Why did the Danes bury the treasure that Beowulf and Wiglaf recovered from the dragon? The Seamus Heaney translation is what we recommend, unless youre up for tackling the poem in the original Old English (and if so, good luck!). He tells us that the stewards sleep who once burnished battle-masks. (including. from your Reading List will also remove any Yet one responsibility of a king is a stable succession. We're sorry, SparkNotes Plus isn't available in your country. Hygelac fell while Beowulf survived thanks to his great strength and swimming ability. The Beowulf dragon was adapted for Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937), one of the forerunners of modern high fantasy. To a greater or lesser extent, it can be seen in much modern fantasy fiction such as that by Tolkien. Already a member? 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. What happens to the dragon and its treasure? The bee theory appears unlikely, however as does the idea that it is from the same root as our word bear, suggesting bearlike strength. 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. This patterning of three three monsters, each of which proves successively more of a challenge to the hero is found in numerous adventure plots. Waking up to find the goblet stolen, the dragon bursts forth from the barrow to hunt the thief, scorching the earth as it travels. 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. What does a hero's death mean to Beowulf's people? 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. In Beowulf, some of the most important symbols are Hrothgar's mead-hall, Grendel's cave, Grendel's arm and head, and the dragon's treasure-trove. Beowulf is indeed a fascinating work and I always look forward to introducing my students to this foundation of hero motifs. We might question Beowulf's wisdom in deciding to fight the serpent alone, rejecting the assistance of his trained warriors. Years pass. 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. Not that it refused to fight when challenged, but that it did not seek out Beowulf or anyone else. At this point, we assume that the gold hoard will be taken out of the dragon's barrow and put to use. Unfortunately, the distinguishing feature of Beowulf's death is that his loyal retainers, with the exception of Wiglaf, failed to come to his aid when Beowulf could have used their help. SparkNotes PLUS Also, Beowulf is most commonly described as an epic poem; the label makes its main character, Beowulf, an epic-hero. [35] Conversely, Kemp Malone writes in "The Kenning in Beowulf" that Beowulf's fight with the dragon receives much critical attention, but that commentators fail to note that "the dragon was no fighter. creating and saving your own notes as you read. All the treasure that the dragon had was put on a ship with I cant quite read the Old English, but I love to read the different translations. As useless to mortals as in foregoing eras. 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. Just as the dead warriors cannot use the treasure, neither can the dragon. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Whereas the earlier clash establishes Beowulfs reputation as a hero, we know this last clash must seal Beowulfs heroic reputation forever. Beowulf becomes king of the Geats and rules well for 50 years. He takes what he can back with him to Beowulf, making haste lest Beowulf should die before he sees what he has won. The problem starts when a fugitive, apparently a runaway slave, stumbles across the dragon's treasure-trove. Frisia Hygelac was killed in an apparently ill-conceived battle with the western Frisians (allies of the Franks), not by King Finn's people of the Finnsburh episode. But what is less well known is that Beowulf has to slay not one big monster, but three: after he has taken care of Grendel, the dead monsters mother shows up, and she proves even more of a challenge for our hero (though ultimately Beowulf triumphs and wins the day). eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! The stories, moreover, are often attached to real persons and localized precisely in time and place. This plot, as our brief summary of Beowulf above suggests,shares many of the typical elements of heroic narratives. 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. Soon, Beowulf'sown throne-hall becomes the target of the dragons fiery breath, and it is burned to the ground. Symbolically, Heorot represents the achievements of the Scyldings, specifically Hrothgar, and their level of civilization. PDFs of modern translations of every Shakespeare play and poem. I certainly realize that it is not perfectly clear whether the treasure was owned by one people or two. Definitions and examples of 136 literary terms and devices. Grendel and his mother, then, are similarly outcasts, something that has been rejected by mainstream society and whose violence must be overcome. The poet recounts the death of King Hygelac in combat in Friesland. In the following post, we offer a short summary ofBeowulf, and an introduction to its main themes. Tolkien expands on Beowulf's dragon in his own fiction, which indicates the lasting impact of the Beowulf poem. . On the cliff outside the barrow, Beowulf speaks to his men, recounting his youth as a ward in King Hrethels court. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. I wanted to share it with you all. The sword melts to its hilt after Beowulf uses it to decapitate Contact us The Arthurian story was passed down for generations, but Beowulf and his bravery forgotten. [10] Job's dragon would have been accessible to the author of Beowulf, as a Christian symbol of evil, the "great monstrous adversary of God, man and beast alike. Teacher Editions with classroom activities for all 1725 titles we cover. The intruder, a slave on the run from a hard-handed master, intends no harm by his theft and flees in a panic with the goblet. This realization isnt exactly a Christian lesson in the transience of earthly things, since no alternative spiritual world is proposed; neither, however, does it reflect a greedy, purely materialistic lust for gold. He commissions a mighty shield from the iron-smith, one that hehopes will stand up against the breath of flame. Is there a work of literature, similar to Beowulf, where the hero fights a monster to save his kingdom? Central Idea Essay: Honor Codes & Heroism. Beowulf is a hero who previously killed two monsters. 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. "[44], In From Homer to Harry Potter: A Handbook on Myth and Fantasy, Matthew Dickerson and David O'Hara argue that the Beowulf poet added the figure of the dragon to "the potthat is ladled out of by most modern fantasy writers"; they argued that both numerous works with villainous dragons, as well as literature with benign dragons like the My Father's Dragon books and the Pern series by Anne McCaffrey, were influenced by Beowulf's dragon. He tells of the accidental killing of one of Hrethels sons by another and attempts to characterize the kings great grief. Raiding at night, the dragon reminds the reader of Grendel, the monster who haunted Hrothgar in his old age and changed the Scylding king's fortunes. Creating notes and highlights requires a free LitCharts account. In northern literature there are only two that are significant we have but the dragon of the Vlsungs, Ffnir, and Beowulf's bane. When Grendel invades the hall, he knows that he strikes at the very heart of the Scyldings. The lengthy passages of recapitulation and reminiscence fill in the details of Beowulfs political biography. PDF downloads of all 1725 LitCharts literature guides, and of every new one we publish. bookmarked pages associated with this title. [29], Wiglaf remains loyal to his king and stays to confront the dragon. What happens in Beowulf, the jewel in the crown of Anglo-Saxon poetry? Fantastic article, it was education and entertaining all at once. Beowulf is a classic overcoming the monster story. Nothing is permanent. All glory is fleeting. Hrethels grief at the accident is great, but because of the peculiar circumstances surrounding his sons death, Hrethel is locked in inaction. Beowulf and his men spend the night at Heorot and wait for Grendel to turn up. 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. The dragon's hoard is buried with Beowulf's ashes. For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more! Accessed 2 May 2023. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. Previous From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. In Beowulf's two earlier battles, Grendel and Grendel's mother are characterized as descendants of Cain: "[Grendel] had long lived in the land of monsters / since the creator cast them out / as the kindred of Cain"[15] and seem to be humanoid: in the poet's rendition they can be seen as giants, trolls, or monsters. Yet Beowulfs premonition of his own death attests to his strong sense of fate, an important component of these characters self-conceptions. In his last moments, Beowulf focuses more on his good qualities as a king than as a warrior. Sometimes God and wyrd are virtually interchangeable in the poem, possibly the result of Christian substitution. But this much constitutes a reasonably complete summary of the plot ofBeowulf. The poem continues to enjoy popularity, thanks to a bestselling translation by Seamus Heaney and a translation by J. R. R. Tolkien, which was only published in 2014. Interesting Literature is a participant in the Amazon EU Associates Programme, an affiliate advertising programme designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by linking to Amazon.co.uk. Youve successfully purchased a group discount. Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership. The Geats have a long feud with the Scylfings. Now I have given my old life/for this treasure hoard; fulfill henceforth/the people's needs; I may stay here no longer. Time is out of joint as the poet reveals the events leading up to Beowulf's becoming king. One sole survivor, who is called the "keeper of rings" (2244), hid the treasures in the high barrow-hall and soon died. The ancient treasures in the hoard once belonged to a regional tribe of warriors who were killed in battle some 300 years previously. From the creators of SparkNotes, something better. Renews May 8, 2023 In lines 2912-2998, he reminds them of past battles between the Geats and other groups, referred to variously as Franks, Frisians, Merovingian, Swedes and Battle-Scylfings. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. "My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." The contrast drawn between Hrothgar, who earlier calls on the young Beowulf to eradicate Grendel, and the now old Beowulf, who enlists no such help against the dragon, accentuates Beowulfs valor and instills in us a confidence that Beowulf is still mighty enough to eradicate a menacing foe. To everyone's alarm, however, a terrifying dragon begins to stalk the countryside at night, destroying homes including Beowulf's great hall with his fiery breath. WebThe dragon is the final test for Beowulf, a test of his wisdom as well as his courage. Thus the characters role is split and this binary role is portrayed in different ways depending on the translation of Beowulf. 361-62.) LitCharts Teacher Editions. The foe he faces is no ordinary foe, and conventional weapons are powerless against it. A great dragon lurks beneath the earth, jealously guarding its treasure, until one day a thief manages to infiltrate the barrow, or mound, where the treasure lies. Beowulf, like Hrothgar, rules well for fifty years. No? Latest answer posted October 01, 2013 at 4:34:04 PM. [27] The dragon's hoard is representative of a people lost and antique, which is juxtaposed against the Geatish people, whose history is new and fleeting. After Beowulf dies, his followers show up. The thief steals a gem-covered goblet, arousing the wrath of the dragon. [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. Beowulf gives his life defeating the dragon and gaining this impressive treasure for his people, but they won't benefit from it either. They are 'inmates of hell', 'adversaries of God', 'offspring of Cain', 'enemies of mankind'.And so Beowulf, for all that he moves in the world of the primitive Heroic Age of the Germans, nevertheless is almost a Christian knight". Major Themes in Beowulf. -Graham S. Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. Well, yes though for a while the chances of Beowulf triumphing are looking less and less likely. It left Beowulf to do the seeking out". 2023 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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. 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. It seems logical that the "noble" race who originally mined the gold and created the treasure could not be the race which wasted away and left only this man. We can compare Beowulf, too, with the legend of King Arthur (which began to appear in written sources around the same time), specifically in terms of the magic sword which the hero of both stories uses in order to fulfil his quest. Meanwhile, his kinsman Wiglaf scolds the other members of the troop for not going in to help, before coming to Beowulf's aid. [1] The scene is structured in thirds, ending with the deaths of the dragon and Beowulf. But this time, hand-to-hand fighting, which had proved handy against Grendel, is equally useless. 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. No, it turns out that the first part of Beowulfs name is more probably related to a pre-Christian god named Beow. . [41], The poet Seamus Heaney, author of a major translation of Beowulf, suggests that Beowulf's attitude towards fighting the dragon reflects his "chthonic wisdom refined in the crucible of experience", that is there is already a "beyond-the-grave aspect" to his resoluteness. They placed in the barrow rings and jewels, All such ornaments as erst in the treasure. Hygelac is killed in battle. Start your 48-hour free trial to get access to more than 30,000 additional guides and more than 350,000 Homework Help questions answered by our experts. Hidden beneath a treacherous mere in the middle of a dark, forbidding swamp, the cave allows them a degree of safety and privacy in a world that they view as hostile. It also looks back to Greek and Roman epics like Homers Odyssey and Virgils Aeneid. Fortunes, however, do change, as Hrothgar predicted. The mutability of time is central to Hrothgar's sermon (1700-84), and it provides the framework for the final third of the poem. The dragon fight, near the end of the poem, is foreshadowed in earlier scenes. Before long, however, the aging warrior focuses on his responsibility as protector and prepares to face the monster in battle. 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. They had a feud with their uncle, Onela, and were temporarily sheltered by Heardred. However, Beowulf is nothing if not devoted to God, country, and duty. bookmarked pages associated with this title. Historical Context Essay: Christianity in Anglo-Saxon Society, Literary Context Essay: Old English Poetry. from your Reading List will also remove any [10] The Beowulf dragon is described with Old English terms such as draca (dragon), and wyrm (reptile, or serpent), and as a creature with a venomous bite. "[13], A study of German and Norse texts reveals three typical narratives for the dragonslayer: a fight for the treasure, a battle to save the slayer's people, or a fight to free a woman. The throne comes to Beowulf, who Lines 2200-2400. WebIn Beowulf, some of the most important symbols are Hrothgar's mead-hall, Grendel's cave, Grendel's arm and head, and the dragon's treasure-trove. 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. Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan! Under Beowulfs reign, the feuding with Sweden eventually ceased when Beowulf avenged Hygelacs death. 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 claw is hung high beneath Heorot's roof (most likely on the outside beneath the gables) as a symbol of Beowulf's victory. Pingback: Happy Tolkien Reading Day! He devotes his life to guarding a treasure that he frankly has no use for. WebWhat happens to the dragon's treasure in Beowulf? Instant PDF downloads. Purchasing Ohthere and Onela Ongentheow's sons, Swedes. Beowulf is a classic overcoming the monster story. This is deliberate. Often a symbol is emblematic of the values of the characters. Beowulf, on the other hand, collected his warriors, on 2-49 accounts, Save 30% for a customized plan. [5], The dragon with his hoard is a common motif in early Germanic literature with the story existing to varying extents in the Norse sagas, but it is most notable in the Vlsunga saga and in Beowulf. Seamus Heaney, Translators Introduction, pp. A great post on one of my favorite works. WebShare Cite. 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. It is set in Denmark, has a Swedish hero, and when read in the original Anglo-Saxon seems almost more German than English. This depiction indicates the growing importance and stabilization of the modern concept of the dragon within European mythology. If, in my first year at Reading University in 1964/65, we had studied Beowulf instead of extracts from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (so dull!) At his death, peace in his lands will end, and his people will again suffer a period of war and hardship. 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). But the poem doesnt begin with Beowulf. They certainly are not welcome at Heorot, and they know it. 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. As the author of this post writes, the morals, tropes, and figures create a bases for understanding many other English works that were to follow, so its interesting to see how relatively young Britain works with this tale and interprets its own history.
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