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What are the values of Beowulf the Geat?
the Geats would have no shortage of enemies to deal with.
By the time the battle with the dragon comes, the poet has made sure there is nothing surprising about it:
“His fate hovered near, unknowable but certain.”
The heroic values of Beowulf are shown by the contrast in his own people, Wiglaf shows that there may still be hope for the Geats afterwards by helping Beowulf, but the rest of his troops deserting show the weakness of some of the Geats and does not forebode well for the future.
As many critics have noticed, the beginning an end of the poem end with the burial of two great warriors, at the beginning that of Shield Sheafson and at the end, with that of Beowulf. Neither live long or do enough to protect their own people from trouble; Shield is not around to stop Grendel, and Beowulf will not be able to help defend from the attacking nations amassing on the Geats’ borders at the end. The poet seems to be keen to explore the limits of what one person, no matter how powerful, can do. In his essay on Beowulf, ‘The Philologer Poet: Seamus Heaney and the translation of Beowulf,’ David Donoghue offers his interpretation of the end of the poem:
“Both the burning of Heorot snd the death of Beowulf contributes to a deeper theme concerning the limits of heroic action which dominates the end of the poem.”
This ties in with the fact that the poet was probably Christian and writing about an old society, one that he would have deemed flawed, perhaps best summed up in this line:
“He who wields power over time and tide: he is the true lord.”
Many of the episodes already mentioned underscore the poet’s perspective that Beowulf is flawed because he follows the ways of a flawed society. As Beowulf knows he will die, he is left with the terrible knowledge that his enemies will soon mass to attack his own people. Beowulf and the Geat kings before him have done nothing but honour the traditions and values before them, but it has led to the situation the Geats find themselves in at the end of the poem.
However that is not to say that the poet is overly critical of Beowulf and his actions in the course of the poem. Instead the poet has shown the journey of a man that always does the right thing, while underscoring the problems of a barbaric society that was bound to feuds that it had started. The best way to conclude the character of Beowulf is the final three lines of the poem, leaving us with the melancholy of the burial, but also reminding us of the man who has died:
“They said that of all the Kings upon the Earth he was the man most gracious and fair minded, kindest to his people and keenest to win fame.”