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Treasure In Beowulf

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Ever since mankind has discovered the existence of jewels and valuable artifacts, the quest to acquire these treasures is one that is never ending. The dream of finding riches has driven many people to make this the central focus of their life, This concept can be seen in many movies and novels such as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Gold Bug. This notion can especially be seen in the epic poem Beowulf. Treasures are items that every person strives to collect. Beowulf is a young warrior who loves to fight; but more importantly, he loves to gather treasure. Owning vast amounts of treasure can be thought of as Beowulf's sole mission in his lifetime. Throughout the poem Beowulf, his attitude towards treasure does not change at all. Instead, …show more content…

This idea can be seen in the poem when a man steals the jewels and gold from the dragon. "A man stumbled on The entrance, went in, discovered the ancient Treasure, the pagan jewels and gold... stole a gem-studded cup and fled" (2213-2218). Any person who gets any of their possession stolen, will get angry and try to get it back. The dragon, who loves his treasure, does the same. When Beowulf fights the dragon, he gets severely wounded, and is on his death bed. Normally a person in that position would want to see their loved ones before they perish, but that is not the case with Beowulf. Beowulf never loses his love for treasure, and this can be supported by the fact that the last thing he wants to see before he dies is the dragon's treasure. On his deathbed, he says "The dragon's treasure: we've take its life, but its gold is ours too. Hurry, bring me ancient silver, precious jewels, shining armor and gems" (2743-2748). Even while the warrior is taking his final breaths, he still wants treasure. It can be inferred, that his whole purpose in life was to gather as much treasure as possible. Nothing at the moment of his death would make it easier for him to go besides seeing gold. Beowulf's last words were "shining armor and gems, Before I die. Death will be softer." (2748-2749). His last words prove that the only thing that will bring him peace is treasure, thus proving the fact that his love for treasure hasn't lessened a

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