end_tag_handlers A hash { expression = \&handler}>. Sets element handlers that are called when the element is closed (at the end of the XML::Parser End handler). The handlers are called with 2 params: the twig and the tag of the element. twig_handlers are called when an element is completely parsed, so why have this redundant option? There is only one use for end_tag_handlers: when using the twig_roots option, to trigger a handler for an element outside the roots. It is for example very useful to number titles in a document using nested sections: my @no= (0); my $no; my $t= XML::Twig->new( start_tag_handlers => { section => sub { $no[$#no]++; $no= join '.', @no; push @no, 0; } }, twig_roots => { title => sub { $_[1]->prefix( $no); $_[1]->print; } }, end_tag_handlers => { section => sub { pop @no; } }, twig_print_outside_roots => 1 ); $t->parsefile( $file); Using the end_tag_handlers argument without twig_roots will result in an error.