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Towards the end of King Beowulf's fifty-year reign, an enraged dragon wreaks havoc in the country.The king resolves to fight the dragon.In the course of a lengthy speech (lines 2426-2515), Beowulf reviews his life and the human condition in general.The following five half-lines concern the misery caused by accidental death:Gewīteð þonne on sealman, sorhl� eoð gaeleð � an aefter � anum; þ� uhte him eall to r� um, wongas ond wīcstede.
Alfred Bammesberger (Sat,) studied this question.