ln2999-3003
"So this bad blood between us and the swedes, this vicious feud, they will cross our borders and attack in force...Beowulf is dead."
Tone: very dark and hopeless. Theme: feuds, although they have been at peace for some time, now that the Swedes have an upper hand the old blood will come back. this shows just how much Beowulf affected life.
ln 3051-3057
"That huge cache, gold inherited from an ancient race, was under a spell...no one was allowed to enter that ring hall unless god himself,...allowed someone, pleasing to Him... to open the hoard."
The cache is cursed.. if the dragon and Beowulf are parallel in that they both hoard something (gold for the dragon and pride for Beowulf) and the dragons hoard is cursed then Beowulf's pride is cursed. It is Beowulf's pride that eventually kills him. Also it is the dragons gold that he is killed for even though it does the keeper no good.
ln 3074-3075
"Yet Beowulf's gaze at the gold treasure when he first saw it had not been selfish."
Shows again what Beowulf's main motivation is in life.. If he isn't killing the dragon for treasure then it must be for fame. Beowulf needs no more treasure, and if he got it then it would go to his warriors.
ln 3100
"his worth and due as a warrior were the greatest."
Theme: good warrior. Beowulf was the best warrior that there could be... However, he was a warrior before a king which is another of his possible tragic flaws. Why don't they think he was a good king?
ln3169-3172
" Then twelve warriors rode around the tomb, chieftain's sons, champions in battle, all of them distraught, chanting in dirges, mourning his loss as a man and a king."
Again with 12.. possibly the twelve disciples.. Are they the twelve men who Beowulf chose to go with him to fight the dragon? They lament him as a "king and a man" but not a warrior... if he was loved earlier for his warrior spirit, and now for his kingship and as an all-around great man then he must have good traits in all of those aspects of life. Why 12?
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Good comment comparing the dragon and Beowulf. Perhaps Beowulf's treasure is the curse that kills him and his country.
ReplyDeleteGood question about why 12? What happened to Judas?