Beowulf #6

1. The intruder...treasure would be brief. pg.151-153 (2221-2241) This is the last part of the poem where we encounter the dragon. You can clearly see from these lines what the tone of this section will be. Immediately you see that it is going to be one of death and doom. In one line it says that: he foresaw that his joy in the treasure would be brief. The man who buries the treasure is acting as if this is a terrible and depressing thing to do, like perhaps if he was burying someone who had just died.

2. Pillage and slaughter...up in his heart. pg. 155 (2265-2270) This would be a foreshadow to the end of the Geats and a parallel to what happens to Beowulf's end. It shows that the "earth will be emptied of the entire peoples" meaning Beowulf will meet his end. The Geats will then mourn and move around as if they are alone, meaning that they won't have their king. Thus, without their great leader to protect them..their days will come to an end.

3. The intruder...treasure would be brief. pg 151-153 (2221-2241) This sets up the idea that treasure itself has no value, it's the people who give it value. In the beginning treasure is looked as a great thing, resembling honor, pride, value, people give it this value after being victorious...then here you see that treasure is looked at as something more like evil, greed, theft, or death, as this lone survivor is burying it because he believes it to be of no use to anyone because him, like his ancestors, are all destined to die.

4. And so the son...face with the dragon. pg. 163 (2397-2400) This fits the theme of fate. Perhaps it was Beowulf's time to die, and the dragon does this deed for him. Every legendary warrior's life must come to an end. It is Beowulf's time. He has done so many remarkable things, killed Grendel, killed Grendel's mother, kept peace for 50 years. Beowulf is old now, his life is coming to an end, and he predicts this himself.

5. For the eldest...of his own brother. Idea of kin-killing. Hygelac becomes king because he killed his own brother. Hrethel is then so stunned and ashamed that his own so killed his own sibling that he dies of grief. He gave up the will to live. This ties back to the Finnsburg episode again when the Danish princesses son and brother are both on opposite sides fighting against one another. They both die because of this, you could consider this kin-killing as well. This then puts her in an emotional state, just not quite to her death-bed.