Ten Ways to Honor Your Deceased King

Ten Ways to Honor Your Deceased King

1)   Listen to his dying requests.

2)   Honor him in the most extravagant way and with much respect. “Greet you and order the building of a barrow that would crown the site of his pyre, serve as his memorial, in a commanding position” (205).

3)   Mourn him and perform a large burial service. “Then twelve warriors rode around the tomb, chieftain’s sons, champions in battle, all of them distraught, chanting in dirges, mourning his loss as a man and a king.” (209)

4)   Build him a great burial site. “The Geat built a pyre for Beowulf” (207)

5)   Kill his avenger and his people.  

6)   Choose his closest confidant to succeed him.

7)   Fill his memorial pyre with everything he left behind that brings remembrance of him. “It was their hero’s memorial; what remained from the fire they housed inside it, behind a wall as worthy of him as their workmanship could make it.” (209)

8)   Praise all that he has done for you and how you can strive to be like him. “They extolled his heroic nature and exploits and gave thanks for his greatness; which was the proper thing, for a man should praise a prince whom he holds dear and cherish his memory when that moment comes when he has to be convoyed from his bodily home.” (209)

9)   Chant his name before every battle.

10)                   Always be grateful for the luxuries he has provided you while providing even more for your fellow people.