List of films based on Germanic mythology

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This is a list of films based on Germanic mythology .

Contents

Beowulf

TitleRelease dateNotes
Grendel Grendel Grendel 1981
Animated Epics: Beowulf1998
Beowulf 1999a science-fiction/fantasy film starring Christopher Lambert.
The 13th Warrior 1999action movie directed by John McTiernan mixing Beowulf with the travels of Ibn Fadlan.
Beowulf & Grendel 2005starring Gerard Butler and directed by the Icelandic-Canadian Sturla Gunnarsson.
Grendel 2007a made-for television movie on the Sci Fi Channel (United States).
Beowulf2007a DVD release of a performance of Beowulf by Benjamin Bagby in the original Old English
Beowulf 2007a computer animated film directed by Robert Zemeckis and created through motion capture, a technique similar to that used by Zemeckis in The Polar Express . The manuscript was written by Roger Avary and Neil Gaiman. It deviates significantly from the original poem, most notably by making the dragon fought in the finale the offspring of Beowulf and Grendel's mother, whom he did not slay. [1] [2]
Beowulf: Prince of the Geats 2007
Outlander 2008a science fiction film starring James Caviezel.

Gesta Danorum

TitleRelease dateNotes
Hagbard and Signe 1967
Prince of Jutland 1994
The Northman 2022

Household and nature spirits

TitleRelease dateNotes
Meister Eder und sein Pumuckl 1982–1989
Tomte Tummetott and the Fox 2007
The Spiderwick Chronicles 2008
Thale 2012
The Tomten and the Fox 2019

Kraken

TitleRelease dateNotes
Clash of the Titans 1981
Atlantis: Milo's Return 2003
Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep 2006
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest 2006
Clash of the Titans 2010
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation 2018

Mother Hulda

TitleRelease dateNotes
Mother Holly1906Germany
Frau Holle1953East Germany
Mother Holly 1954West Germany
Mother Holly1961West Germany
Mother Holly1963East Germany
Once Upon a Time 1973West Germany
The Feather Fairy 1985Czechoslovakia
Frau Holle2008Germany

Nibelungenlied

TitleRelease dateNotes
Die Nibelungen 1924
The Dragon's Blood 1957
Die Nibelungen 1966/1967
Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King 2004

Norse pantheon

TitleRelease dateNotes
En vikingafilm : Filmspex i 5 avdelningar [3] 1922
The Virgin Spring 1960
Odin: Photon Sailer Starlight 1985
Valhalla 1986
Erik the Viking 1989
The Runestone 1991
Berserker 2004
Son of the Mask 2005
Hammer of the Gods 2009
Almighty Thor 2011
Legends of Valhalla: Thor 2011
Vicky and the Treasure of the Gods 2011
Vikingdom 2013
Gåten Ragnarok 2013
Kung Fury 2015
Valhalla [4] 2019

Marvel's Thor

TitleRelease dateNotes
The Marvel Super Heroes 1966
Hulk Vs. Thor 2009
Thor 2011
Thor: Tales of Asgard 2011
Thor: The Dark World 2013
Team Thor 2016
Team Thor: Part 2 2017
Thor: Ragnarok 2017

Ragnar Lodbrok

TitleRelease dateNotes
The Vikings 1958

Trolls and jötnar

TitleRelease dateNotes
Sotlugg och Linlugg [5] 1948
The Last Farm in the Valley [6] 1950
Karius and Bactus 1954
The Ashlad and the Hungry Troll [7] 1967
The Trolls and the Christmas Express 1981
The Boy Who Loved Trolls 1984
Troll 1986
The Little Troll Prince 1987
Ernest Scared Stupid 1991
Rolli: Amazing Tales 1991
Det var en gang 1994
A Troll in Central Park 1994
Rollo and the Spirit of the Woods 2001
Quest for a Heart2007
Gnomes and Trolls: The Secret Chamber 2008
Trollhunter 2010
Frozen 2013
Rölli ja kultainen avain2013
The Boxtrolls 2014
Rölli ja kaikkien aikojen salaisuus2016
Trolls 2016
The Ash Lad: In the Hall of the Mountain King 2017
The Ritual 2017
Border 2018
Askeladden - I Soria Moria slott 2019

Völsung and Nibelung tradition

TitleRelease dateNotes
I Nibelunghi [8] 1910
Siegfried [8] 1912
Die Nibelungen 1924
The Dragon's Blood 1957
Treasure of the Petrified Forest 1965
Die Nibelungen 1966/1967
The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried  [ de ] / The Erotic Adventures of Siegfried [9] 1970
Sigurd Fafnersbane [10] 1981
Dark Kingdom: The Dragon King 2004
The Charlemagne Code2008

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Beowulf</i> Old English epic poem

Beowulf is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The date of composition is a matter of contention among scholars; the only certain dating is for the manuscript, which was produced between 975 and 1025 AD. Scholars call the anonymous author the "Beowulf poet". The story is set in pagan Scandinavia in the 6th century. Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, comes to the aid of Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, whose mead hall Heorot has been under attack by the monster Grendel for twelve years. After Beowulf slays him, Grendel's mother takes revenge and is in turn defeated. Victorious, Beowulf goes home to Geatland and becomes king of the Geats. Fifty years later, Beowulf defeats a dragon, but is mortally wounded in the battle. After his death, his attendants cremate his body and erect a barrow on a headland in his memory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troll</span> Supernatural being in Nordic folklore

A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human beings.

<span title="Old Norse-language text"><i lang="non">Jötunn</i></span> Race of beings in Germanic mythology

A jötunn is a type of supernatural being in Germanic mythology. In Norse mythology, they are often contrasted with gods and other non-human figures, such as dwarfs and elves, although the groupings are not always mutually exclusive. The entities included in jötunn are referred to by several other terms, including risi, þurs and troll if male and gýgr or tröllkona if female. The jötnar typically dwell across boundaries from the gods and humans in lands such as Jötunheimr.

<i>Pelle the Conqueror</i> 1987 film directed by Bille August

Pelle the Conqueror is a 1987 epic film co-written and directed by Bille August, based upon the 1910 novel of the same name by Danish writer Martin Andersen Nexø. The film tells the story of two Swedish immigrants to Denmark, a father and son, who try to build a new life for themselves. It stars Pelle Hvenegaard as the young Pelle, with Max von Sydow as his father, and also features Axel Strøbye and Astrid Villaume.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geats</span> Northern Germanic people

The Geats, sometimes called Goths, were a large North Germanic tribe who inhabited Götaland in modern southern Sweden from antiquity until the Late Middle Ages. They are one of the progenitor groups of modern Swedes, along with Swedes and Gutes. The name of the Geats also lives on in the Swedish provinces of Västergötland and Östergötland, the western and eastern lands of the Geats, and in many other toponyms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Götaland</span> Region of Sweden

Götaland is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep woods of Tiveden, Tylöskog and Kolmården marking the border.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eadgils</span> Semi-legendary Swedish king

Eadgils, Adils, Aðils, Adillus, Aðísl at Uppsölum, Athisl, Athislus or Adhel was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, who is estimated to have lived during the 6th century.

Onela was according to Beowulf a Swedish king, the son of Ongentheow and the brother of Ohthere. He usurped the Swedish throne, but was killed by his nephew Eadgils, who won by hiring foreign assistance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King of the Geats</span> English translation of both a Latin phrase and a Swedish phrase

Geatish kings, ruling over the provinces of Götaland (Gautland/Geatland), appear in several sources for early Swedish history. Today, most of them are not considered historical.

<i>Beowulf</i> (2007 film) Film by Robert Zemeckis

Beowulf is a 2007 American animated fantasy action film produced and directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary, based on the Old English epic poem Beowulf, and featuring the voices of Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Robin Wright Penn, Brendan Gleeson, John Malkovich, Crispin Glover, Alison Lohman, and Angelina Jolie. The film depicts the rise and fall of the warrior Beowulf after he travels to Denmark to kill a monster. It was produced by Shangri-La Entertainment and Zemeckis's ImageMovers and features characters animated using motion-capture animation, which was previously used in The Polar Express (2004) and Monster House (2006).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heathen Front</span> Defunct neo-Nazi organization

The Allgermanische Heidnische Front (AHF) was an international neo-Nazi organisation, active during the late 1990s and early 2000s, that espoused a form of racial Germanic Neopaganism. It grew from the Norsk Hedensk Front (NHF), which was claimed to be led and founded by the musician Varg Vikernes in 1993, although he and the organisation denied it. The program was based on his first book, Vargsmål (1994), published shortly after he was convicted for church arson and the murder of fellow musician Euronymous.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mead hall</span> Residence of a lord and his retainers in medieval Germanic Europe

Among the early Germanic peoples, a mead hall or feasting hall was a large building with a single room intended to receive guests and serve as a center of community social life. From the fifth century to the Early Middle Ages such a building was the residence of a lord or king and his retainers. These structures were also where lords could formally receive visitors and where the community would gather to socialize, allowing lords to oversee the social activity of their subjects.

<i>Beowulf: The Game</i> 2007 video game

Beowulf: The Game is a hack and slash video game for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and Xbox 360. It is based upon the 2007 film Beowulf. It was released on November 13, 2007 in the United States. The characters are voiced by the original actors who starred in the film.

Yellow Bird is a Swedish film and television production company. In 2003 Danish producer Ole Søndberg and Swedish author Henning Mankell started a collaboration on a series of television films based on Mankell’s famous fictional detective Kurt Wallander and Yellow Bird was born. The success of the initial Wallander films was followed by Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy, Jo Nesbø’s Headhunters, Liza Marklund’s Annika Bengtzon series as well as the British version of Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vé (shrine)</span> Shrine or sacred place in Germanic paganism

In Germanic paganism, a or wēoh is a type of shrine, sacred enclosure or other place with religious significance. The term appears in skaldic poetry and in place names in Scandinavia, often in connection with an Old Norse deity or a geographic feature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gevninge helmet fragment</span> 6th or 7th century artefact

The Gevninge helmet fragment is the dexter eyepiece of a helmet from the Viking Age or end of the Nordic Iron Age. It was found in 2000 during the excavation of a Viking farmstead in Gevninge, near Lejre, Denmark. The fragment is moulded from bronze and gilded, and consists of a stylised eyebrow with eyelashes above an oval opening. There are three holes at the top and bottom of the fragment to affix the eyepiece to a helmet. The fragment is significant as rare evidence of contemporaneous helmets, and also for its discovery in Gevninge, an outpost that is possibly connected to the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf. It has been in the collection of the Lejre Museum since its discovery, and has been exhibited internationally as part of a travelling exhibition on Vikings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fire-breathing monster</span> Type of monster in mythology and fantasy

In mythology and fantasy, a fire-breathing monster is a monster with the ability to shoot fire from its mouth. The concept of a fire-breathing monster is shared by various mythological traditions throughout history, and is also a common element of monsters in the fantasy genre, especially dragons, which are almost always given the ability to shoot fire, or some other type of breath-based attack. The origins of this power may vary, from magic to a biological explanation similar to an organic flamethrower.

References

  1. Walter Quinn (2007-11-23). "Beowulf' movie takes poetic license – and then some – from the original text". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Archived from the original on 2007-12-02. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  2. Duane Dudek (2007-11-16). "The Real Beowulf". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2007-11-21. Retrieved 2019-05-30.
  3. En vikingafilm : Filmspex i 5 avdelningar (1922). Swedish Film Institute.
  4. Valhalla. Danish Film Institute.
  5. Sotlugg och Linlugg (1948). Swedish Film Institute.
  6. Last Farm in the Valley, The. Icelandic Film Centre.
  7. The Ashlad and the Hungry Troll. Caprino.no.
  8. 1 2 Martin Arnold. Thor: Myth to Marvel.
  9. SIEGFRIED UND DAS SAGENHAFTE LIEBESLEBEN DER NIBELUNGEN (1971). British Film Institute.
  10. Sigurd Fafnersbane. Danish Film Institute.