Beowulf (the Norse saga) inspired adventures?

[SJE]

It occurs to me that Traveller has always had the Free Trader Beowulf, and it's also got the Sword Worlds, with their Norse history loving inhabitents- so have there been any Traveller adventures inspired by the great saga/poem Beowulf, adapting the story of the titular hero and Grendel the monster in Hrothgar's hall?

 

[Timerover51]

It occurs to me that Traveller has always had the Free Trader Beowulf, and it's also got the Sword Worlds, with their Norse history loving inhabitents- so have there been any Traveller adventures inspired by the great saga/poem Beowulf, adapting the story of the titular hero and Grendel the monster in Hrothgar's hall?

I would have to think about possible adventures, but my Piper-Norton Out Rim Sector has a Beowulf sub-sector. I was thinking of patterning the planet "Beowulf" after the one in Piper's Space Viking, but some of the other planets will be named from "Beowulf". I do have Scandinavian "Space Vikings", a mix of Icelanders, Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes. The Finns have their own sub-sector.

Hmm, maybe a twisted Krell survivor for Grendel? Put on brain back burner to let simmer for a while.

At one time, I could read "Beowulf" in the Old English, not any more though. I do like Tolkein's essay, "Beowulf: the Monsters and the Critics."

 

[GypsyComet]

To some extent, Hrothgar's Hall is echoed in every Merc ticket where you are being hired by the losing side in order to turn a conflict around. And if, having beaten the initial Grendel Inc trooper who brought black market battledress to a pre-stellar theater, you then go after his supply base, you are also echoing the battle with Grendel's mother.

Win the war, take over the place, get settled in, and get the Imperial Marines called on you, and there you have Beowulf's dragon...

 

[Timerover51]

To some extent, Hrothgar's Hall is echoed in every Merc ticket where you are being hired by the losing side in order to turn a conflict around. And if, having beaten the initial Grendel Inc trooper who brought black market battledress to a pre-stellar theater, you then go after his supply base, you are also echoing the battle with Grendel's mother.

Win the war, take over the place, get settled in, and get the Imperial Marines called on you, and there you have Beowulf's dragon...

Aside from the fact that in the Beowulf epic, Beowulf does not take over Hrothgar's country, but returns home to his Geats, and is chosen their king, where is the epic story in that account?

Where is the inspiration for succeeding generations to look at Beowulf, and say that he died well, along with the loyalty of Wiglaf staying with his king while the others fled?

 

[SJE]

I have an idea for mixing Beowulf with the Andromeda Strain to create a game called The Grendel Strain.

However I was wondering if there had been any official publications or adventures which covered the saga or use it as inspiration?

 

[Timerover51]

I have an idea for mixing Beowulf with the Andromeda Strain to create a game called The Grendel Strain.

However I was wondering if there had been any official publications or adventures which covered the saga or use it as inspiration?

To the best of my knowledge, no. You might want to check with Aramis on that.

 

[GypsyComet]

where is the epic story in that account?

"Inspired by" has many shades. The scenario core is an easy one to find echoes of, which was my point. If you are looking to echo not just the story arc but instead the full mythmaking potential, you simply can't succeed on paper alone. That's going to need a Ref and players who are in the zone, and dice which are almost complicit.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

If you are looking to echo not just the story arc but instead the full mythmaking potential, you simply can't succeed on paper alone. That's going to need a Ref and players who are in the zone, and dice which are almost complicit.

Truth.

 

[Fovean]

Just saw the over at the En World forum...

The second game in the line up is BEOWULF – a mythic setting again for 5e. Promising similarly tailored rules, BEOWULF stands out as being designed for two players – the GM and the Hero. The Handiwork site has this to say:

“One of the oldest recorded stories in Western Europe, Beowulf is an epic tale of hero against monster. And then the monster's mother. And then a dragon. 

BEOWULF is a setting and rules set for 5th Edition, designed primarily for duet play - one GM and one player.



BEOWULF presents a host of new and specially adapted rules to create epic and thematic adventures for your lone hero and his or her companions. 

Explore Migration Era Europe and beyond, solve mysteries, and do battle with dreadful monsters. 

With writing and rules design from hand-picked 5e and folklore geniuses, and with art from Jon Hodgson and friends, BEOWULF will be a thing of epic wonder.”

from Handiwork Games

 

[SJE]

An alternative, but related questiion- what is established in the canon or fiction about the Free Trader Beowulf? Who crews it, and what trouble does it get into historically to issue a Signal GK?