Grendel and his mother, then, are similarly outcasts, something that has been rejected by mainstream society and whose violence must be overcome. At this point, we assume that the gold hoard will be taken out of the dragon's barrow and put to use. An Interesting Summary | the shadows illuminated, https://goodmusicspeaks.wordpress.com/good-music-speaks-podcast-3/. Because Beowulf's own hall was one of the homes destroyed by the dragon, the king, too, will seek revenge. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. The fight with the dragon symbolizes Beowulf's stand against evil and destruction, and, as the hero, he knows that failure will bring destruction to his people after many years of peace. [21] The people's fate depend on the outcome of the fight between the hero and the dragon, and, as a hero, Beowulf must knowingly face death. [14] The characteristics of Beowulf's dragon appear to be specific to the poem, and the poet may have melded together dragon motifs to create a dragon with specific traits that weave together the complicated plot of the narrative. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. Pingback: Happy Tolkien Reading Day! The treasure is to be buried rather than shared by It was only rescued from obscurity in 1815, when an Icelandic-Danish scholar named Thorkelin printed an edition of the poem. Lines 1888-2199. The hoard, because it stands as a symbol of betrayal, is put into Beowulf's barrow where it lies for all time as "useless to men" as when it lay in the dragon's barrow. Sometimes it can end up there. Now, ready to face one last adversary, Beowulf gathers eleven men to investigate the area. This plot, as our brief summary of Beowulf above suggests,shares many of the typical elements of heroic narratives. If you enjoyed this brief summary of, and introduction to,Beowulf, then you can learn more about the poem hereat the British Library website. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. The pattern is the establishment of the house of the Geats, the rescue of the house of Heorot by destroyng the house of Grendel, and the end of the house of the Geats with Beowulf. In his last moments, Beowulf focuses more on his good qualities as a king than as a warrior. [6] Beowulf preserves existing medieval dragon-lore, most notably in the extended digression recounting the Sigurd/Fafnir tale. SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. Hrothgar's great mead-hall, Heorot ("Hall of the Hart"), functions as both setting and symbol in the epic. The poem then ends with Beowulf, now in his twilight years, slaying a third monster (this time, a dragon), although this encounter proves his undoing, as he is fatally wounded in the battle. Beowulf is the first piece of English literature to present a dragonslayer. We read a snippet of Beowulf in Jr. High School (the dragon part) and Ive always found the story fascinating. The treasure also brings about Beowulfs death. Possibly the poems Christian narrator sees greed for treasure as a kind of spiritual death, suffered by pagans who value treasure over Heaven. The dragon hoards his treasure in a barrow, that is, a grave. But this next conflict will prove even more difficult: as well as swords being useless, the strong sword (Hrunting) given to Beowulf by Unferth will also be powerless against Grendels mother. Now I have given my old life/for this treasure hoard; fulfill henceforth/the people's needs; I may stay here no longer. The emphasis on the treasure itself in this section rehashes the moral ambiguity of materialism caused by the overlaying of a Christian value system on a pagan story. Grendel's mother also sees it as a symbol, representing her personal loss and mankind's macabre sense of what might be an appropriate trophy. The dragon is the final test for Beowulf, a test of his wisdom as well as his courage. By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University). He could approach with a full army but supposedly bases his decision on former triumphs over Grendel and the mother. Not that it refused to fight when challenged, but that it did not seek out Beowulf or anyone else. The odds continue to be stacked against our hero, the difficulties multiplying, the tension raised to an almost unbearable pitch. In the Septuagint, Job's monster is characterized as a draco, and identified with the devil. Beowulf and a troop of men leave to find the dragon's lair. Instant PDF downloads. The parallel in the story lies with the similarity to Beowulf's hero Sigemund and his companion: Wiglaf is a younger companion to Beowulf and, in his courage, shows himself to be Beowulf's successor. Hetware technically, the Chattuarii; here indistinguishable from Frisians; joined with Franks against Hygelac. Men must endure their going hence, as Shakespeare has it inKing Lear (a line borrowed for C. S. Lewiss tombstone). The story is about overcoming an evil foe, only to have to give way to death at the end: even heroes must accept that they will not live forever, even if their names will. The stories, moreover, are often attached to real persons and localized precisely in time and place. I have a copy of Beowolf which I confess to my shame Ive never read despite it being on my shelf for more than 30 years. WebThe defeat of his people had left the treasures to deteriorate. [36] In his 1935 work Beowulf and the Seventh Century, Ritchie Girvan writes that Beowulf should be seen as having some degree of historical accuracy despite the presence of a dragon in it; he argues that "Tales of dragons as well as a belief in dragons survived till recent times, and the popular mind is apt to accept with credulity stories of water-monsters. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. No? On his return from Heorot, where he killed Grendel and Grendel's mother, Beowulf becomes king of the Geats and rules wisely for fifty years until a slave awakens and angers a dragon by stealing a jewelled cup from its lair. His imagined elegy foreshadows Beowulf's death and elegy to come. This is available in the Norton Critical Edition of. Everyone is dead. Here are all of the passages which tell us about the treasure, the barrow, and the two peoples who held the treasure over the past 1,000 years (which could be an indeterminate, "poetical" sort of 1,000 years), before it was discovered by the slave in the Beowulf story (the translation is from Chickering): The following notes on the dragon's treasure are from Frederick Rebsamen, page 70: Now, however, I think that the evidence for two peoples is clearly indicated in lines 2247-2252 and 3047-3057. When the angry dragon mercilessly burns the Geats' homes and lands, Beowulf decides to fight and kill the monster personally. Tolkien also argues that Beowulfs death following his combat with the dragon represents a fitting and more elemental end for the hero, who had successfully vanquished the monster Grendel and Grendels mother (who, although not human, were nevertheless closer to man than a dragon). The foe he faces is no ordinary foe, and conventional weapons are powerless against it. Wiglaf excoriates them for their cowardice in leaving their king to fight the dragon by himself. Wiglaf decides that the treasure hoard, because it is tainted by the cowardice of the men who should have supported Beowulf, should become part of Beowulf's funeral pyre and barrow: . In ending with the tale of a dragon attempting to defend a mound of treasure, the poem prefigures not only the works of J. R. R. Tolkien (who, as well as being the author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, was also an influential Anglo-Saxon scholar who translated Beowulfandwrote an important article on it of which more below) but also, more surprisingly, other poems like Lewis Carrolls nonsense masterpiece, Jabberwocky. from your Reading List will also remove any The tribe's fortunes have turned. This is why it is odd that the story of the poem is generally thought of as Beowulf versus Grendel. to start your free trial of SparkNotes Plus. Beowulfs call for the dragon to face him on open ground has the same primal feel to it as his youthful decision to fight Grendel unarmed. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. WebWhat happens with the dragon's treasure at the end of the story, and what could this symbolize? Beowulf feels that death will be easier to bear if he can look at the treasure with his own eyes. It is a place of light, warmth, and joy, contrasting with Grendel's morbid swamp as well as the dark and cold of winters in Scandinavia. "Cain's monstrous progeny in Beowulf: part I, Noachic tradition", "The Dragon-Lore of Middle-earth: Tolkien and Old English and Old Norse Tradition", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_dragon_(Beowulf)&oldid=1136193441, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 29 January 2023, at 05:14. Courageous and determined, if not quite the man he once was, the old warrior sets off. As Beowulf fights Grendels mother, where are his companions, and what are they thinking? The dragon chanced upon the hoard and has been guarding it for the past three hundred years. Butthe monster which is described as resembling a troll cannot be killed with a blade, as Beowulf soon realises. And although it is seen as the starting-point of great English literature at many universities, it is still the earliest literary text studied as part of the literary canon it is very different from other medieval poetry, such as that by Chaucer or Langland, who were writing many centuries later. By entering your email address you agree to receive emails from SparkNotes and verify that you are over the age of 13. Talking of Tolkien, it was his influential 1936 essay, Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics, which was really responsible for a shift in the way that people read Beowulf. He repeatedly tells us that Beowulf is about to meet his death. Tolkien was also heavily influenced by the old Norse (Norwegian/Icelandic) prose Edda and Voluspa; this was where he found the names of his dwarves. Tolkien also argued that the poem is not an epic but anelegy, ending as it does with the moving account of its heros funeral. By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy. What qualities characterize Beowulf as a hero? It is only as a means of creating bonds in society that treasure has value. [4] Although the dragons of hagiography were less fierce than the dragon in Beowulf, similarities exist in the stories such as presenting the journey to the dragon's lair, cowering spectators, and the sending of messages relaying the outcome of the fight. Our, "Sooo much more helpful thanSparkNotes. Which passages might reflect a specifically Anglo-Saxon philosophy of life? For 300 years, the dragon has peacefully guarded a treasure-trove, originally the riches of a now-defunct tribe but long hidden in a "high barrow-hall, / towering stone-mound" (2212-13). What this tells us, I think, is how deep-rooted is the human need for the idea of the stranger who rides (all right, comes by boat) into town, deals with the monster/fear/rich landowner/evil bandit who is terrorising the townfolk and rides out again. The poem actually begins with Scyld Sheffings funeral, and it ends with Beowulfs. After the dragon is killed, Beowulf tells Wiglaf to look for the dragon's treasure and to bring it to him. Beowulf has an almost divine strength, but also something primal and temporal, but just as valuable: the courage of a wolf. Beowulf also takes pains to protect his fame even in death through the creation of his barrow. WebThe dragon is the final test for Beowulf, a test of his wisdom as well as his courage. An Interesting Summary | the shadows illuminated. There is an element of the final part of Beowulf which is overshadowed by the fight with the dragon and by Beowulf's death, but which I think is worth thinking about: the history of the dragon's treasure. Beowulf had hoped to have an entire Grendel body to present to King Hrothgar after his battle with the ogre in Heorot. Complete your free account to request a guide. The dragon is the opposite of a good king, hoarding treasure instead of rewarding loyalty and building a society. Historical Context Essay: Christianity in Anglo-Saxon Society, Literary Context Essay: Old English Poetry. Beowulf then asks that a barrow be built on a cliff overlooking the sea that sea travelers will later call Beowulf's barrow. Under Beowulfs reign, the feuding with Sweden eventually ceased when Beowulf avenged Hygelacs death. Just as the dead warriors cannot use the treasure, neither can the dragon. What happens to the dragon and its treasure? 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The central section is the killing of the monsters. Beowulf and his men spend the night at Heorot and wait for Grendel to turn up. Beowulf is indeed a fascinating work and I always look forward to introducing my students to this foundation of hero motifs. This is, of course, because Anglo-Saxon (i.e. ", Peter Gainsford noted in the article "The Deaths of Beowulf and Odysseus: Narrative Time and Mythological Tale Types" that "In the twenty-first century Beowulf does not lack for commentators to defend the literary merit of the dragon episode". Beowulf is a classic overcoming the monster story. The other is dark and dank and full of evil, beneath a mere in the middle of a fen and the symbolic home of resentful outcasts. The legend of the dragon-slayer already existed in Norse sagas such as the tale of Sigurd and Fafnir, and the Beowulf poet incorporates motifs and themes common to dragon-lore in the poem. However, in order to be recognized as heroic hero, Beowulf must participate in society in some meaningful way. Fifty years pass with Beowulf in charge, when a local dragon is angered when a slave enters its lair and takes a cup from its treasure. on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% In lines 3156-3168, it is reported that the treasure was buried (not burned, as the messenger had recommended) in Beowulf's funeral mound, along with his ashes (after he was burned), and that the treasure that was buried included the things that Wiglaf and the others had taken from the dragon's cave after Beowulf's death. You can view our. Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaneys translation in particular equates Beowulf with the dragon, another other figure, in a way that is not replicated by the other translators to emphasize Beowulfs role as a distinct hero. The mutability of time is central to Hrothgar's sermon (1700-84), and it provides the framework for the final third of the poem. Beowulf now is clearly an old man. Soon, Beowulf'sown throne-hall becomes the target of the dragons fiery breath, and it is burned to the ground. They certainly are not welcome at Heorot, and they know it. Beowulf could have become king sooner but was more loyal than ambitious. He takes what he can back with him to Beowulf, making haste lest Beowulf should die before he sees what he has won. The poets explicit comparison between Hygelac, who died, and Beowulf, who lived, in the combat in Friesland similarly builds our expectations that Beowulf will succeed in his quest. But because the specific details of the story are not widely known, numerous misconceptions about the poemabound. At line 2999, he says that these past battles are the reason why he is expecting trouble to rain down on the Geats, and so, at line 3010, he says that the treasure should be burned in its entirety in Beowulf's funeral pyre. for a customized plan. Contact us Grendel's head, which he is able to find after a strange, perhaps holy brilliance illuminates the dimly lighted cave, is much more impressive. | Always aware of his battle gear, he orders a new shield to replace his old linden-wood protector; this one is to be covered with the strongest iron. Thus, the poem gives us the feeling that this clash can end only in total destruction. Latest answer posted September 20, 2017 at 7:28:10 PM. After Beowulf, with Wiglaf's aid, destroys the dragon, Beowulf is mortally wounded, but as he looks around at the treasure hoard, he says. Interestingly, Beowulf's initial reaction is a feeling of guilt. WebThe Danes bury the treasure because this was one of Beowulf's last commands before dying after fighting the dragon. Years pass. In the 2007 film version, the dragon is Grendel's younger half-brother as he's the son of the latter's mother and Beowulf whom he ironically ends up killing in the end of the movie. [25] An embattled society without "social cohesion" is represented by the avarice of the "dragon jealously guarding its gold hoard",[26]and the elegy for Beowulf becomes an elegy for the entire culture. In lines 3151-3155, a woman sings a grief song, in which she says that she fears that the Geats will soon experience invasion, death, slavery, shame, and terror. . There are more than 85 translations of Beowulf, and each one is slightly biased in its interpretation. He takes what he can back with him to Beowulf, making haste [38] W. P. Ker criticized the inclusion of Beowulf's fight with the dragon and his subsequent death in the poem, writing "It is as if to the end of the Odyssey there had been added some later books telling in full of the old age of Odysseus, far from the sea, and his death at the hands of Telegonus". Now an old king, Beowulf grieves and wonders what he might have done to deserve such punishment from God. As translator Seamus Heaney points out in his introduction, the idea of gold in the Sigemund episode is associated almost entirely with goodness and honor, while here it is also associated with greed, theft, evil, and death. Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs No, it turns out that the first part of Beowulfs name is more probably related to a pre-Christian god named Beow. $18.74/subscription + tax, Save 25% bookmarked pages associated with this title. They took the metals from the earth, and the Keeper now returns the treasures to it. Beowulf hears that Grendel is killing Hrothgars men at Heorot and so our hero departs from home to go and help rid Heorot of this monster. The foreshadowing is even more specific immediately after Beowulf orders his new shield; the poet bluntly reveals that the king is "to reach the end of his seafaring days, / his life in this world, together with the serpent" (242-43). The film being referenced in the comment above by poetmcgonagall, is a film adaptation of Michael Crightons excellent Eaters of the Dead which gives a facinating take on the Beowulf/Grendel legend. [17][18], Beowulf's fight with the dragon has been described variously as an act of either altruism[19] or recklessness. Very Interesting. Free trial is available to new customers only. He believes that he has somehow offended God. Major Symbols in. A lone Geat fugitive, apparently a servant or slave escaping a cruel master, has stolen a single flagon from the hoard, outraging the dragon and inciting him to vengeance. The dragon fight is foreshadowed with earlier events: Scyld Shefing's funeral and Sigmund's death by dragon, as recounted by a bard in Hrothgar's hall. They wish each other luck in the fight that will follow, and Beowulf has a premonition of his own death. The building is like a palace. Hrethels grief at the accident is great, but because of the peculiar circumstances surrounding his sons death, Hrethel is locked in inaction. Instant downloads of all 1725 LitChart PDFs Beowulf is the oldest extant heroic poem in English and the first to present a dragon slayer. This section moves us into the third part of the poem, which centers around the aged Beowulfs fight with the dragon. Beowulf, on the other hand, collected his warriors, WebThe fight with the dragon symbolizes Beowulf's stand against evil and destruction, and, as the hero, he knows that failure will bring destruction to his people after many years of The dragon was cut in two by Beowulf before he died. from your Reading List will also remove any Complete your free account to access notes and highlights, Beowulf: The producers showed some respect for scholarship by including authentic details, for instance the rituals surrounding the ship burial of a Viking chief. The dragon's treasure-trove poignantly represents the vanity of human wishes as well as the mutability of time. The poet has aligned Beowulf with the force of good throughout the story, and the dragons direct attack on Beowulfs hall renders this imminent encounter an inevitable clash between good and evil. I think it is because people could relate to, and thus embrace, the faults of Arthur over the heroism in Beowulf. Time always wins. Detailed quotes explanations with page numbers for every important quote on the site. Also, Beowulf is most commonly described as an epic poem; the label makes its main character, Beowulf, an epic-hero. A literary symbol is something, often an object, that stands for a significant concept or series of ideas. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. Already a member? The original text plus a side-by-side modern translation of. [12], The third act of the poem differs from the first two. But this action has consequences, and is in fact merely the prologue to a bigger conflict that must take place: that between Beowulf and Grendels mother. He ignores the vast treasure in the cave, instead choosing to carry the magnificent, huge head as symbolic of his victory over both ogres. What are the Christian elements in "Beowulf"? Queen Hygd offered Beowulf the throne after her husband (Hygelac) died, thinking that her young son (Heardred) was unable to protect the kingdom; Beowulf refused but served the young king faithfully. Complete your free account to access notes and highlights. Beowulf, despite his tendency to boast a bit (isnt that where we get kennings? Wiglaf kills the dragon halfway through the scene, Beowulf's death occurs "after two-thirds" of the scene,[32] and the dragon attacks Beowulf three times. Ruler's favor God's preference. Many critics and teachers believe that Beowulf contains themes that are relevant to modern life. The problem starts when a fugitive, apparently a runaway slave, stumbles across the dragon's treasure-trove. Summary and Analysis Before long, however, the aging warrior focuses on his responsibility as protector and prepares to face the monster in battle. Purchasing In addition, the poem Havamal also speaks of how everyone must die, except a mans reputation. How utterly fascinating! I guess the rule of three is viscerally satisfying! By declining the throne and taking on the guardianship of the young heir until the heir comes of age, Beowulf shows that his attitude toward power is neither ambitious nor mercenary. LitCharts Teacher Editions. This is a matter of some conjecture, with guesses ranging anywhere between the eighth century and the first half of the eleventh century. Beowulfs name, by the way, was long thought to mean bee-wolf, as in the two animals. The poet relates that many centuries earlier, the last survivor of an ancient race buried the treasure in the barrow when he realized that the treasure would be of no use to him because he, like his ancestors, was destined to die. [24] Before he faces the dragon, Beowulf thinks of his past: his childhood and wars the Geats endured during that period, foreshadowing the future. Although the analogy might seem a little crude, the mechanics of the plot are not so far removed from, say, a James Bond or Indiana Jones film, or a fast-paced fantasy novel or superhero comic strip. A great post on one of my favorite works. the language of the Angles and Saxons from north Germany)wasOld English (the two terms are used synonymously), and at the very latest the poem was written down some time in the early eleventh century, before 1066 and the Norman invasion, which would bring many French words into English and would pave the way for Middle English (or the English of the Middle Ages). The habit is so well known that examples are superfluous". He cuts the dragon in the belly to reduce the flames, and Beowulf deals the fatal blow. Yet Beowulfs premonition of his own death attests to his strong sense of fate, an important component of these characters self-conceptions.