Reading Notes Part B: Beowulf: The End of Beowulf

For part B I decide that it would be important to read about the ending of Beowulf life.  For the first part of the reading I focused on his younger years and now I wanted to learn about his last moments alive.  Now I am not familiar with the ending of how Beowulf dies, but what I can remember from the film is that he dies from Grendel’s mom, but I could be wrong.  I really enjoyed this take on the ending of his life. While he dies within the first couple paragraphs of the story, I really appreciated what happens after he dies.  It is astonishing to see that a man who was considered silent and the loner type was revered like he was.  The depth and description that is given about how his funeral is prepared is amazing.  I never really knew what funerals were like way back then and I feel that this story helped give an in-depth look into that. I thought that it was great that even though their leader was dead Beowulf’s men went on and slayed the dragon in remembrance of their leader.   I think that really speaks to the impact that he had on people. One thing that I really wanted to know was what happens after someone dies in battle.  Do they go to heaven, hell, or purgatory? I think I am going to use this story as the one that I do my full story on.  I am going to answer those questions along with making Beowulf death seem greater than it was.

Beowulf with the head of Grendel. (1908)

Henrietta Marshall. Source: Wikicommons

Bibliography: Gibbs, Laura. Beowulf: The End of Beowulf. Beowulf: The End of Beowulf