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Eileen, Haley--An elegy is a poem mourning or lamenting the dead that tells of things past and describes a person's death and burial. How does the ending of Beowulf fit this definition? Find passages to illustrate.
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The last three cantos of "Beowulf" essentually mourns the death of Beowulf and decribes how great of a man, king, and hero he was. For example: "Beowulf himself walked the earth and no man living could match him" (3099-3100) and "..Our lord is dead, know that the Geats are leaderless, have lost the best of kings, Beowulf-He who held our enemies away, kept land and treasure intact, who saved Hrothgar and the Danes-he who lived all his long life bravely." (3002-3007) It also shows how important and superior Beowulf was through his burial "Then the Geats built the tower, as Beowulf had asked, strong and tall, so sailors could find it from far and wide"
(3156-3158) and the burial of his jewels. "All treasures they'd taken were left there too, silver and jewels buried in the sandy ground, back in the earth, again and forever hidden and useless to men." (3165-3168) Most importantly, it shows how dear Beowulf was to not only his own people, but also to people across the world. He was a man they would mourn forever, and essentually never have a hope to find someone quite as mighty as him. "And so Beowulf's followers rode, mourning their beloved leader, crying that no better king had ever lived, no prince so mild, no man so open to his people, so deserving of praise." (3178-3182) --Haley
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