Epic Of Beowulf Essay: The Dishonoring Warrior

The Dishonoring Warrior Beowulf ‘s prologue begins with a funeral for an old king to which the Danes community presents “no fewer gifts [of]/…battle-weapons and [sic] war-gear, / blades and byrines” as tribute to “support him—[for his] praiseworthy deeds” (Beowulf, 24-44). It can be seen throughout the poem that material items do not only have symbolic value, but also an ancestral reputation within the community since the spear-Danes believed “a young man [should] bring about good/ with pious gifts from his father’s possessions” (Beowulf, 20-1). In other words, one should honor the handed down gifts, as they tend to hold family stature. Although Beowulf, the barbarian, gathers war instruments such as the swords of Healfdene, Unferth, Giants,

Furthermore, as Beowulf left the Hrunting sword behind and did not return it back to its owner, the text suggests that Beowulf carried it without preserving its integrity as promised. In addition, Beowulf saw a “victorious blade,/ ancient giant-sword strong in its edges,/ worthy in battles; it was the best of weapons [throughout the Danes community]” (Beowulf, 1557-9), during his battle with Grendel’s mother to which ends her life. The text implies that Beowulf does not respect material weapons of the community since he treats the giant-sword as “best of weapons” even though he swore his life for the Hrunting. In other words, Beowulf classifies swords as the same since he picks up and drops different ones as if they were nothing but pieces of metal to

“He held it well/ for fifty winters…--until/ in the dark nights a dragon began his reign (Beowulf, 2208-11). The text proves that Beowulf’s only reason for maintaining the sword for an extensive period of time was because he had no monsters to fight, and not because he had treasured its value. And, as Beowulf fought the dragon using his mighty strength, his sword, the “Naegling, shattered since it was not granted to him/ that iron-edged weapons might ever / help him in battle (Beowulf, 2680-4). In other words, Beowulf knew that if he had ever believed in the swords’ hearsay, he would have never survived his