But he really died because his past and his pride blinded him to the reality that he was an aging king who could no longer perform the same feats of strength and bravery, making him a tragic hero. He was blinded by his past and buried by his pride. Beowulf dies during battle with a dragon. In the second part of the poem, Beowulf has ruled over the Geats for fifty years, and he is a good leader.
Beowulf and Wiglaf fight the dragon together, and although they kill the dragon, Beowulf is fatally wounded. This was because Beowulf had earlier succeeded in mortally wounding Grendel. In his youth, he personifies all of the best values of the heroic culture. Beowulf was not a hero because he wanted fame for his deeds, was born a noble, and only thought about himself.
In Beowulf, Grendel is Portrayed as nothing but a monster. Overjoyed, Hrothgar showers Beowulf with gifts and treasure at a feast in his honor. Songs are sung in praise of Beowulf, and the celebration lasts late into the night. But another threat is approaching. The Danish countryside is now purged of its treacherous monsters. Beowulf departs after a sorrowful goodbye to Hrothgar, who has treated him like a son. He returns to Geatland, where he and his men are reunited with their king and queen, Hygelac and Hygd, to whom Beowulf recounts his adventures in Denmark.
Beowulf then hands over most of his treasure to Hygelac, who, in turn, rewards him. He rules wisely for fifty years, bringing prosperity to Geatland. When Beowulf is an old man, however, a thief disturbs a barrow, or mound, where a great dragon lies guarding a horde of treasure. Enraged, the dragon emerges from the barrow and begins unleashing fiery destruction upon the Geats. Sensing his own death approaching, Beowulf goes to fight the dragon.
Well, to be exact, she attacked Beowulf first, but Beowulf sought out the conflict.. Her son was killed and she sought revenge. She returned to the hall of heorot where her son was murdered and killed the first person she found. Beowulf tasked himself with slaying the second beast to avenge the kingdom. This was driven, at least in part, by protecting Hrothgar's kingdom.
However, Beowulf also did it for selfish motives. He desired everlasting glory and the personal immortality, something that was central to his 8th century Germanic culture. Another important event to note is the swimming match with Breca, a friend of Beowulf's from his childhood.
Breca and he challenged each other to a swimming match in full combat armor to see who was faster. Beowulf may have lost the competition, but he also was attacked by, and killed, nine sea monsters during the race. He referenced this in his verbal exchange, called Flyting, with Unfeth, one of Hrothgar's warriors.
The dragon that Beowulf faced was a monster of epic proportions, not surprisingly. Its size was not explicitly mentioned in the text, but it was large enough to level an entire kingdom. There was no reason why Beowulf had to fight the dragon alone. He did so because of his hubris. He was, after all, the great and unmatched warrior who defeated Grendel and his mother when no one else could. Therefore, when the dragon threatened the kingdom that he was sworn by God to protect, Beowulf did just as he had always done.
He sought to showcase his warrior strength in battle and attain continued glory. Now I am old, but as king of the people I shall pursue this fight for the glory of winning'"- Norton, lines A younger Beowulf might have had the ability to dispatch of the beast without harm. He consistently performed many feats of strength that defied typical human ability. But Beowulf was growing old.
He was already an adult when he saved Heorot from evil and reigned over his own kingdom for fifty years before the dragon threatened his kingdom's walls. So Beowulf must have been somewhere around 70 years old. He was no longer able to deliver on his prideful boasts. Beowulf had an entire army at his disposal.
Although they ran scared upon seeing the dragon, he did nothing to muster his forces. Furthermore, he was offered help from his loyal warrior Wiglaf but scoffed at accepting any help from others.
Any truly good warrior king would have accepted the help much like Hrothgar accepted Beowulf's help Hrothgar's speech to Beowulf in the Hall of Heorot warns Beowulf about this. Beowulf, however, was too prideful to do the right thing and paid for his hubris with his life. Beowulf death was caused by a poisonous wound from the dragon. But he really died because his past and his pride blinded him to the reality that he was an aging king who could no longer perform the same feats of strength and bravery, making him a tragic hero.
He was blinded by his past and buried by his pride. Thank you for the comments. Ryan, the individual that broke into the burial 'howe' or mound was a thrall or slave who sought to better his lot with the sale of stolen grave goods. Saying Beowulf went 'back to Sweden' is an over-simplification.
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