Who Cursed Whom, and When? the Cursing of the Hoard and Beowulf's Fate

For over forty years, critics have keenly and at times hotly debated Beowulf's fate. Eric Stanley's view that the poet represents him as damned by the working of the curse laid on the dragon's hoard has been ably and widely supported, perhaps most effectively by A. J. Bliss's arguments from syntax and lexicography.1 But while endorsing their analysis of the syntax, Bruce Mitchell has lodged repeated protests on behalf of the many readers who cannot accept an interpretation of the ending that appears to run so completely counter to the spirit of the rest of the poem.2 Fred Robinson, Margaret Goldsmith, and others have sought to stake out some middle ground, denying the power of the curse but still presenting us with a Beowulf whose fate remains in doubt, because as a pre-Christian he necessarily falls short of the standard of conduct that the poet must have subscribed to.3 Others again have seen the poet as deliberately veiling or even shirking the issue of Beowulf's destiny.4 A fresh look at the passages that most obviously bear on the controversy may help to clarify it, if not to resolve it.When introducing the dragon that will prove his hero's bane, the Beowulf poet also needs to tell his audience about its treasure, which will figure prominently in the last part of his story. A fugitive slave5 seeking shelter stumbles on the ancient barrow where the dragon has made its lair, sees the beast sleeping within on its hoard, and flees in terror, but not without first snatching a single cup (lines 2214-31). With that ancient treasure he hopes to buy his way back into his master's good graces (lines 2281-3). But the theft has roused the dragon's wrath, and it goes on a rampage of devastation (lines 2302-23). As a good king who cares for the welfare of his people, Beowulf resolves to deal with it (lines 2324-36).Midway through telling us this, the poet turns aside to explain how the treasure came to be in the barrow. The dragon had not gathered it; the last survivor of an ancient race had chosen the barrow chamber as a resting place for wealth that his people could no longer use (lines 2232-70). But he had not sealed the entrance, and after his death the dragon had found this highly attractive residence and moved in (lines 2270-7).Had the man who put the treasure in the barrow laid a spell on it against robbers? The poet does not say so at this point, though this would have been the natural place to do so if that had been his story line. He tells us that the barrow stood 'eall gearo' ('all ready") (line 2241b) and 'nearocrseftum facst' (line 2243b); but the second phrase merely means 'secured by trouble-causing cunning'6 and implies only that the original builder had chosen a site that was hard to come at, as Klaeber thought, or at most that the entrance was somehow concealed from view. Nor does the poet drop the slightest hint that anyone had a hand in putting the treasure in the barrow except the lone survivor. To gain a true understanding of what he tells us about the treasure's ultimate fate - and Beowulf's - we must keep those two facts firmly in mind.Although he succeeds, with the help of his younger kinsman Wiglaf, in killing the dragon, Beowulf knows that in their combat he has himself taken his death wound. He asks Wiglaf to bring him part of the dragon's hoard and declares that knowing he has won that wealth will console him for his death (lines 2724-51). How so? When Wiglaf returns with the spoils, Beowulf himself explains: ? utter in words my thanks to the Lord, the King of Glory, for all, for the treasures which I here gaze upon, in that I have been allowed to win such things for my people before my day of death' (lines 2794-8).7Beowulf himself tells us what he intended and expected would be done with the treasure. It was to go to his successor - who, if he had his way, would probably be Wiglaf, on whom he bestows his collar and his armour (lines 2809-12). With this wealth the new king of the Geats will be well placed both to hold his own thanes' loyalty and to attract the bravest and best warriors from all the surrounding lands. …