2 May 22 – Beowulf #21 - FINAL

 The Burning

As we come to the final entry in our epic poem, we can look back and remember the heroic deeds accomplished by Beowulf: killing Grendel, killing Grendel’s avenging mother, and killing the Dragon who also delivers Beowulf’s fatal wound. Three monsters. Three times a hero – at least in the traditional chivalric sense. As a side note, one accomplishment that is missing in Beowulf’s brave life is love. Several queens appear in the story, but nary a hint of the romantic for Beowulf. Guess he’s too busy, ahem, slaying dragons.

One other challenge that is much secondary in the legend is the rustlings and wrestling of war in Scandinavia. From Beowulf’s time, the sixth century, semi-legendary descriptions of battles come down to us. The conflicts between the Swedes and the Geats are a secondary narrative in Beowulf; however, hardly the center of attention. Perhaps that is because little has survived of such battles in the Norse sagas. Beowulf, therefore, becomes all the more precious. No matter the mix of truth and imagined legend, our epic gives us a multi-layered look into the mores and customs of sixth century Scandinavia. “Beyond here there be dragons.” Since the 6th century is shrouded in speculation, who knows? Maybe hulking monsters, swamp hags, and dragons did go bump in the night.

That said, today’s final segment is still about one man – the hero, the fool, the good king, the leader of his people, the defender of his tribe. Our Beowulf. 

And now . . .

Then Weohstan’s son, stalwart to the end,      3110

Had orders given to owners of dwellings, 

Many people of importance in the land, 

To fetch wood from far and wide

For the good man’s pyre.

“Now shall flame consume

Our leader in battle, the blaze darken

Round him who stood his ground in the steel-hail, 

When the arrow-storm shot from bowstrings 

Pelted from the shield-wall. The shaft hit home.

Feather-fledged, it finned the barb in flight.”

Next the wise son of Weohstan    3120

Called from among the king’s thanes

A group of seven: he selected the best

And entered with them, the eighth of their number,

Under the God-cursed roof; one raised

A lighted torch and led the way.

No lots were cast for who should loot the hoard 

For it was obvious to them that every bit of it 

Lay unprotected within the vault,

There for the taking. It was no trouble

To hurry to work and haul out    3130

The priceless store. 

They pitched the dragon

Over the cliff top, let tide’s flow

And backwash take the treasure-minder. 

Then coiled gold was loaded on a cart

In great abundance, and the gray-haired leader, 

The prince of his bier, born to Hronesness.

The Geat people built a pyre for Beowulf, 

Stacked, and decked it until it stood four-square,

Hung with helmets, heavy war-shields

And shining armor, just as he had ordered. 3140

Then his warriors laid him in the middle of it, 

Mourning a lord far-famed and beloved.

On a height they kindled the hugest of all

Funeral fires; fumes of wood smoke 

Billowed darkly up, the blaze roared

And drowned out their weeping, wind died down

And flames wrought havoc in the hot bone-house, 

Burning it to the core. 

They were disconsolate

And wailed aloud for their lord’s decease.

A Geat woman too sang out in grief:       3150

With hair bound up, she unburdened herself

Of her worst fears, a wild litany

Of nightmare and lament: her nation invaded,

Enemies on the rampage, bodies in piles,

Slavery and abasement. 

Heaven swallowed the smoke.

Then the Geat people began to construct

A mound on a headland, high and imposing, 

A marker that sailors could see from far away,

It was their hero’s memorial

what remained from fire         3160

They housed inside it, behind a wall

As worthy of him as their workmanship could make it. 

And they buried torques in the barrow, and jewels 

And a trove of such things as trespassing men

Had once dared to drag from the hoard.

They let the ground keep that ancestral treasure,

Gold under gravel, gone to earth,

As useless to men now as it ever was.

Then twelve warriors rode around the tomb,

Chieftain’s sons, champions in battle,     3170

All of them distraught, chanting in dirges, 

Mourning his loss as a man and a king.

They extolled his heroic exploits

And gave thanks for his greatness 

which was the proper thing, 

for a man should praise a prince whom he holds dear

And cherish his memory when that moment comes 

When he has to be convoyed from his bodily home.

So the Geat people, his hearth companions, 

Sorrowed for the lord who had been laid low.

They said that of all the kings upon the earth      3180

He was the man most gracious and fair-minded, 

Kindest to his people and keenest to win fame.

Background – In the Final Analysis

The dragon represents at least two major limitations of the heroic code. First, the question of whether Beowulf should fight the dragon catches him between two conflicting rules: the rule that requires a warrior to show unyielding courage and seek fame, and the rule that requires a king to remain alive so he can protect his people. After Beowulf’s death, Wiglaf says that he chose wrongly: “when one man follows his own will / many are hurt” (ll.3077-8). A more significant limitation arises from the fact that even an exemplary warrior, like Beowulf, must eventually meet a foe he cannot overcome (even if it’s just old age, as in Hrothgar’s case). Beowulf’s death is the perfect warrior’s death: before he succumbs, he manages to slay a mighty opponent and secure a huge hoard of treasure for his people. Nevertheless, his death is a disaster. At his funeral, his people foresee “enemies on the rampage, bodies in piles, / slavery and abasement” (ll. 3154-5). We are left with a sense that even if there is much to admire about the warrior code, ultimately it is tragically misguided.

Exploration 1: Yes, Beowulf was a monster slayer, a warrior, and a king. But exactly what was it that made him “far-famed and beloved?”

Exploration 2: What do you suppose was the reason for the fiery funeral?

Exploration 3: Through the centuries, the “heroic code” has been (and is?) deeply embedded in cultures around the world. Prowess exhibits through tasks of great difficulty done. If you were charged with creating the principles of a heroic code for the United States, a) create it for status quo, and if you are ambitions, b) fashion one that could be applicable in the future. Of course, the latter depends on your view of humanity’s qualities in the future.