Beowulf Closing

The epic Beowulf closes on a somber, elegiac note. The images of twelve warriors rode around Beowulf’s tomb mourning the death of their king brings to the audience a gloomy and sad image. The imagery can be compared to the sad image of Jesus’ twelve apostles who mourns their teacher’s death. Beowulf was regarded as a superior brave individual, and his lost was similar to the lost of Jesus, the savior. Beowulf was a savior in a sense that he acted as an ancient Superman or Middle-Age Jesus. He was an archetype that defended the weak and prevented evil from uprising in society similar to heroes before and after his time. His death brought many tears to the people because they not only lost a leader but a savior whom they adored with praises. The tone of the epic grew from lively and energetic to solemn and calm. As they laid Beowulf to rest, the Anglo-Saxons no longer were boastful as they were in the beginning of the epic. They mourn the lost their fallen leader despite the fact that he died for a great cause; as if they rather have him still alive than him trading his life for the defeat of evil. The epic closes in a somber note to pay respect for the hero that has fallen, mourning the fact that he can not be replaced.