Looking for something else, I found this old thread over at the Robert E. Howard (creator of Conan) forums: A debate over who would win in a fight, Beowulf or Conan.
Personally, I'd prefer a debate over who'd win a three-way swimming contest: Beowulf, Conan, or Brecca. My money's on Brecca.
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I don't know that a Beowulf vs. Conan debate is very fair to Conan as their characters developed in different genres.
ReplyDeleteBeowulf vs. Cuchulain, now that would be interesting, particularly Cuchulain as represented in Kenneth Flint's A Storm Upon Ulster. Beowulf vs. Odysseus, that too would be interesting -- or even Ajax or Menelaus. Beowulf vs. Achilles, less so, but Beowulf vs. Siegfried, cool beans.
Beowulf is written about in an "epic" style. There is no obstacle so large that you cannot imagine him overcoming it. True, he does fall in the end, but only after completing an impossible task as an old man, and thus not at his peak. Beowulf is written, like Achilles, to emphasize certain virtues.
Conan is written in an exciting style, no doubt, but it is more down to earth. This is true, even though Conan is more than human in many ways. When one actually looks at the Conan stories, he experiences fear in a way that Beowulf never would. He has self doubt, and there must be an underlying mortality to that fear. We worry whether Conan will succeed or die, even in the first Conan tale "Phoenix on the Sword" where he is fighting mortal invaders this remains true.
They are both great heroes, and I think a discussion of their individual merits would be very interesting, but I don't think a deathmatch would be very exciting.
I rather think they would be drinking buddies anyway. Both seem to be equally susceptible to giant mirth and giant melancholy.
I got the best fight ever, Beowulf vs. Machete, who could miss a fight of that caliber.
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This is EXTREMLY BORING !!!!!
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