Fall of Beowulf

Aung Oo
English 10 IB Prep
Ms.Peifer
Sunday December 14 2008
The Fall of Beowulf
"No king of any neighboring clan would dare face me with troops, no one had the power to intimidate me. I took what came, cared for and stood by things in my keeping, never swore to lie. All this consoles me, doomed as I am and sickening for death; the Ruler of mankind need never blame me when the breath ;leaves my body for murder of kinsmen. Go now quickly, dearest Wiglaf, under the gray stone where the dragon is laid out, lost his treasure: hurry to feast your eyes on the hoard. Away you go: gaze my fill on those garnered jewels; my going will be easier for having seen the treasure, a less troubled letting-go of the life and lordship I have long maintained." (Heaney 2713-2751)

Beowulf was a powerful hero and though to be almost Godly to others. In this quote Beowulf bravely fought a malevolent dragon. Beowulf through his life had been a hero and also a powerful king. He was to be honorable, truthful, and courageous . The theme of his whole story was heroism which he followed to his death. Nearing Beowulf's death it shows us that Beowulf is not yet fully lived his life but he doesn't regret the life he was lived. Beowulf was extreme so was his army, " No king of any neighboring clan would dare face me"(Heaney 2733). No one would dare even challenge Beowulf. Who would when Beowulf singlehandedly destroyed Grendel with his bare hands. And Grendel's mom single handedly as well.

One of the important themes shown was heroism. Beowulf the mighty fought many monsters throughout his life time and how he has fought his last, the fire-breathing dragon. The quotes above were some of Beowulf's last words before he died. " the Ruler of mankind need never blame me when the breath ;leaves my body for murder of kinsmen."(Heaney 2741). What this says is that the ruler of mankind or God doesn't need to blame Beowulf because throughout his life Beowulf was an honorable person and that he can't be blamed for the death of his comrades. Part of what shows his heroism is " No king would dare face me with troops, none had the power to intimidate me."(Heaney 2733). This quote says Beowulf was a fierce yet noble king and no one scared him and he was scared of nothing. His kingdom was expansive and conquered all those who had faced them. It was unexpected that Beowulf dies. Many thought he would live and die of old age but his death was even more honorable. Fighting a dragon who was a threat to his people and in the process killing himself. Beowulf asked Wiglaf if he could just see the treasure "gaze my fill on those garnered jewels; my going will be easier for having seen the treasure"(Heaney 2748). Beowulf was truly a hero to his people and his death only increased honor.

One of the other themes shown in this story was friendship. At first Beowulf and his warriors came to Heorot so they would complete a mission for the king. Many of his warriors got killed in the fight with Beowulf. Wiglaf who has been a dear friend to him sticks him though the battles to come. Wiglaf has been there from the beginning to the end. Throughout their life Wiglaf has been there when Beowulf fought Grendel, Grendel's mom, and the fire-breather. One of the many things that brought Wiglaf and Beowulf was treasure "gaze my fill on those garnered jewels; my going will be easier for having seen the treasure"(Heaney 2748). Beowulf asked Wiglaf to see the treasure one last time. Treasure was one of the many reasons why they became warriors and death was only a little sacrifice to get closer to it. Treasure symbolized their friendship.

Many of the many reasons why this passage was important to Beowulf was its plot. Beowulf was a young man in the beginning of his life and a powerful warrior. Throughout his life he was an effective king.And at the end of his life he died a noble death. Without the passage above Beowulf would've died with honor but it wouldn't be as much as if he died by the dragon with finding treasure for his people. Another reason why this quote was a necessity and important was because Beowulf had a lot to say before he died. It shows his emotions and you can feel that Beowulf is not really ready to die "a less troubled letting-go of the life and lordship I have long maintained "(Heaney 275). When he says "a less troubled letting-go" he meant that he was not yet ready to die but then he couldn't do a thing so change that so he might as well see the treasure before his death to ease the pain of letting go his kingdom and his friends.

Beowulf in the end was still a magnificient warrior. From beginning and end of the Beowulf story he was always honorable, courageous, and faced danger head on. The main themes were heroism and loyalty/friendship. He was a hero to his people and the king of a strong empire. His friends were loyal to him and fought to the death. Wiglaf one of his loyal kinsmen saw him till he died looking at the gold he and his men tried to gain from the beginning of thier expedition. Beowulf even though not fully ready to die is a bit happy that he is going to die because now he could finally be free from all fighting. His death was totally honorable and his legend would live thorugh years to come.

Works CIted:
Heaney, S. (2008). Beowulf: An Illustrated Edition. New York: W.W Norton & Company, Inc.

Beowulf the Strong

In Beowulf's society the men are valued the men a lot. They considered to be born warriors from birth to death. Warriors were like one of the higher ranked people in society. Great men were warriors of great armor and weapons. A warrior's ideal way was to die during combat so they could reach to their "heaven". For example Beowulf was a very powerful warrior and there were none like him. He destroyed many great sea monsters and destroyer of troll nests. "What kind of men are you who arrive rigged out for combat in coats of mail, sailing here over sea-lanes"(Heaney 237). This quote was mentioned by a watchmen meaning that warriors were always or most of the time wore armor with them so that hey could be ready to fight. That was the ideal way of Beowulf and his society.

In the epic of Beowulf they use a lot of kenning to describe objects such as armor and super natural forces such as God. Instead of using the dull word for ocean instead they used the word "whale-road"(Heaney 129). The significance of this kenning was to describe the road that Beowulf had to cross to get to Hrothgar's nation. For armor such as chain mail was described as "mail-shirts"(Heaney 321). And also for plate armor it was called "battle-dress"(Heaney 327). They also used many other titles to describe God such as "Head of the Heavens"(Heaney 183) and "Eternal Lord"(Heaney 208). The significance of using these was to describe how power God was and how he could never perish or be destroyed.

One of the many literary devices used in the story of Beowulf was alliterations. One example of one was " Then out of the night came the shadow-stalker, stealthy and swift"(Heaney 704). This alliteration was used to describe the night that Grendel attacked. It was a dark and scary night. They figured that Grendel would attack but they were still amazed. Grendel came out of the dark as if he was part of the darkness.