Beowulf: Line2821-3182
Beowulf's Funeral Pyre
Beowulf's Funeral Pyre
• It is hard for Wiglaf to watch his king die.
The poet says that few warriors could
have held out and killed the dragon as
Beowulf had done. The warriors who had
fled now return, ashamed. Wiglaf tries to
revive Beowulf with water, but he can do
nothing because God has decreed that
Beowulf should die.
• Wiglaf rebukes the other warriors. He says
that when Beowulf gave them gifts and
the best armor he had, he was just
throwing weapons away, because these
men were of no use when a battle broke
out. Wiglaf says that when he went to help
Beowulf, he felt new strength welling up
in him. He then predicts a grim future for
the Geats. They will lose everything as
soon as princes from other lands learn
what cowards they are.
• A messenger takes the news of Beowulf's
death to the crowd of retainers that are
waiting at the top of the cliff. He also tells
them that soon there will be war with the
Franks and the Frisians, who have been
enemies of the Geats since the Geat king
Hygelac raided their lands.
• Nor, says the messenger, with there be
any peace with the Swedes, with whom
the Geats have a history of enmity. The
Swede Ongentheow once cornered a Geat
force and threatened to annihilate it, until
Hygelac arrived with a relief force. In the
ensuing battle, Ongentheow was struck by
Wulf, and then killed by Wulf's brother,
Eofor. The Geats were victorious. When
they returned home, Hygelac gave Wulf
and Eofor gifts worth a fortune, as well as
land.
• The messenger is convinced that the feud
with the Swedes will continue when the
Swedes hear of Beowulf's death. He then
says they must go to prepare the royal
funeral pyre, burning the body of Beowulf
with much treasure.
• Going to the scene of the battle, they find
the dragon lying on the ground facing
Beowulf. The dragon is fifty feet long.
The riches he guarded are piled up beside
him.
• Wiglaf ponders Beowulf's fate. Nothing
had been able to stop Beowulf meeting
his destiny. The treasure has been
retrieved, but the price paid is high. Wiglaf
then reports on Beowulf's last wishes, that
a barrow be built in a commanding
position, as a memorial to him.
• Wiglaf says they are to look once more on
the hoard of treasure and then make a bier
for Beowulf. He gives orders for the
funeral pyre, and selects seven warriors to
go with him to collect the remainder of
the treasure. They throw the dragon over
the cliff-top.
• The Geats build a funeral pyre for
Beowulf and place his body in the middle
of it. The pyre is lit. A Geat woman sings
out in grief for Beowulf. She fears the
disasters that may happen to the Geats
now that Beowulf is gone.
• The Geats construct a mound on a
headland. In ten days the work is done.
They bury in the barrow much of the
treasure they found. Twelve warriors ride
around the tomb, chanting dirges. They
praise Beowulf's heroic nature and his
exploits. The Geats mourn for Beowulf,
the most gracious and kind of all the kings
on earth, and the most eager to win
fame.
Key Ideas
• Beowulf ends on an ominous note. There
is a sense that an era has passed for the
Geats, and that the future is grim and
uncertain: "So it is goodbye now to all you
know and love" (line 2884), says Wiglaf to
the other warriors.
Key Ideas
• The end of the epic mirrors the beginning,
in that it deals with the death of a revered
king and describes burial rites. There are
some marked differences, however. The
body of Shield Sheafson was put out to sea
in a boat, while Beowulf was cremated and
his ashes buried under a barrow.
Key Ideas
• Perhaps the Geats had different funeral
rites than the Danes, or perhaps customs
had changed in the four generations that
separated the two heroes. But in death,
the two kings did at least have one thing
in common: they were both dispatched
with their treasure.