Summary
Beowulf lies dead, and Wiglaf is bowed down with grief
at the loss of his lord. The dragon, too, lies slain on the ground.
The poet briefly commemorates the beast’s end. Slowly, the Geatish
warriors who had fled from the battle straggle back to the barrow
to find Wiglaf still vainly trying to revive their fallen leader.
The men are ashamed, and Wiglaf rebukes them bitterly, declaring
that all of Beowulf’s generosity has been wasted on them. The cost
of their cowardice, he predicts, will be greater than just the life
of a great ruler. He suggests that foreign warlords will be sure
to attack the Geats now that Beowulf can no longer protect them.
Wiglaf sends a messenger with tidings to the Geats, who
wait nervously for news of the outcome of the battle. The messenger
tells them of Beowulf’s death and warns them that the hostile Franks
and the Frisians will most certainly attack them. He expresses concern about
the Swedes as well, who have a long-held grudge against the Geats;
he relates the history of their feud and tells how the Geats secured
the last victory. Without Beowulf to protect them, the messenger
predicts, the Geats risk invasion by Swedes. The poet confirms that
many of the messenger’s predictions will prove true.
The Geats then rise and go to Beowulf’s body. They discover
also the fearsome, fifty-foot-long corpse of the dragon. It is revealed
that the hoard had been under a spell, so that no person could open
it except by the will of God. Wiglaf recounts Beowulf’s last requests and
readies the people to build his funeral pyre. With seven of the greatest
Geatish thanes, Wiglaf returns to the dragon’s bier to collect the
treasure that Beowulf bought with his life. They hurl the dragon’s
body into the water.
The pyre is built high and decked with armor, according
to Beowulf’s wishes. The body is laid in and the fire is lit—its
roar competes with the sound of weeping. A Geatish woman laments Beowulf’s
death and grieves about the war-torn future that she foresees for
her people. The Geats place Beowulf’s remains on a cliff high above
the sea in a barrow that will be visible to all passing ships. Sorrowfully,
they recount that their king was kind and generous to his people,
fair-minded, and eager to earn praise.
Analysis
The conclusion of the epic begins with a brief but lovely
elegiac passage in honor of the dragon, consigning it, along with
Beowulf, to the company of those who can no longer exercise their
greatness. The poet emphasizes the dragon’s beauty and grace of
movement (“Never again would he glitter and glide” [2832]),
illustrating that the beast was magnificent in its own right and
a worthy match for the great hero. The poet’s admiring words about
the dragon glorify Beowulf’s feat in slaying such a creature and
demonstrate a respect for the slain enemy that Grendel and his mother
never enjoyed. The poet here demonstrates his sensitivity to balance—what
the translator calls “four-squareness”—as he dwells on the two bodies
lying side by side, two remarkable lives come to a close. The symmetry and
pacing in this nostalgic moment help to prepare us for the elaborate
ceremony of the funeral with which the poem concludes. Of course,
the first foreshadowing of Beowulf’s funeral comes much earlier,
with the recounting of the death of Shield Sheafson at the beginning
of the poem. The story has now come full circle.
Wiglaf’s rebuke of his fellow warriors, along with the
messenger’s prophecy about Geatland’s imminent troubles, offers
a great deal of insight into the importance of the warrior-king
figure in early feudal societies. In a world where small societies
are constantly at war over land, wealth, resources, and honor, the
presence of a powerful king is essential to the safety and well-being
of a people. When a king dies, his people become vulnerable to the
marauding forces beyond their borders. The doom that hangs over
the entire narration of Beowulf’s story seems to descend swiftly
upon his people the moment that he dies, and the wailing Geats are
well aware of what the lack of Beowulf’s protection means for them.
Wiglaf suggests as well that the weakness and deficiency of his
fellow warriors will encourage invaders. The Geats have sacrificed
their reputation as valiant warriors by refusing to come to the
aid of their king, and reputation is itself an important layer of
defense. Once word of their cowardice gets out, they will surely
become targets of attack.
