What requests does Beowulf make of Hrothgar before he goes to battle Grendels mother what does he want Hrothgar to do if he dies?

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Have you ever considered that no matter how monstrous someone is, there is one person who loves him regardless. Who? Mom, of course!

Despite how cursed and hated Grendel was, he had a mother who loved him. There's an old saying in the South, "If Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!" And, in this part of the story, Grendel's mother decides to avenge her son's death.

Grendel's Mother

Grendel's mother leaves her den and comes to avenge her son's death. The men aren't quite as upset at the prospect of having to fight "mom" because, as the storyteller says,
"No female, no matter How fierce, could have come with a man's strength, Fought with the power and courage men fight with . . ."

Not exactly politically correct, are they? They say that no woman can fight with a man's strength, power or courage. Nevertheless, Grendel's mother was a threat, and the soldiers drew their swords and prepared to fight. Let's see how fierce she is.

Grendel's Mother Visits The Great Hall

When she comes into the mead-hall, she grabs one victim and flees. The one victim, however, is the king's closest friend, Esher. The Geats in the hall have been unable to stop her. Beowulf and his men, as guests of honor, are sleeping in a different hall, so that Beowulf could not have stopped her attack.

Then someone discovers that not only has she taken Esher, she has taken her son's arm that was hanging in the great hall. Once more Hrothgar is devastated. He hangs his head, mourning his friend Esher. He turns to Beowulf and asks if he will please help the Danes once more. Beowulf answered the old king's plea.

Beowulf Spoke

You certainly could have predicted Beowulf's answer. Of course, he will come to the aid of the king. Of course, he will help avenge this act. These words of Beowulf's are a direct statement of the Anglo-Saxon's beliefs:

"Fame after death is the noblest of goals." And it is through one's courage, strength, loyalty, and deeds that he can hope to gain this lasting fame.

Beowulf asks the king to give him one day to achieve his mission. The king leaps to his feet, thanks God for Beowulf, and then he mounts his horse and, with his shield-bearing warriors at his side, follows "Mom's" footprints through the forest, across the wasteland, up towering, rocky hills, and over narrow, winding paths. They enter areas where they have never been before. They climb down slippery cliffs where monsters and creatures of the sea hide in their caves. King Hrothgar rides in front, searching for signs of the female monster.

The Search for Grendel's Mother

In the next section, the storyteller relates that the sea beasts lying on the rocks are of such a size that they can cause ships to sink. They become very angry when they hear the battle horns sound, and they begin to leave. Beowulf shoots an arrow at one of them, and the point pierces its hide and enters its heart, killing the beast.

Quickly, before it can sink, the men hook its body as it fights the water trying to swim away. They drag it to shore and are amazed at how huge and incredible it is, all covered with strange scales.

Beowulf then puts on his armor and his chain mail, not because he is afraid to fight Grendel's mother, but because he knows he will encounter all kinds of monsters' claws on his way to the bottom of the lake. Chain mail is a flexible vest made of material that looks like tightly woven chain-link fence. He feels that if monsters claw for his heart, the chain mail will keep their claws from reaching into his flesh.

He also wears Hrothgar's helmet to protect his head. Unferth, Hrothgar's courtier, lends him his famous weapon--a sword named Hrunting. "Hrunting had an iron blade, etched and shining, and hardened in blood." No one who had worn it into battle had ever been defeated. Then, armed for battle, Beowulf has a request to make of the king. He asks these things:

• The dragon has been defeated, but Beowulf's wound is getting worse—he realizes that it's poisoned. He finds a place to sit on the side of the barrow, looking at the massive structure.
• Wiglaf washes Beowulf's wounds.
• Beowulf realizes that he's dying and says the last things he needs to say. He explains to Wiglaf that he would have wanted to bestow his armor on his son, but he doesn't have a son.
• Beowulf recalls his long reign over the Geats: he's been king for fifty years, and all the neighboring kings were too afraid to attack or challenge him. He also behaved honestly and justly, which makes him feel a little better, because he knows that God won't be angry with him in the afterlife.
• Beowulf orders Wiglaf to go into the barrow, look at the treasure, and bring back some of it for him to see before he dies.
• Wiglaf obeys Beowulf's dying wish and goes down into the barrow, where he finds amazing piles of treasure, all of it rusting and decaying. He's able to see everything because of a glowing golden standard high overhead. The dragon is gone, killed by Wiglaf's sword.
• Wiglaf fills his arms with gold and treasure and takes the standard, too. He hurries back to Beowulf, hoping that the king is still alive.
• Beowulf is alive but bleeding profusely. Wiglaf begins to clean the king's wounds again as Beowulf gazes on the treasure.
• Beowulf thanks God for his last glance of the treasure and the fact that he is going to die "well endowed" with gold. He's traded his life for this golden hoard.
• Beowulf orders Wiglaf to build a barrow for him on the coast after his body has been burned on a funeral pyre. This barrow will be visible to ships and remind people of Beowulf's great deeds.
• Beowulf takes off his golden collar and gives it to Wiglaf, calling him "the last of the Waegmundings," the last member of his clan now that Beowulf is dying.
• Beowulf dies.
• Wiglaf watches Beowulf's death-agonies. Beside them, the dragon lies dead.
• Ten of the Geat warriors—the ones who abandoned Beowulf and Wiglaf earlier—creep back to the scene of the battle. Silently, they watch Wiglaf try to revive Beowulf with water, but the king is dead.
• Wiglaf angrily reprimands the other Geats for abandoning Beowulf, their generous and loyal king, in his hour of need.
• Wiglaf foresees that, with Beowulf dead and his warriors disgraced, the Geats will be attacked by their neighbors and their entire nation will be destroyed.
• Wiglaf orders that a messenger go to the rest of Beowulf's men, who are camped on the ridge, to tell them what has happened. The messenger tells the people that Beowulf has been destroyed by the dragon, but has managed to kill it before he died.
• Like Wiglaf, the messenger predicts that, with Beowulf gone, the Geats will be attacked by their neighbors, the Franks and the Frisians.
• The messenger also predicts that the old feud between the Geats and the Swedes will be revived. He explains some of the history behind the feud:
• King Hrethel's son, Haethcyn (the one who accidentally killed his brother), was killed in battle by a Swede named Ongentheow.
• Ongentheow's army surrounded the Geats and shouted threats at them all night. When dawn broke, Hygelac came to their rescue with a group of fresh troops.
• The battle continued; many Geats and Swedes were slain.
• Ongentheow withdrew to higher ground. Hygelac attacked and cornered Ongentheow. Ongentheow killed a warrior named Wulf, but was killed in turn by Wulf's brother, Eofor.
• Ongentheow's armor was presented to King Hygelac as a prize. The Geats, having won the battle, returned home and Eofor married Hygelac's daughter.
• The messenger explains that, because of this history, he's convinced the Swedes are going to strike back at the Geats. Now that Beowulf is dead, they won't have any fear of doing so.
• The messenger exhorts everyone to hurry to take one last look at Beowulf before they build a funeral pyre for him. He anticipates an enormous amount of gold and treasures on the pyre, all of it melting as Beowulf's body burns.
• The messenger also foresees that the Geat people will suffer greatly without the protection of King Beowulf.
• The Geat warriors rise and go to the place where Beowulf's body lies. They also see the dead dragon, fifty feet long and "scorched all colours" (3041).
• Beside the dragon lie some of the weapons and golden treasures from his hoard, now rusty and decaying. The narrator explains that this gold was under a spell that prevented anyone from taking it out of the barrow unless they had God's blessing.
• The man who originally created the hoard of treasure, of course, was slain by the dragon; now Beowulf and Wiglaf have avenged their fellow man against the monster.
• The narrator reminds us that, no matter how brave or famous a man may be, nobody knows when or how he will die. Beowulf didn't know for certain that he would die while fighting the dragon.
• The chiefs who originally buried the treasure in the barrow had declared that anyone who robbed from it would be punished in hell, but Beowulf didn't seek the treasure selfishly (so, we assume, he's safe).
• Wiglaf makes a speech about Beowulf, saying that "when one man follows his own will / many are hurt" (3077-8). This happened to the Geats, because nothing they could say would induce Beowulf to leave the dragon alone; he insisted on fighting it and meeting his destined end at the barrow.
• Wiglaf describes the inside of the barrow and the treasures, some of which he brought out so that Beowulf could see them. He also tells the other Geats about Beowulf's last wish: a barrow built on top of his funeral pyre that will serve as his memorial.
• Next, Wiglaf leads the Geats down into the barrow for a tour of the treasure.
• When the Geats return to the surface, Wiglaf orders the building of a funeral pyre so that they can burn Beowulf's body.
• Wiglaf selects seven of Beowulf's lords to go with him into the barrow to remove the treasure, which they load onto a cart and take back home for Beowulf's funeral.
• The Geats build Beowulf's funeral pyre, stacking it high with precious armor and treasures. They light the fire and Beowulf's body burns while his people wail and mourn him.
• One Geat woman in particular mourns Beowulf's death, singing a lament in which she anticipates the destruction of the Geat nation by invaders.
• After the pyre burns down, the Geats build a barrow over it. The barrow is an enormous memorial to Beowulf which takes ten days to build, and it can be seen from the sea.
• The Geats bury jewels, gold, and treasures in the barrow to honor Beowulf.
• Twelve Geat warriors ride around the tomb singing dirges, honoring Beowulf by describing his heroic deeds.