Ms.Peifer
10 IB English
14 Dec 2008
Beowulf Commentary
From the many words weaved into the book of Beowulf, this passage is part of a significant part of the book. Without this passage, the death of Beowulf would not be as tragic and honorable as it is. It even informs that Beowulf has a son of his own and that he has been a fierce king for fifty years! This passage reinforces a theme like; even the greatest hero shall fall on his feet someday. It also compares the fact this is conveyed through dialogue, not from narration. This is what Beowulf is saying about himself; his life and his emotion. This helps create an emotional effect of how near and depressing Beowulf’s death would be. It is not only conveyed through dialogue, but other factors as well, for example, irony and theme.
In this chosen passage from Beowulf, the messages and details were expressed by the theme, dialogue, and irony with connotations. This is what makes it so effective to include it in the whole story. It is just like a major piece of a puzzle. A theme shown in this passage is that even if you were the best hero on earth, everyone has a day they will encounter the door of death. The theme is shown by, “never did I plot a quarrel,/ never did I swear/ an unjust oath.” (36-39). It is expressing Beowulf’s past; how he had never done a lower than dirt action to anyone, but now he has to die. It is also enforced by, “I ruled the people/ fifty winters.”(28-29). This conveys the meaning that Beowulf has gotten older compared to the battles in his past, such as the battle with Grendel. By saying that someone has ruled for fifty years would come to the point as if fate is going to eat him up. Death will soon come to him from the notification of his old age. Dialogue in this passage is one of the important roles played by the words lurking around it. This passage came out of Beowulf’s own lips, forming them as he speaks to his son, Wiglaf. Dialogue also expresses Beowulf’s feelings. One example would be, “Not one king among/ the neighboring peoples/ dared greet me/ with a sword;” (30-33). In this quote, even without saying something like “Everyone is afraid of me”, you can most likely assume that from these couple of lines. From the use of dialogue, things such as these does not have to be literally narrated to understand the concepts and main points of Beowulf. Another dialogue to support these claims is, “I awaited my destiny well:”(35). This tells us how joyful Beowulf is for this fate at his level of life. Last but not least, irony is a huge part used for the overall passage’s message, for example, “Not one king among/ the neighboring peoples/ dared greet me/ with a sword;”(30-33). The irony behind this is that the word “greeting” is portrayed differently in these lines. It is expressing the fact that the surrounding kingdoms near and far from Beowulf’s own kingdom is only full of fear to Beowulf. They would not even greet him “with a sword” (33) is also a phrase for war or disputes displayed in the sentence from the passage. Another irony shown in this is, “The Ruler of Mankind/ will not charge/ that I murdered a kinsman/ when my life/ departs this body.” (41-45). It is informing about Beowulf’s near death, but it is ironic because it describes Beowulf and his body as if they are two separately different people. This is controlled by the words, “that I murdered a kinsman/ when my life/ departs this body.”(43-44). A final irony in this passage is, “Now should I give my sons/ my battle garments,/ but fate did not grant/ that I have sons.” (18-21). It is ironic due to the fact that it talks about Beowulf having sons, but he is also saying that he doe not have sons. The meaning behind this saying is that Beowulf do have sons, but since now he will start over the life cycle, he would not have sons anymore. These tools used in this passage are important because without them the concept to understand the story would not be in much effect. You would not understand Beowulf’s last feelings too and the theme behind those printed words of Beowulf.
This passage is that it is a great and very fun to read passage. It is chosen because of its charm full of irony with such astonishing meaning. It also has such a great theme behind it that it makes the story so much more wonderful than anyone would expect to get out of this story. It also not only showing that the story is old and adventurous, but also very meaningful with messages lurking on every word. That is why this passage are one of the chosen passages out of all the others that may have been chosen.
Work cited
“The Adventure of Beowulf.” Culture Café at Lonestar Internet. 3 Aug. 2007 13 Dec. 2008.
“The Adventure of Beowulf.” Culture Café at Lonestar Internet. 3 Aug. 2007 13 Dec. 2008.
