Paganism In Beowulf

Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon story about a hero who encounters many monsters. Given that the story originated from the Anglo-Saxons, there are morals and values pertaining to Anglo-Saxon history. The early Anglo-Saxons were infantile in knowledge and faith when it came to their Christian beliefs. After the Romans invaded England, the later Anglo-Saxons became more knowledgeable about Christianity. Because of Roman influence, the recorded version of Beowulf, which readers now see today, has more biblical imagery than its original, pagan, oral version.

With ancient understandings and tales in the early times, Beowulf sings of times long forgotten, the times where the only tombs men sought was the battlefield, and their legacies, glory from the most extraordinary of feats. Eras filled with monsters, demons and selfless devotion towards the Glory of God. Even the flamboyant stories from the early centuries, still ring with connections to our world today, that our

Not surprisingly, in the poem Beowulf, the characters of Grendel and Beowulf showed the significant role of religion. Biblical allusions were scattered throughout the poem. The alienated character Grendel was a descendant “of Cain (who was) punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death.” Due to their blood connection to Cain, Grendel’s parents were “murderous creatures banished by God.” God has exiled all monsters; shunned them away from the prosperous lives of humans.

We will explore their different religion settings of the time, and their thoughts on the afterlife. Beowulf was written in Old English based on the time period of around 500 A.D. This is a time when Christianity is emerging and growing without religious struggle. Even with

The Beowulf poem and the Poetic Edda A comparison between Norse and Anglo-Saxon literature There are some texts that have changed and formed our view on literary history, and two of the more notable pieces are The Beowulf poem and the Poetic Edda. The two have redefined our view on the literary past of both England and Scandinavia and have laid the foundation for what we acknowledge as literature. J.R.R Tolkien wrote in his Essay Beowulf: The monsters and the critics ”Barely all the censure, and most of the praise, that has been bestowed on The Beowulf has been due either to the belief that it was something that it was not — for example, primitive, pagan, Teutonic, an allegory (political or mythical), or most often, an epic; or to disappointment at the discovery that is was itself not something that the scholar would have liked better — for example, a heathen heroic lay, a history of Sweden, a manual of German antiquities, or a Nordic Summa Theologica.” He continues to debate for the poems importance as literature, instead of as a historical document.

Being an epic hero, Beowulf was very brave and battled many immortal creatures. One monster he came across was Grendel. “Conceived by a pair of the monster born of Cain, murderous creatures banned by God..,”(44), Hrothgar’s men would say. This is a reference from the Bible, showing the evil portrayed in the monster Grendel. This monster went to Herot and killed thirty men just because he was hungry.

The epic poem “Beowulf”, translated by Burton Raffel, focuses on a hero by the name of Beowulf who goes on a quest to rescue King Hrothgar and his people from an egregious monster by the name of Grendel. This Anglo-Saxon tale gives insight into the values and beliefs of the people from whom the story originated. Their war-centered ideology and views on loyalty and courage were the principles that the Anglo-Saxon culture was founded upon. While warfare was a focal point in their lifestyle, it was far from a savage, barbaric state of fighting. Honor and prestige were bestowed upon those who died during battle and selflessness for fellow warriors was a fundamental belief.

For the most part, the Norse pagan characteristics of Beowulf seem to outweigh the more trivial traits of it. The various Norse creature such as the dragon and Grendel are far more essential to the structure of the narrative than say, one of the warnings of sin given to Beowulf or the ideas of self-sacrifice that Beowulf portrays that also overlap with Norse ideal characteristics. Even so, it would seem possible that Beowulf could exist as a complete work if any mention of Christianity, primarily in small pieces of dialogue and descriptions of characters, is omitted whereas deletion of the Norse elements, such as all the antagonists, would call for a drastic rewriting of the text. Moreover, the entire nature of Beowulf is far different to the New Testament texts of the Bible emphasized in Christianity and more similar to the Old Testament kings, which also share parallels with Sumerian writing styles and myths. This would suggest that Beowulf would likely have originated a pagan text but was then rewritten by Christians in either an effort to reconcile their cultural beliefs with Christianity or as a deliberate effort to encourage conversions.

The poem Beowulf contains numerous instances of Pagan ideas, yet it leans more heavily toward Christian influences. Grendel is a representation of both paganism and the evil that permeates the universe. Beowulf is a representation of virtue and of God. The clash between Beowulf and Grendel represents the struggle between good and evil.

In my opinion about this poem, the Christian and pre-Christian is like a themes about the loyal to friends, family, and the other Christians kinship that are in general with most of the people in the world like Beowulf in the poem is very importance in the old English literature. It contains so many things in life to make people be strong in their faith to protect people such as Christianity or pre-Christianity around the world. In the Christianity, all the people is believe in Jesus because Jesus is like Beowulf in the poem, who are very perfect like a heroic with a stronger power extraordinary to protect people and save people in the world. For example, Beowulf is a story of the pagan warriors that I was read, but all the literary researchers

Barbora Štěpánková Mgr. Filip Krajník, Ph.D. AJL14000 English Literature of the Middle Ages 31 May 2023 Christian Beowulf and the Battle of Pagan and Abrahamic Religions in Beowulf Beowulf is an Old English epic poem, written approximately one-thousand years AD. This indicates that the document was written when there was Christian influence and in Anglo-Saxon territories. Nevertheless, it would be expected that pagan religions have stronger appearance within the poem since it follows the story of “the Spear-Danes” (Heaney, line 1) and is set in pagan Scandinavia.

By the time this monastic scribe began his work, the stories of Beowulf were already legendary tales of this era; legends that were passed down orally. The poet cautiously uses this information to compose an epic poem while also combining the notions of the pagan wyrd (fate) and dom (worth), along with the Christian ideals of refinement and final judgement. A pagan poem in its own right, steeped in ancient Germanic culture, yet it is baptized in lax Christian comments and passages. However, while the passages are referred to as Christian, there is never any reference within the poem, to Christ Himself. When we are first introduced to Grendel, we see the first signs of Christian passages appearing: God had condemned them as kin of Cain.

Even though there are many examples of christianity in the poem, it points more towards pagan beliefs because of the time of creation, the fact that it talks about vengeance, the ancient belief in wyrd, the use and naming of swords,and the tradition of ship burials . Beowulf was written in the anglo-saxon period by an unknown anglo saxon poet. It is best known by the scholars as The Beowulf Poet. When the poem was written it was influenced by paganism even though christianity is prevalent amongst its verses. Anglo-saxon were invaders of britain (Angles, saxons and jutes)

The epic poem, Beowulf was influenced by Anglo-Saxon cultural beliefs. Beowulf is the longest, and greatest surviving Anglo-Saxon poem. The setting of the epic is the sixth century in what is now known as Denmark and southwestern Sweden. This poem strengthens the Heroic Code. This code was derived from the Anglos-Saxons’ Germanic roots and was a basis for Anglo-Saxon honor.

In Beowulf, Beowulf is torn between his Christ heart to help others as well as the selfish reward of Paganism. Throughout the poem, many examples of pagan and Christian elements are shown. However, I do have one favorite Christian element that I came across when reading. One of the acts, “Further Celebration at Heorot,” Hrothgar remind Beowulf of the Greek lesson tragedians. He also tells him the one of Christian philosophy:”… that wealth, accumulated through the grace of God, must be shared unselfishly.”