There has been some previous concern over just what the curse on the dragon’s gold meant, whether it was what brought Beowulf to the dragon to meet his end, or that its curse was what ultimately ended Beowulf. The modern day person’s take on the language used in the book makes surrounding aspects of the cursed treasure, including its overall purpose, problematic. Every editor seems to have a different take on the treasure, and there is no easy answer to what it meant in the context of Beowulf’s fate. The only thing most scholars seem to agree upon is that it was the reason Beowulf met death the way he did. Before we can even understand its purpose, we must know its history. There are many different takes on how the treasure ended up in the
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The second of these passages (lines 3047-75) is a vision of our hero’s funeral. If we consider these two passages being together as a timeline instead of two conflicting tales of the past, we can see why they would both be included in one story with a single plotline. With Thayer’s explanation, there is no confusion to how Pagans could have used the Christian God’s power, since their curse predates the second by a thousand years, and the curse that lasts until Judgement Day was the curse that the Geats put on the remaining treasure after it is put in Beowulf’s tower, with his ashes. Tanke discredits any claims made by other (unmentioned) researchers that Pagans could condemn a soul to suffering, as God makes His own decisions, however he still believes the curse could have affected Beowulf’s fate (death from the dragon). Cooke disagrees with any evidence that there was a curse on the treasure before the Geats placed one on it, however his disagreements leave more questions than …show more content…
Of course if one were to take the opinion of Cooke, Beowulf’s fate was his own, completely independent of any curse. However, if one is to believe that the Pagans indeed cursed the treasure (as do most who critique Beowulf), and that the thief was the first to take from it, that would mean the Pagan curse would fall upon either the thief or his savior; Beowulf. Tanke points out that Beowulf is ignorant to the curse and he faces his end without knowing what brings it. Thayer hints that if ‘the Owner’ of the treasure is God, than He has not found a worthy soul to enter the barrow and take possession of the treasure, even after Beowulf’s ashes lay with it. This explanation means that Beowulf was not exempt from the curse and that it did overtake him in the end. Tanke blatantly agrees with Thayer, that the Pagan curse only condemned afflicted (Beowulf) to death, not eternal
The second of these passages (lines 3047-75) is a vision of our hero’s funeral. If we consider these two passages being together as a timeline instead of two conflicting tales of the past, we can see why they would both be included in one story with a single plotline. With Thayer’s explanation, there is no confusion to how Pagans could have used the Christian God’s power, since their curse predates the second by a thousand years, and the curse that lasts until Judgement Day was the curse that the Geats put on the remaining treasure after it is put in Beowulf’s tower, with his ashes. Tanke discredits any claims made by other (unmentioned) researchers that Pagans could condemn a soul to suffering, as God makes His own decisions, however he still believes the curse could have affected Beowulf’s fate (death from the dragon). Cooke disagrees with any evidence that there was a curse on the treasure before the Geats placed one on it, however his disagreements leave more questions than …show more content…
Of course if one were to take the opinion of Cooke, Beowulf’s fate was his own, completely independent of any curse. However, if one is to believe that the Pagans indeed cursed the treasure (as do most who critique Beowulf), and that the thief was the first to take from it, that would mean the Pagan curse would fall upon either the thief or his savior; Beowulf. Tanke points out that Beowulf is ignorant to the curse and he faces his end without knowing what brings it. Thayer hints that if ‘the Owner’ of the treasure is God, than He has not found a worthy soul to enter the barrow and take possession of the treasure, even after Beowulf’s ashes lay with it. This explanation means that Beowulf was not exempt from the curse and that it did overtake him in the end. Tanke blatantly agrees with Thayer, that the Pagan curse only condemned afflicted (Beowulf) to death, not eternal