Beowulf Study Guide: Part 3.

The last third of the poem is very complicated and very mournful. To help with the complications in historical plots, be sure to consult pp. 156-58. The mournful part you will just need to think about.

1. The mourning in the last third of the poem is centered on Beowulf’s death, but the connections of his death to the projected demise of his people implies that the significance of the mourning goes beyond the loss of the one man. What specific aspects of Germanic, heroic culture do you think are being mourned? Think about this question in particular from the perspective of late tenth-century Anglo-Saxon England.
2. What are the meanings and functions of treasure, and what does its loss through burial or burning in a pyre imply about losses in the culture?
3. How does the dragon differ from Grendel and his mother as an opponent for Beowulf and a threat to his kingdom?