How we cite our quotes: Citations follow this format: (Line). We used Seamus Heaney's Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, published in 2000 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
Quote #7
Beowulf got ready,
donned his war-gear, indifferent to death (1441-1442)
In a few words, the narrator sums up Beowulf's attitude toward mortality: he is "indifferent to death," realizing that it will eventually come to him, and not caring at all. While he lives, he will do great deeds. Eventually, he has accepted that he will die. That's all there is to it.
Quote #8
"Choose, dear Beowulf, the better part,
eternal rewards. Do not give way to pride.
For a brief while your strength is in bloom
but it fades quickly; and soon there will follow
illness or the sword to lay you low,
or a sudden fire or surge of water
or jabbing blade or javelin from the air
or repellent age. Your piercing eye
will dim and darken; and death will arrive,
dear warrior, to sweep you away." (1759-1768)
Hrothgar reminds Beowulf that he shouldn't get too cocky; after all, no matter how many great deeds he performs, there will eventually be some kind of catastrophe that kills him. He may have nearly superhuman strength, but something will be his downfall anyway. Death comes to us all in the end.