the bottom of, was symbolic of hell. There, night after night, a fearful wonder may be seen- fire on the water; no man alive is so wise to know the nature of its depths. ( lines 1351- 1353) The lake was so scary that nothing would enter it. he will succumb to the hounds on the brink, rather than plunge in and save his head. (lines 1356 1358)Although monsters were usually considered Pagan folklore, in this poem they represent Christian evil and Beowulf only defeats them with the help of God. Beowulf defeats Grendels mother using a sword made by giants. But he is only able to do so because of god. and had not holy God granted him victory; the wise lord, Ruler of the Heavens, settled the issue easily after the hero had scrambled to his feet. (lines 1537 1540)Later, in the poem we learn that Beowulf has become King through a series of events. Fifty years he rules as king before having to face the dragon. Once again he heads off into battle, with vengeance and quest for honor as his motivations. When setting off to hunt the dragon, he assembles twelve men to go with him ( eleven of his bravest men and the thief that stole the dragons treasure).Some people might compare Beowulf and his twelve companions to Jesus Christ and his disciples, but since there are no references to Jesus Christ in the poem, I think that this association was not planned or intended by the poet. This part of the poem is more about the comitatus than anything Christian. Wiglaf honors the comitatus by staying to defend his King even though all the others run and cower.Wiglaf defends his king knowing full well that he could die. I would rather that fire embraced my body beside the charred body of my gold-giver; (lines 2639 2640).After Beowulfs death he is given a Pagan funeral, where he is buried along with the dragons treasure on the side of a cliff. Beowulf died as a hero, with lots of fame. After studying Beowulf and various criticisms about the poem, I f...
