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Heorot , the "Deer Hall" (its roof is decorated with gilded deer horns) is opposed by wild, mysterious and full of horror rocks, wastelands, swamps and caves inhabited by monsters. The contrast of joy and fear corresponds in this opposition to the contrast of light and darkness. Feasts and fun in the shining golden hall take place in the light of day - the giants go out in search of bloody prey under the cover of night. The enmity between Grendel and the people of Heorot is not an isolated episode; this is emphasized not only by the fact that the giant raged for twelve winters before being slain by Beowulf , but above all by the very interpretation of Grendel . This is not just a giant - in his image combined (although, perhaps, they did not merge together) different hypostases of evil. The monster of German mythology, Grendel , at the same time, is a creature placed outside of communication with people, an outcast, an outcast, an "enemy", and according to German beliefs, a person who stained himself with crimes that entailed expulsion from society - as if losing his human appearance, became a werewolf , hater of people. The poet's singing and the sounds of the harp coming from Heorot , where the king and his retinue are feasting, awaken rage in Grendel . But this is not enough - in the poem Grendel is called "a descendant of Cain.10" Old pagan beliefs are overlaid with Christian ideas. Grendel is under an ancient curse, he is called a "pagan" and condemned to hellish torment. And at the same time, he himself is like the devil. The formation of the idea of a medieval devil at the time when Beowulf was being created was far from over, and, in Grendel's not without inconsistency , we find a curious intermediate moment in this evolution. [5, p.8]
Attention is attracted by the fact that the motif of gold as a visible, tangible embodiment of the warrior's luck in " Beowulf " is supplanted, obviously under Christian influence, by its new interpretation - as a source of misfortune.
Precious vessel -
this is the beginning of misfortune
that's the reason
human sorrows. [4, p.214]
In this regard, of particular interest is the last part of the poem - the hero's single combat with the dragon. In retaliation for the theft of a treasure from the treasure, the dragon that guarded these ancient treasures attacks the villages, setting the surrounding country on fire and death. Beowulf fights the dragon, but it is easy to see that the author of the poem does not see the reason that prompted the hero to this feat in the atrocities committed by the monster. The goal of Beowulf is to take away the treasure from the dragon. The dragon sat on the treasure for three centuries, but even before these values belonged to people, and Beowulf wants to return them to the human race. Having killed a terrible enemy and himself received a fatal wound, the hero expresses his dying wish: to see the gold that he pulled out from the claws of his guard. The contemplation of these riches gives him deep satisfaction. However, then something happens that directly contradicts the words of Beowulf that he conquered a treasure for his people, namely: on the funeral pyre, along with the body of the king, his associates lay all these treasures and burn them, and the remains are buried in a barrow. An ancient spell weighed over the treasure, and it is useless to people; because of this spell, broken out of ignorance, Beowulf , apparently, dies. The poem ends with a prediction of the calamities that will befall the Gauts after the death of their king.
The idea of a curse, as well as the very motive of the dragon's revenge for the stolen goblet, with a considerable degree of probability seems to have been introduced by a Christian scribe who proposed the interpretation of wealth as a source of disasters. At the same time, Beowulf goes out to duel with the dragon not at all in order to stop his outrages in the lands of people, but for the sake of gold, which is guarded by the ancient serpent. [eleven]
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