Dialectical Journal

Pg. 139 Line 2029 "But generally the spear is prompt to retaliate when a prince is killed, no matter how admirable the bride may be."
After the feud between the Shieldings and the Heathobards, the Shieldings gave them Ingeld as a peace pledge. But at the wedding when the Heathobards see the Shiedlings in their men's armour the old flame of battle is going to be rekindled. It won't matter how beautiful she is, it won't stop the men from being angered again and want revenge. This foreshdows another feud.

Pg. 203 Line 3003 " In days gone by when our warriors fell and we were undefended he kept our coffers and our kingdom safe. He worked for the people, but as well as that he behaved like a hero."
Beowulf kept his people safe always, but the problem was that he fought all the battles. Every time something was a threat Beowulf him self would take care of it so his warriors had no experience fighting. He was a hero when it came to battle, not a king. A king leads his men and trains them to be the best. Beowulf was a hero because he wanted the fame and the boasting of winning the battles by himself. He was a good warrior but was he a good king?


Pg. 203 Line 3023 "...but the raven winging darkly over the doomed will have news, tidings for the eagle of how he hooked and ate, how the wolf and he made short work of the dead."
The raven is a symbol of death and evil and the Eagle is a symbol courage and heroism. The dragon could be seen as the raven because it is causing doom and death around the kingdom and it kills Beowulf, and Beowulf is the eagle, he is couragous and fights the raven but is killed.

Pg. 209 Line 3120 "Next the wise son of Weohstan called from among the king's thanes a group of seven: he selected the best and entered with them, the eighth of their number..." Wiglaf thoses these seven men and he becomes the eighth of them to enter "under the God-cursed roof" to dispose of the Dragon and collect the tresure to burn it with Beowulf. The number eight is said to symbolizes man's ability to transcend the limitations of physical existence. This could represent the idea that Beowulf because he was blessed by God, was able to go beyond the limits of men so these eight men going down to honor Beowulf could represent the power that he had.

Pg. 211 Line 3153 "...her nation invaded, enemies on the rampage, bodies in piles, slavery and abasement." This is a foreshadow that their nation will be taken over. The people know that once word gets out that Beowulf is dead, the other countries will invade them. Beowulf, as a King did not train his warriors to be true warriors. After all the men ran away they know that they will be taken advantage of. Their men will be killed and their people taken and forced to be slaves.

Pg. 213 Line 3169 "Then twelve warriors rode around the tomb, chieftain's sons, champions in battle, all of them distraught, chanting in dirges, mourning the loss as a man and a king."
These twelve men could represent the twelve diciples, who were picked, named, and trained by Jesus to be sent on a mission and spread "good news". The men in Beowulf rode on their horses and chanted out Beowulf and told about all his heroic sxploits and shared memories of him with people to make them aware of everything he did.