The representation of the dragon or serpent for me seemed to be what we talked about earlier of gift exchange being so important in the culture. When Daniel talked about a king having all these fabulous treasures and that to keep his nobles happy he would give them gifts every so often, made a strong impression on me when I was reading the dragon section. The treasure that had been left hidden in that cavern by "former men" (p 104 line 3048) which had a curse on it (p 104 line 3067) was the result of a greedy "princes who had placed the treasure there had laid on it a curse to last until Doomsday" (p 104 lines 3066-67). The princes had violated the rules and hidden his treasure away for no one to enjoy. So when I read how the "serpent" who had taken over guardianship of the treasure was so upset about one tiny golden goblet missing from his treasure trove I thought about the violations that the dragon had made. The word serpent which was used several times in describing the dragon made me think of the Adam and Eve story and that the serpent here has a similar meaning of human greed. I held the dragon accountable for not sharing because it too could be considered a monster like Grendel whom had been considered vile for not repaying the men's families that he had violently killed.
I also thought about the implications later on down the poem when Beowulf ends up dying when killing the dragon with the help of his comrade. Because the slave had taken the goblet from the dragon, the dragon had taken from Beowulf (in the fire taking a lot of his people's homes), and then the dragon took Beowulf's life while the comrade took the dragons life. All these exchanges that had to occur, which were sprung from some ancient princes violation of exchange seemed to make me think of a theme to this poem. The theme I got was a lesson about ancestry and violations of exchanges and payments or dues, I can just imagine this story being told to young kids way back then to teach them what terrible things can come and which great heroes could suffer from violations of their cultures exchanges and ancient mistakes of ancestors.
As for the tone difference in the Dragon Section I thought the tone was more of leaning towards the fate side of what was to happen there, that everything that was about to happen, was meant to happen and that everything which had occurred before had led Beowulf to that exact moment, in that exact time so that he could die. I got the feeling of this undeniable strength of the old Beowulf versus the fate that was meant for him and that he could not fight it and at the end he was happy at the very least to leave such an endowment of treasure for his people.
I’ve been thinking a lot about what the Dragon might represent. I think the dragon clearly represents evil (the dragon even may represent the devil with his serpent like appearance), but I think the dragon represents something even more specific: that if greed and the love of possessions/money/treasure is one of your personal demons, it will eventually destroy you, as it did Beowulf. First, the slave steals the dragon’s treasure. The dragon becomes angry and starts killing the people. This act of greed by the dragon is what eventually kills him. Second, the greed of the slave (possibly representing the common person or humans in general) stealing the dragon’s treasure is what triggers the killing of many of the villagers.
ReplyDeleteNow, Beowulf’s role in my theory is a bit trickier. Does Beowulf die because, he too, is sick with revenge and the need for power? Or is Beowulf a true hero, protecting his kingdom purely for the good of his people? Personally, I think the three monsters represent the dark side of Beowulf (greed being one of Beowulf’s personal demons). Beowulf is a good person that is continually battling the inner battle of self-perfection. Beowulf was able to conquer his other demons (Fratricide and Pride/Revenge), but greed is what led to his eventual demise. It is interesting to note that the dragon dies, as well. That seems symbolic of Beowulf’s death; all his demons are now dead.
Anyway, this is a very raw theory with many possible interpretations. This is what I have come up with so far, but I’m sure our discussion tomorrow will get the wheels in my brain turning even more.