Beowulf LRJ 3

Jake Wythers
Ms. Peifer
10 IB Hour 5
12/9/08

Beowulf LRJ 3


In this section of Beowulf, "The Battle With the Fire Breathing Dragon", the most important value is pride. Beowulf, the greatest hero, maintains his strong pride even in his old age. "Yet the Prince of the rings was too proud to line up with a large army against the sky-plague" (Heaney 2430) Beowulf made an important decision to face the dragon himself. He saw it as a challenge for himself alone and was proud to face it without any assistance. Beowulf was also too proud to avoid facing the dragon, even if it meant certain death. "I shall win the gold by my courage, or else mortal combat, doom of battle, will bear your lord away." He went in to the fight knowing death was likely, but fought the dragon anyways.

In this final section of Beowulf, the reader sees a much weaker side of the hero. Beowulf is no longer the almost invincible figure read about in the first two sections who fights monsters with his bare hands and swims underwater for a day. "I would rather not/ use a weapon if I knew another way/ to grapple with the dragon... But I shall be meeting molten venom/ in the fire he breathes so I go forth/ in mail-shirt and shield" (2518-2524) Before now, Beowulf did not give any thought to his own safety when going up against foes. This shows that he is more worried about vulnerable and mortal as opposed to the impregnable warrior he was before.

One important reason that Beowulf's death was honorable was that, as a king, it was his job to protect his people. He died while destroying the greatest threat to his kingdom there was. Beowulf knew he was going to die soon as he was old so he went out to take something down with him. Another reason his death was honorable was how stoicly Beowulf accepted the end of his life. "...he still spoke/ for he well knew his days in the world/ had been lived out to the end: his allotted time/ was drawing to a close, death was very near" (2725-2728) It is very wise to be content with your given lifetime, and Beowulf showed that wisdom.



Works Cited
Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.