuts his eyes, remembering something else…something forbidden.
DISSOLVE TO:
48 THE MEMORY OF BIRTH
48
from the glimpses we get of it, to be a beautiful golden woman, underwater. She is not a mermaid, but there is something inhuman about her. However, we only glimpse her in tiny fragmentary moments, never getting a good look.
DISSOLVE TO:
49 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - DAY
49
Beowulf shakes himself out of the memory, forcing it somewhere deep back into his subconscious. He begins to walk, continuing.
BEOWULF
They sing of my battle with the sea monsters to this day, my friend. And they sing no such songs about Brecca.
UNFERTH
(magnificently unimpressed)
Of course. The sea monsters. And you killed, what, twenty was it?
BEOWULF
Nine. But…will you do me the honor of telling me your name?
UNFERTH
I am Unferth, son of Ecglaf.
BEOWULF
Unferth? Son of Ecglaf? Your fame has crossed the ocean ahead of you. I know who you are…
Unferth does not know if Beowulf is telling the truth. But he starts to preen a little…
BEOWULF
Let’s see…. they say you are clever. Not wise, but sharp. And they say that you killed both of your brothers when you caught them having knowledge of your mother, “Unferth Kinslayer”.
(laughs)
A crime for which you will roast in agony forever.
After a protracted moment of hate, Unferth throws himself at Beowulf, growling. Beowulf steps aside and Unferth, bad leg and all, trips and falls to the floor of the hall. Beowulf crouches beside him. And, with a captive audience, he continues.
BEOWULF
I’ll tell you another true thing, Unferth Kinslayer. If your strength and heart had been as strong and fierce as your words, then Grendel would never have crippled you. But he murders and gorges on you people, with no fear of retaliation. Tonight he will find Geats waiting for him: not crippled sheep, like you.
Hrothgar starts CLAPPING. Is he senile, or sensibly breaking up the fight?
HROTHGAR
That’s the spirit, young Beowulf! That’s the spirit we need! You’ll kill my Grendel for me.
CUT TO:
50 EXT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - SUNSET
50
A bloody sky in the west, and the sun hangs like a huge ball of orange fire. We hear the sound, MUFFLED, OF PARTYING. It sounds like they’re starting to have fun in the hall…
CUT TO:
51 INT. THE GREAT CAVE - GRENDEL’S LAIR - SUNSET
51
Grendel is on the floor of its cave, rolling back and forth, moaning in misery. We cannot be sure whether or not Grendel is even awake. We can hear, distorted, THE PARTY SOUNDS.
CUT TO:
52 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - SUNSET
52
The party is in full swing, and, following the fracas between Beowulf and Unferth, everything seems to have loosened up. The Danes know that Grendel will not be attacking until dark, and are beginning to party.
We see the glitter of gold everywhere, rings on fingers, light flashing from mugs and goblets (each person has his or her own mug or goblet). Beowulf’s thanes are eating, with their fingers and with knives, from a huge cut of beef on the table.
Hondshew cuts a slice of beef, with his knife, and puts it into the mouth of Yrsa, who is walking past with a jug of mead.
Wealthow has brought a huge, silver and golden jug of gold mead out.
HROTHGAR
The High King’s mead! The finest mead!
WEALTHOW
For our brave Geats.
Wealthow moves from Thane to thane, pouring each of them a cup of mead, while Hrothgar says things like:
HROTHGAR
I know it doesn’t look like much, but it’s the most powerful stuff we have. Three cups of that and they’ll be carrying you out of here.
The mead runs out just as it gets to Beowulf. Wealthow walks off, looking back at Beowulf.
UNFERTH
(to Beowulf)
The mead is gone, before Lord Beowulf mighty fighter of sea monsters had his cup of inspiration.
BEOWULF
At least I do not get my courage from the mead-cup.
But at this moment Wealthow returns, bearing high a huge golden cup crusted with jewels, the treasure cup, filled with mead. She smiles at Lord Beowulf and passes him the cup. The hall rings with loud CHEERS.
CUT TO:
53 INT. THE GREAT CAVE - GRENDEL’S LAIR - SUNSET
53
Grendel’s eyes are open. We hear the CHEERS FROM THE PARTY, blasting at monstrous and distorted levels. Grendel clamps his hands over his ears and thrashes on the rocky floor of its Den.
CUT TO:
54 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - SUNSET
54
Wealthow gives the cup to Beowulf. The party is loud enough that they are able to speak quietly to each other, unheard by everyone else. Beowulf sips the mead from the goblet.
WELTHOW
The goblet is a gift for you, Beowulf.
BEOWULF
You do me great honour, lady.
WEALTHOW
It is we who are honoured.
(she hesitates then)
Grendel. Our curse. He is my husband’s shame.
BEOWULF
Not a shame, but a curse.
WEALTHOW
Shame. Hrothgar has no…other sons…And he will have no more, for all his talk.
And with these enigmatic words, she returns to the King’s throne, Beowulf following her progress back with his eyes.
Someone SHOUTS “Speech!” and the CRY is taken up by the whole room, slamming mugs and feet against the floor and the bench.
ALL
(rhythmic chant)
Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!
CUT TO:
55 INT. THE GREAT CAVE - GRENDEL’S LAIR - SUNSET
55
Grendel writhes in agony as we hear this NOISE, louder and harsher than anything he’s heard so far. He MOANS. He hits his head against the cave floor, as if trying to distract himself from the noise, causing his forehead to bleed.
CUT TO:
56 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - SUNSET
56
Beowulf clambers onto a table. He raises the goblet high…
BEOWULF
When we crossed the rolling sea to come to you, we knew, my men and I, that we would either triumph over evil, or we should perish in Grendel’s grasp. Tonight, here in this very hall, we shall live forever in greatness and courage, or, forgotten and despised, we shall die!
WIGLAF
(sotto voce)
Well that pretty much covers all our options, doesn’t it?
CUT TO:
57 EXT. THE SEA - SUNSET
57
The red ball of the sun falls in the Western sea, and goes out, with an almost imperceptibly green flash. It is now night.
CUT TO:
58 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - NIGHT
58
And now, Hrothgar leans back in his throne. He yawns, ostentatiously.
HROTHGAR
Well, this old man needs his sleep. Shall we pound the pillow?
He claps his hand, and the four thanes lift his throne and carry it, and him, out of the room. Wealthow follows, and looks back at Beowulf.
UNFERTH
Good night, Beowulf. Watch out for sea monsters. I’m sure your imagination must be teeming with them.
BEOWULF
I will. Watch out for brothers.
CUT TO:
59 EXT. HEROT - NIGHT
59
The sun set half an hour ago. Hondshew and the plum girl are arguing outside the mead hall, in the shadows. While the conversation is going on, DANES are SLIPPING OUT OF THE HALL and going to their homes, looking about nervously…
HONDSHEW
Oh, go on.
I said no
HONDSHEW
Oh go on, please…
YRSA
I said no and I meant no
HONDSHEW
Why not?
YRSA
Because it’s too late. Sorry.
HONDSHEW
I could transport you to paradise, Take you to ecstasy and back with my magic spear. No other man will be able to satisfy you again.
YRSA
I don’t think so.
HONDSHEW
Well how about a quick blowjob?
CUT TO:
60 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - NIGHT
60
Beowulf and his men are sitting around a table, drinking, SINGING and generally having a party.
PULL BACK TO REVEAL: No one else there.
It’s just Beowulf and his men. Hondshew comes back in. The thanes HOOT AND JEER him:
THANES
Oy, Hondshew. Did you get any? How was she?
HONDSHEW
Nah. Not my type.
The rest of the thanes laugh at him.
OLAF
Yeah? What’s your type? A sheep that runs slow enough for you to catch her? Baaa!
Hondshew throws himself at Olaf, and they roll around on the floor, fighting -- or mock fighting, anyway. The other thanes are laughing, cheering for Olaf or for Hondshew, chanting.
THANES
(chanting in unison, two teams)
Hondshew! Hondshew! Hondshew! Olaf! Olaf! Olaf!
CUT TO:
61 INT. THE GREAT CAVE - GRENDEL’S LAIR - NIGHT
