Beowulf
... in the Finnsburg Digression, there are mass funerals and recollection upon the misery and tribulation they had endured. There were “blood-plastered coat[s] of mail” (line 1111) and “gashed corpses” (line 1113) still lying on the battlefield. You could hear the sound of a “woman wailing” (line 1118) as the flesh of the dead “sputter[ed] and blaz[ed]” (line 1117) on the funeral pyre. Meanwhile after the victory over Grendel, the people of Heorot celebrated with music and the food and drink was endless as “round upon round of mead was passed” (line 1014) and everyone was in “high spirits” (line 1015). Beowulf, the killer of the monster, was presented with magnificent gifts for his accomplishment including a gold standard, an embroidered banner and “a sword carried high that was both precious object and token of honor” (line 1022-23). There was not a word concerning the loss of life caused by the monster nor did it mention any funerals of the victims taking place. Even though both the people of Friesland and of Heorot endured enormous loss, both took opposite means of reconciliation. The people of Friesland mourned the diseased as the people of Heorot celebrated even though they had encountered similar fates. Essentially, the celebration scene is nothing more than tragedy masked with happiness. No matter what you do, the unavoidable fact is that the end result is always pain and therefore it is impossible to escape. The Finnsburg digression’s message is that when it comes to war, there is no victor; there is just loss. It is perhaps in this contrast that we can see the futility of war in the fact that both peoples did not really win their battles, war came at an enormous sacrifice. Even if you celebrate and try to avoid looking at the past, you cannot run from the truth of the ugliness of war which will eventually dawn upon you in a rush of sorrow and despair. The events and the images in the Finnsburg Digression echo the events and images in another digression, Ingeld’s revenge. Ingeld’s people have experienced the same horror as th...