The poem, Beowulf, ends in an elegiac tone when he dies an honorable death when fighting a dragon to retrieve treasure. The author states, that once Beowulf “bartered his last breath” the “twelve warriors rode around the tomb” and “[mourned Beowulf’s] death as a man and a king.” This quote portrays the warriors grieving over their leader’s death. This was because the Anglo-Saxons believed in comatius, loyalty to their lord, and when Beowulf died, the warriors felt distraught and lost without their leader. In Beowulf, the warriors thought Beowulf was “most gracious and fair-minded, kindest to his people and keenest to win fame” (Raffal 34). This is significant because Beowulf dies honorably in battle and is mourned because of the great services he provided to his community. Furthermore, Beowulf’s death greatly impacted society because of the deeds that he executed during his lifetime. At the end of the poem, the author writes with a somber tone because the Beowulf’s death served as a depressing moment when he died as a great hero.
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