Ending of Beowulf

Some of this we touched on in class and I would also like to propose some other questions I have about this book in my blogpost:

1) I do not particularly think that Beowulf's death was justified or honorable, considering that he inserted himself into yet another situation he didn't necessarily belong in. He did that with Grendel and it turned out bad for him as well, acknowledging the retaliation from Grendel's mother when Beowulf defeated him. Now, 50 years later, when he is not as sharp as when he was young and has the responsibility of ruling a kingdom, he decides to go fight a dragon. In this case, to die for the honor, in my opinion, was not worth it.

2) How does everyone feel about how Beowulf is depicted towards the end of the book. I do find it quite ironic that we have to wait until the end of the story that Beowulf's upbringing was not as extravagant or honorable as the average warrior. Does that make everyone like/respect him more?

3) I thought it was kind of hypocritical of Beowulf to punish the slave, who has no fighting ability, the way that he did. It was hypocritical, because the slave, once again, inserted himself into this situation, which Beowulf has done plenty of times in the past.

Comments

  1. Chelsea MannSeptember 25, 2017 at 7:20 AM

    I agree that Beowulf's death was not as honorable as it is portrayed. Along with the point you mentioned about getting involved when he shouldn't have, he was not smart about the way he decided to get involve. At his age, he should have known better than to try and fight the dragon alone. He was clearly not strong enough and needed help, but let his pride get in the way. While he does manage to kill the dragon, he could have never done it without Wiglaf and never once does he thank him for his help or his loyalty. In my opinion Beowulf got what he deserved for being too prideful.

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