Beowulf Christian Or Pagan Essay

In the story of Beowulf, there is a noticeable struggle between Christianity and Paganism, and the characters personal battle between the two. Throughout the story the characters display actions that lead towards Paganism and Christianity. Contrary to Pagan belief Beowulf is seen as the epitome of good and beneficent to all of mankind. In Beowulf, the people showed their faith and love in God, however due to horrific events, paranoia caused them to look for a quick fix and turns them to Paganism.

The Anglo Saxon epic Beowulf is one of the oldest surviving English epics that we have today. It depicts a hero that helps rid a land of evil. In the epic, I believe that the main character Beowulf is depicted as a Christ figure. If the reader fails to recognize Beowulf as a Christ figure and instead views him as just another wannabe hero that comes to save the day, they will fail to see the Christian symbolism throughout the epic.

The entire scene of the battle with Grendel’s mother runs parallel with Christ’s life. The pond that surrounds Grendel’s mothers murky house represents evil. Beowulf knows he is faced battling evil, is prepared for death, and forgives all his enemies. The submission into the murky pond distils Beowulf as he overcomes the evil of Grendel’s mother. He submerges from the water, just like Christ ascended into heaven. As Beowulf immerses from the battle with Grendel’s mother, he credits Christ again saying, “I’d have been dead at once,/And the fight finished, the she-devil victorious,/ If our Father in Heaven had not helped me” (310-312). As a final point, just as Christ had one last battle, so did Beowulf. The battle with the fire-breathing dragon was Beowulf’s last battle in which he came out with a victory, in that he defeated evil. Beowulf fought long and hard in his last battle with evil. Even though both Beowulf and Christ ultimately pass away in their final battles, they both were able to conquer evil. At the end of the battle he declared to Hrothgar, “If God had not helped me, the outcome would have been quick and fatal.” In pointing out his successes and accomplishments to God’s help, Beowulf demonstrates how he accredits Christian beliefs.

Warriors are considered among the bravest of men. In the Anglo-Saxon community, the warriors were of the most respected class, and made up the foundation for their way of living. Anglo-Saxon warriors would not stop fighting until either they were victorious or they were dead. Written during this Anglo-Saxon period, the epic Beowulf contains many pagan ideals, in addition to several references to Christian philosophy. Beowulf is a tale of dual ordeals; an external fight against treacherous enemies, and an internal struggle with human tendencies of pride, greed, cowardice, and betrayal. The story intertwines them with both pagan and Christian beliefs.

Before the invention of the printing press or written history, oral history, especially in early Germanic culture, became the foremost means of transcribing values, and past events. Written down in approximately 1,000 A.D. by an unknown author, Beowulf, originally a pagan fable, became a Christian allegory upon its transcription by Christian monks. However, as scholars have debated over the religious context in Beowulf, the attempts by the monks to turn the epic poem into a Christian parable ended merged, including both original and Christian aspects. Throughout Beowulf, the epic combines pagan ideals of fate or wyrd and the will of God, the similar concepts of the afterlife, and the contrasting ideas of the individual.

In the epic poem of Beowulf it is evident that the religion displayed throughout the text is Christianity due to the number of biblical allusions presented throughout the text. For instance, "Grendel was the name of this grim demon...he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain 's clan, whom the creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel the Eternal Lord had exacted a price: Cain got no good from committing that murder." (102-109) is an example of a biblical allusion that demonstrates the distinction between good and evil and describes that the character of Grendel is an evil creature. In addition to this, the poem explains that good and evil are completely separate descriptions of people, or in this case creatures, in this world. You can not be both good and evil. During this era, all evil things were to be destroyed. In the world

Religion has been an important aspect in many cultures. During the time Beowulf and King Arthur were written there was a transition of paganism beliefs and an overtake of Christian religion. Christianity is the belief in one God and is told through the Bible. Christians believe in good vs, evil and that we get to pick our destiny. Pagan’s believe in many gods, immortality, fate, monsters and magic. Both medieval stories mention God and Christian beliefs, that tie into the books. They also take pagan ideas, such as monster's, fate, wizards, magic, witchcraft, and gods continuously in each tale. There’s certainly some confliction between religions and multiple crossovers referenced. However each story, tells heroic tells rooted from their culture.

All throughout history there have been examples of religion and other teachings being displayed through literature. During the settlement, Christian missionaries spread the word of Christianity to the Natives through text. According to an article, “their professed goal was to spread the gospels throughout the Americas”. The influence of religion on the Native people was intended to convert them from their “savage” way of living to a more civilized and religious one. The poem Beowulf, was translated by Christian monks to spread the word of Christianity, and to convert the old practice of Paganism. The monks, much like the Christian missionaries, used literature to speak to the people in that transitional time period. By using a heroic figure, the monks were able to influence the Pagans into following the word of God through the spokesman of a hero (Clark).

It may be that at one point Grendel was a human much like Beowulf. "Yet, so as to save his life, he left behind his hand, his arm and shoulder" (957-959). He has the appearance of a man and he has a mother, but the humanness of Grendel has disappeared, and what remains is a creature that as the text says, "the Creator had condemned." Instead of saying that Grendel was just a real bad guy, through these descriptions, he has taken on a supernatural or mystical quality. God was even concerned enough to curse Grendel for his atrocities.

The interpretation of the long lived oral narrative of Beowulf by a Christian poet dramatically changed the characters persona and Beowulf’s overall theme. There is a heavy incorporation of Christian elements such as consistent reference to God’s omnipotent qualities and the characterization of Grendel and his family as demons. In the actual time of the narrative Grendel would have been viewed as an outcast or criminal, however due to the influence of the Christian poet his character is deemed as inhuman or synonymous with the devil or a demon, using biblical references and Grendel’s disgust with all things good or God related.

When we are first introduced to the epic story of Beowulf, one could easily assume that this was meant to be Christian piece of literature. Whether a reader is aware of it or not in the epic story of Beowulf there are themes of paganism present, the author may have been aware of these themes that they were putting to possibly let the read draw their own conclusion of the story. From the Anglo-Saxon point of view Beowulf is seen as a Christian type of poetry; however, based on the pagan ideals presented in Beowulf, there is reason to say that Beowulf is a form of pagan literature (change from a thesis to a statement). In Support of this thesis six scholarly articles as well Books will provide evidence

Christian faith is very much a part of Beowulf’s author, whose faith embodies the work. Many of the epic’s monsters and demons can be referenced back to the Bible. Grendel, his mother, and other monsters are descendants of “Cain’s clan, whom God had condemned for being the first murderer; consequently causing for his kin to suffer the same fate as Cain. God made it clear to Cain that he would restlessly wander the Earth as his punishment, and so his descendants did “haunting the marches / marauding round the heath / and the desolate fens” (Heaney 5). These fabricated characters, “the powerful men of old, the famous men,” are the offspring of those angels expunged from heaven “when the sons of God came to the daughters of man” (Gen. 6:4). By creating this great lineage in Beowulf’s monsters, these “smiths of woe” (Chaney 206) strike fear into the hearts and minds of those hearken the scop’s epic. With the help of these myths, people began to create the idea that Christianity might be their only form of defense against Grendel-like monsters. Mainly causing for believers of these demons to turn their devotion to God, because only through him would they be

     In Beowulf the pagan aspect is revealed through many passages and many heathen rites or customs in which the form of expression or the thought suggests pagan usage or beliefs. The Christian aspect is revealed through 68 passages in which the form of expression or the thought suggests Christian usage or doctrine (Blackburn 3).

Many elements of Christian philosophy are found throughout the story of Beowulf; man survives through the protection of God and all earthly gifts flow from God. Beowulf repeatedly acknowledges God as his protector. In his battle with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf recognized God’s presence multiple times,

Beowulf Have you ever wondered what it was like to be a man that gives everything he has for the sake of others? Have you ever wondered what it was like to lay your life down on the line to seek glory and riches in present life, and in the afterlife? Many people throughout the world everyday sacrifice their life's just for us, so we can live a peaceful life. Some people do it for the glory, some people do it for people they care for, and some people do it to be remembered so that when they die they go to a better place. A lot of this all depends on what religion we go by because a lot of times our religion shows through our life’s and defines who we are and how we live.