Epic Ending-3

It can be said that Beowulf closes on a somber, elegiac note or a note of mourning. At the end of the epic, Beowulf and eleven warriors are sent to slay the fire-dragon and retrieve its treasure for the Geat people. In the process, the dragon is killed and Beowulf is fatally wounded. All but one of the original warriors stays behind with Beowulf to help fight the dragon. His name is Wiglaf and carries on the throne after Beowulf’s death. Beowulf talks about how he wants to be buried in saying, “order my troop to construct a barrow on a headland on the coast, after my pyre has cooled. It will loom on the horizon at Hronesness and be a reminder among my people-so that in coming times crews under sail will all it Beowulf’s Barrow, as they steer ships across the wide and shrouded waters (line 810).” Beowulf lays out how he wants to be buried and more importantly how he wants to be remembered. He begins unclasping the collar of gold which hung around his neck as well his war shirt and helmet and hands it over to Wiglaf. Their king and protector of about fifty years is dead and his soul has fled to be with the steadfast ones. The last chapter of Beowulf talks about how they mourned for their deceased king, “mourning his loss as a man and a king (line 832).” “So the Geat people, his hearth companions, sorrowed for the lord who had been laid lo. They said that of all the kings upon the earth he was the man most gracious and fair-minded, kindest to his people and keenest to win fame.”