The correct answer is D. The word "trap" refers to pride. In these lines, Beowulf is being warned. He is told to "beward of that trap," and "Do not give way to pride." Beowulf is warned that his strength will not last forever; ultimately, he will grow weak and old, or he will be injured. Either way, his strength is not something he will always have -- therefore, he must not become so proud that he forgets he is human.
This passage is the culmination of a long speech, often referred to as “Hrothgar’s sermon,” in which Hrothgar warns Beowulf of the seductive dangers of success after Beowulf defeats Grendel’s mother. Hrothgar asserts that power causes the soul to grow distracted by fortune’s favor and so to lose sight of future perils. The speech is one of many points in the poem where the Beowulf poet overlays Christian morals onto the pagan world that he depicts. The idea under consideration here is the Christian maxim “pride goeth before a fall.” Hrothgar specifically warns Beowulf not to “give way to pride,” an admonition that is discordant with the culture of boasts and reputation that other parts of the poem celebrate. Hrothgar also emphasizes to his young friend that life is fleeting and that he should orient himself toward “eternal rewards”—a supremely Christian idea—rather than worldly success. Throughout the poem, however, it seems that eternal rewards can be won only through worldly success—the reward of fame for being a valiant warrior.
Hrothgar expresses the ephemeral quality of human life in beautiful terms. Calling Beowulf the “flower of warriors,” he employs an image that doesn’t evoke Beowulf’s strength and fortitude but instead emphasizes the fragility of his life and the fact that his youth—his “bloom”—will “fad[e] quickly.” This choice of imagery encapsulates the idea, implicit in this passage, that there are two “death[s]” that threaten the warrior. He must be prepared not only for a “jabbing blade or javelin from the air,” which will wound him, but also for “repellent age,” which will eat away at his youthful audacity and force him to think in terms of honor, nobility, and leadership that aren’t dependent on mere physical prowess.
