Beowulf
Page 7
GRENDEL
I speak! I think! I am!
BEOWULF
Perhaps you are…but you won’t be for long!
He begins pressing the door shut with the wedge, causing the sinewy tendons to begin to SNAP and Grendel’s bones to POP free from the socket. Grendel SHRIEKS.
BEOWULF
Think you now of the Thanes whose lives you’ve stolen! Think you of them as you die your demon’s death!
And with one powerful lunge with the wedge Beowulf causes the door to SLAM shut. The arm, with a SQUISHY RIPPING SOUND, falls free from its socket and lands on the floor with a satisfying MEATY THUD.
Beowulf stands there, staring at the arm for a moment…when suddenly it grabs his foot. He kicks wildly at it, finally shaking it loose.
The arm flops around on the stone floor for a few moments like a beached fish and then suddenly seizes into a contorted position of agony.
Beowulf, for the first time, is freaked. He stands there, leaning against the door, breathing heavily in great gasping WHEEZES.
Several Thanes, swords drawn and bodies bleeding, appear at the
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looking at Beowulf. Wiglaf pushes himself to the front of them.
WIGLAF
Grendel’s arm! You’ve done it! You’ve killed him!
(turning to the other men)
He’s done it! He’s torn the limbs from the beast!
They all begin CHEERING.
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on the other hand, doesn’t seem so confident. He quickly turns and pulls the door open, revealing
82 THE OUTSIDE OF HEROT
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As if a nightmare is over -- it’s placid and quiet and there is a marked absence of Grendel around.
MATCH CUT TO:
83 THE OUTSIDE OF HEROT
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The nightmare is over. But it is now morning, and all is well. We hear HAMMER BLOWS, rhythmic as sex.
84 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - DAY
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CLOSE ON: Grendel’s arm is being NAILED into a massive wooden beam in the mead hall.
It is Beowulf who wields the massive blacksmith’s hammer. Beowulf laughs as he nails Grendel’s arm to the wall, and we wonder, which one is the monster?
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85 INT. THE GREAT CAVE - DAY
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From the inside of the great cave, the outside world is a bright and hot place. Grendel comes stumbling in from this world of light and heat into the safety of the cave. He is in silhouette and we can see that he is missing his arm.
Grendel shambles awkwardly, dripping crimson blood as he goes, toward the placid clear waters of the cavern’s pool.
Grendel is making A DREADFUL SOUND as it goes, one arm missing, into the pool, with little or no sense of balance, stumbling and half-falling. It should take us a few moments to realize that the noise Grendel is making is SOBBING.
Grendel falls through the dark water of the pool, blood from his shoulder, from the missing arm, pumping out into the water, until everything is red and we
CUT TO:
86 INT. THE GREAT CAVE - GRENDEL’S MOTHER’S LAIR - DAY
86
Grendel comes up from the pool in her cave. Tears are running down his face. He is dying -- nearly dead.
GRENDEL
Mama…mama…he hurt me…mama…
There is no answer. Grendel collapses to the floor, and then he bellows, sobbing.
GRENDEL
Mama!
There is A RUSTLING NOISE and the SOUND OF A RUSHING WIND.
Grendel’s mother sits beside him. She wears a black cowl and cloak, that covers her from head to toe, and she has her back to us.
GRENDEL’S MOTHER
Oh Grendel, my son. My poor son. I warned you. You must not go to them--
GRENDEL
He killed me, mother.
GRENDEL’S MOTHER
Who killed you, Grendel my son?
GRENDEL
He tore my arm away, and my life’s blood has spilled onto the ground, and it hurts so…Grendel hurts so bad…
Grendel’s Mother’s golden hand strokes his forehead. She has a beautiful hand, with slightly-too-long golden fingernails.
GRENDEL’S MOTHER
I know. Sleep now, my sweet son. Sleep forever. Mother is here.
GRENDEL
Mama? I do not know his name. So strong. He hurt me.
GRENDEL’S MOTHER
He will pay, my darling. In the fullness of time. I love you so much, Grendel my son.
The life has gone from Grendel’s eyes: they have misted over, like the dead eyes of a rotten fish. There is silence in the hall beneath the earth.
EXTREME CLOSE ON: Grendel’s mother’s lips.
GRENDEL’S MOTHER
He will come here to me, he who did this thing to you. And he will pay.
87 EXT. HEROT - VILLAGE - DAY
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Yrsa is talking to Isolde the Fat and Gitte in the muddy grass.
GITTE
He’s dead?
YRSA
The creature’s arm is nailed to the wall of the hall. They say Beowulf ripped it off with his bare hands.
Isolde and Gitte look appropriately amazed.
CUT TO:
88 EXT. HEROT - STOCKADE - DAY
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A Pyre is being assembled. Thanes are picking up the dead bodies -- and bits of bodies -- from the night before, and throwing them onto the pyre. Standing beside it are a handful of WOMEN sobbing, and a few CHILDREN. And Wiglaf.
We however SWING AROUND from the pyre and ENTER THE HALL, where Hrothgar is standing in front of GRENDEL’S ARM and is making a speech to Beowulf and everyone else.
HROTHGAR
This hall has been a place of sadness and misery and blood. From today the monster’s reign has ended. And we owe thanks to one man and one man alone: Beowulf. Come here, lad.
He puts his arm around Beowulf’s shoulders. Beowulf grins out at the crowd. It’s hard to believe that this grinning, friendly guy is the same naked lunatic who ripped Grendel’s arm off the night before.
HROTHGAR
Beowulf, I love you like a son. With Grendel dead, you are a son to me. And a son deserves his reward.
(to thanes)
Come on -- bring it out!
A couple of thanes haul out a closed chest.
HROTHGAR
Well, go on, open it.
Beowulf opens the chest. It’s filled with gold and silver stuff -- goblets, rings, torques and so forth.
Beowulf turns to the crowd, grinning -- then, suddenly serious, like a politician or a statesman.
BEOWULF
I find it hard to find in my heart the words I should say to thank you, great king. And all of you, I wish you could have been there last night, when I killed the monster. And I wish his whole body were nailed to this wall, not just his arm. I was asleep when he arrived, growling like a wild beast…
And as Beowulf tells them the story of his genius and ability we TRACK BACKWARDS down the hallway of Herot and
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BEOWULF’S VOICE gets quieter and the sound of the CRACKLING OF THE BURNING PYRE gets louder, and the WOMEN QUIETLY SOBBING, and we end on Wiglaf…watching his friends’ bodies burning up.
CUT TO:
90 INT. THE GREAT CAVE - GRENDEL’S MOTHER’S LAIR - NIGHT
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CLOSE ON: Grendel’s very dead body.
We can hear Grendel’s mother, SINGING WORDLESSLY, a song of mourning, very gently and quietly.
Then she breaks off her song and she says to Grendel’s dead body…
GRENDEL’S MOTHER (O.S.)
He must come here to me. If he has the courage, as well as the strength, he will come.
And with that she turns and walks into the pool, descending into its black depths…
CUT TO:
<
br /> 91 INT. HEROT - BEOWULF’S QUARTERS - NIGHT
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Beowulf is looking at the treasure that he has been given. In the background we can hear a small amount of CELEBRATING from the hall. Beowulf is in his small room, though, examining his gold.
Queen Wealthow comes in. She stands in the open doorway, to avoid any appearance of impropriety, and says:
WEALTHOW
You are not celebrating?
BEOWULF
I am celebrating in my own way.
WEALTHOW
You will take our gold back to your own land. It does not matter. Nothing that is gold ever stays long.
BEOWULF
Steal away from your husband in the night. Come to me.
WEALTHOW
You are so beautiful, Lord Beowulf. But you are not meant for me. You have the mark on you
(she reaches out and touches his forehead, as if showing a mark we cannot see)
BEOWULF
What mark?
Wealthow does not answer. She touches her fingertips to her lips, and brushes her fingertips against Beowulf’s lips, as she turns to leave.
CUT TO:
92 INT. HEROT - HROTHGAR’S QUARTERS - NIGHT
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Hrothgar is lying on the bed. The door opens, and Wealthow comes in. She begins to undress. Hrothgar stares at her, grinning.
WEALTHOW
If you touch me tonight, I will kill you.
Her tone of voice tells us that she means it.
CUT TO:
93 INT. HEROT - BEOWULF’S QUARTERS - NIGHT
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Beowulf is picking up handfuls of golden rings and chains and letting them fall, clinking, into the chest: they glitter in the candle-light.
CUT TO:
94 EXT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - NIGHT
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The last lights go out in the hall. We hear a RUSTLING.
CUT TO BLACK:
95 INT. HEROT - BEOWULF’S QUARTERS - DAY
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A WOMAN’S SCREAM shatters the stillness. Day shines in. Beowulf was asleep on the furs, fully dressed, surrounded by gold. He pushes himself up off the bed.
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96 INT. HEROT - MEAD HALL - DAY
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Beowulf throws open a heavy carved door. His eyes open wide like saucers at the horror of what has become of the remaining Danes.
Behind him, other Thanes push their way into the room. Their eyes, like Beowulf’s, betray the terror in their hearts.
The hall, once white wash over stone, has been stained with the blood of the South Danes. Great crimson splashes paint the ceiling. Golden tapestries have been speckled by the milk of slaughter.
TWENTY DEAD THANES in all, their bodies ripped into pieces, litter the soaked hall.
Thanes continue to push their way into the hall, trying to get a good look at the carnage. But as each man enters he becomes frozen, unable to move into the room filled with death.
It has become a feast for the flies. Their buzz adds a horrific edge to the already surreal bloodshed before them.
Beowulf steps slowly through the hall assessing the dead. Not a single man lays living. Beowulf draws his sword from his back and holds it in front of him, as if it might defend him from the invisible air of death in the hall.
WE TRACK BACKWARDS AND OUT of a huge hole which has been knocked through the far corner of the south hall. Great stones lay in rubble heaps outside the massive keep.
Beowulf jumps out of the keep onto the green glade beyond the rubble heap. He runs into an EXTREME CLOSE UP as he scans the horizon where
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leads beyond Herot and into a dark forest. Close to the rim of the tangled grove, at least a kilometer away, a SHADOWY FIGURE runs. After an instant the figure vanishes into the deep forest. For a moment, it seems as though it may have never been there at all.
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squints his eyes in the hope of getting another glimpse at the dark apparition.
BEOWULF
What monster is this!?
Behind him, the Thanes are coming out of the huge hole in the keep. No one can seem to answer him.
WIGLAF
Is Grendel not dead? Has he grown his arm anew?
Beowulf looks at him, afraid to answer.
Then, Hrothgar is there, pushing his way through the crowd of Thanes.
HROTHGAR
It’s not Grendel.
WIGLAF
Not Grendel? Then who?
CUT TO:
99 INT. HEROT - THRONE ROOM - DAY
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CLOSE ON: Hrothgar is sitting in his mighty (and portable) throne. He is in his full compliment of battle gear.
HROTHGAR
Grendel’s mother. I had hoped that she had left the land long since. True you killed the son. Rid us of a terror like we have never known. But none of us were reckoning with the creature’s foul mother.
Beowulf doesn’t seem to happy about this.
BEOWULF
Another, then another, then another. How many monsters am I to slay? Grendel’s father? Grendel’s uncle? Grendel’s cousin once removed? If there are more please tell me now, friend Hrothgar. For I would like to know if I will have to burn down an entire family tree of these demons.
HROTHGAR
There are no more…no more of her kind in this world. And without another she can not procreate. With her gone demonkind will slip into legend.
WIGLAF
(shaking his head aghast)
Where they belong.
BEOWULF
And what of her mate? Where is Grendel’s father?
Wealthow looks at Hrothgar with an expression that says “yes, Hrothgar, where is Grendel’s father?”
HROTHGAR
Grendel’s father is dead, gone with a bygone age. Grendel’s father can do no harm to man.
Beowulf nods, perhaps a little suspicious.
BEOWULF
Then let us destroy her.
HROTHGAR
Lay into your mind what has happened here!
Beowulf’s eyes fix into a stare as he imagines the atrocity taking place.
FLASH TO:
UNFERTH
Beowulf.
Beowulf turns and looks at Unferth.
BEOWULF
Unferth. What is it?
UNFERTH
I was wrong to doubt you before. And I shall not doubt you again. The blood that flows in your veins is the blood of courage. I ask your forgiveness.
BEOWULF
(perhaps a little too abruptly, Beowulf is uncomfortable with Unferth’s humility)
Forgiven.
He turns to leave.
UNFERTH
Take my father’s sword.
Beowulf turns around and looks at him.
UNFERTH
It’s called “Hrunting”. It belonged to my father’s father.
BEOWULF
A sword is no match against demon magic.
Unferth looks at his father’s sword which he’s holding in his hands. He looks a little sad. Unferth begins sheathing it.
BEOWULF
But
Unferth stops short of sliding his sword into its casing.
BEOWULF
One never knows.
Unferth smiles and holds the sword out for Beowulf. Beowulf takes it and feels it’s weight.
UNFERTH
Thank you, Beowulf. I’m sorry I ever doubted you.
BEOWULF
And I’m sorry I mentioned that you murdered your brothers. They were…hasty words.
UNFERTH
I bid you well in killing the demon’s mother.
Beowulf nods and turns to leave. He pauses and looks back at Unferth.
BEOWULF
You know, Unferth…I may not return. Your ancestral sword may be lost with me.
UNFERTH
As long as it is with you, it will never be lost.
Beowulf nods and leaves.
CUT TO:
100 EXT. HEROT - STOCKADE - DAY 1
00
Beowulf comes out of the Hall to find Wiglaf, seven of his thanes, and their little horse, loaded high with provisions, waiting for him.
A funeral pyre is burning in the distance.
BEOWULF
(puzzled)
Where are the rest of the men?
WIGLAF
Dead.
(he points to the pyre)
That’s the last of them, over there.
BEOWULF
I will kill the Monster’s mother myself. You men will wait behind when we get there. We will need enough thanes to man the oars on the ship home. I do not want any more of you getting killed.
OLAF
(to himself)
How considerate.
Beowulf strides off, and his men follow him.
CUT TO:
101 EXT. DARK FOREST - DAY 1
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It’s a wild woodland. Flies and mosquitoes BUZZ around, and Beowulf’s men, leading their little horse, are in an appalling mood, sweating and swatting at flies the whole time.
OLAF
Damn this forest. We’re not in Geatland anymore, that much I’ll tell you for nothing.
THANE #2
Aye. How many monsters do these bloody Danes have anyway? Where do they get them from?
OLAF
Same place they get these damned mosquitoes from. Isn’t this glorious? Fight in Beowulf’s army -- he gets the
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