Problem: Much of Beowulf depicts moments when the king shares rings and valuable trinkets with his men as a sign of his respect for their prowess, and in the funeral excerpts, we see this reversed. The men adorn the funeral bier of their leader with precious objects that will accompany him to the afterlife. This is similar to what we saw in Egypt as well as in some of the prehistoric burial mounds. Any thoughts? What do the burial objects signify? Respect? A belief that in the afterlife one needs such objects either for comfort or for bartering? What do you make of these elaborate funeral rites?