a very important thing in the story. It was what many men strove for. It would help to carry on the honor of a family. If someone had a father who had become very famous in his lifetime for heroic deeds, then that mans family would be bound to be respected. It also the same with the weapons in the story. If they had helped there owners in battle, then they would become very valuable, and prized possessions. For example, after Beowulf had conquered Grendel, and was about to dive into the lake after Grendels mother, Unferth gave his noble sword named Hrunting which had been successful in many battles, to Beowulf.My personal view on Beowulf is very positive. It is a wonderful story. Almost like a fairy tale. It is filled with many terrible monsters, and extremely brave warriors. Theres even a dragon in the story. It evokes memories, of my father reading stories to my sister and I before bed every night. Many stories are very similar in form to Beowulf in respect of having a terrible monster, a brave warrior, a happy ending and some moral to the story. Beowulf ending wasnt extremely positive though because of the fact that Beowulf died. He was an old man though, and his time had come. He did though kill the dragon, so it wasnt entirely unhappy. Throughout the story there is the message of how fickle life can be. Beowulf stressed the mutability of life. One minute your up, the other your down. You can never predict what life might throw you, so always be weary. This holds true even today. When the story was written, life was very dangerous. You could easily be killed by the elements, or in battle, or by sickness. Today, one still has to fear illness, and even the elements. For example, there has been a string of hurricanes, and tornadoes, and other natural disasters plaguing the United States. Beowulf message is very clear, and very useful, and should be heeded....
