Christianity In Beowulf

The story of Beowulf deals with life, death, violence, kings, and monsters. Written around 800 CE, and then picked up hundreds of years later to be rewritten by a monk, it is written well after the coming of Christ. It could be simply read as an action adventure, filled with conquests and elaborate feasts, as were common of Old English tales. The story is not that simple though, and gives us a peek into a culture going through some drastic changes. Once built upon a Pagan belief system void of Christ and saturated with values such as revenge and violence, the Anglo-Saxons did not immediately adopt all of Christianity. There was a lengthy time in which both sets of beliefs were muddled and weaved together haphazardly, where no one religion was distinct. Beowulf is an example of these cultural influences crashing together. While Christianity in Beowulf, the Old English epic poem, looks different than the Christianity we recognize today, the story is built with Christian values.

This quote clearly shows the reference back to the Bible. It explains how the author uses Grendel as one of the offspring’s of Cain whom killed his brother Abel. Beowulf was the one warrior who was able to stop Grendel. Beowulf travels to Grendel’s lair in the marsh with some of his finest soldiers. When Beowulf and his men met Grendel the weapons of Beowulf’s army became dull from a spell. The weapons could not scratch the skin of Grendel. Beowulf used the faith from God to defeat Grendel without the use of weapons. Beowulf was able to hold onto Grendel’s arms until they were ripped off. Beowulf put his life at risk by using his courage and faith to overcome Grendel.

Christianity arrived in Northern Europe over one thousand years ago. This is evidenced by some of the earliest pieces of literature that we have. The epic poem, “Beowulf”, shows many references to the influence of Christianity on English culture. There are many parallels between characters in “Beowulf” and characters from the Bible. Many Christian themes and virtues are also portrayed in “Beowulf”. Throughout “Beowulf”, the theme of Christianity manifests itself through Christ-like images of Beowulf as well as his strength in God allowing him to ward off monsters of paganism.

Hygelac eventually perishes and Beowulf is ruler of all the kingdom. Beowulf’s next battle is with that of massive proportion, a dragon, awoken into a rage by the theft of a golden goblet [1,72]. (note: the backstory is reminiscent of the Lord of The Rings.) The dragon continued it’s path of destruction and eventually destroyed the throne room. “He was destined to face the end of his days In this mortal world; as was the dragon” [1,74] This passage spoke to me, I interpret this to be another link that Beowulf was Christ-like, giving his life to free humanity from the dragons tyranny, comparable only to Jesus giving his life for the sins of humanity. As the battle transpired, Beowulf used the sword named Naegling to keep the dragon at bay, as the battle ensued, Beowulf had received a mortal bite wound to his next filling his body with poison, but he bested the dragon by dealing a mortal wound as well [1,84-85]. “The Geat people built a pyre for Beowulf, Stacked and decked it until it stood four-square, Hung with helmets, heavy war-shields And shining armor, just as he had ordered” [1,98]. There are many associations one could make relating the tale of Beowulf with pagan and Christian culture. Beowulf himself is portrayed as a Christ figure in many ways, from his supernatural abilities and strength to his victory of good vs evil, and ultimate death

Beowulf's Christian Elements There are several cases within Beowulf in which elements of Christianity may be found. Such cases are not always easily spotted within the text of the book; some are much more obvious than others. If looked at closely, there are several subtle cases of Christianity, along with the more obvious ones. However, with enough examination, it is possible identify and compare each instance with Biblical references.

Pagan and Christian Influences in Beowulf Beowulf is believed to be written sometime after the Anglo-Saxons had already converted from Paganism to Christianity, however the people of the time still had many Pagan beliefs and customs. The ideas mentioned in this poem could suggest the author, who was living a somewhat new Christian lifestyle, was criticizing and reflecting on the ways of his cultures past. It could also be said that he was trying to find a balance between the two ideas, as was everyone of that time. Paganism is a polytheistic religion.

The author reminds us of the famous story from the Old Testament, about the first crime in the history of the world. This is of course the story of Cain and Abel, in the poem Grendel, the antagonist is labelled as a descendant of Cain. This portrayal is probably used to emphasize the division of characters, where Grendel is associated with the evil. Also, it is mentioned that both Cain and Grendel are the banished outcasts of the society.

At the end of the story Beowulf dies while fighting the dragon and he fought the dragon to protect his people. This is symbolic of how Jesus died on the cross for our

For two thousand years, Christianity has been a major religion found all over the world. There are many different types of Christianity and each one follow different rituals. Beowulf is a story about him fighting three gruesome battles and winning every single one. However, he believes that without Christ on his side, he would not have been able to win them all. Throughout this story, the author references God and his control over everyone in order to describe the development of Christianity among the Pagan society.

In Beowulf both pagan aspects and references to Christianity play an important role. The presence of the two of them might seem contradictory, but studying the poem more closely reveals that instead there seems to be some kind of interplay, in which they at times react to or even support each other. Typical pagan elements arise in the form of the celebration of any heroic features, and a strong presence of heroic values and codes. Fame, strength and a warrior’s reputation are considered to be very important throughout the entire poem. This is evident in the way Beowulf is addressed, using words such as “the winner of fights” (Beowulf 70) and “warrior prince” (Beowulf 63).

Christian Elements in Beowulf The poem Beowulf contains numerous elements of Christianity such as God providing strength to earthly men in life, God protecting his favored men in battle, and men maintaining a humble attitude through victory. Beowulf incorporates Biblical allusions along with the author painting Beowulf as an archetype of Christ who held the favor of God in battle and in life. However, the Christian values of Beowulf directly conflict with the scatter of Pagan beliefs and attitudes in the work; ironically, this conflict developed by a priest translating the initially Pagan work (Irving).

The Influences of Biblical Teachings and Christian Theology in Beowulf and How They Conflict With the Original Story. The story Beowulf was originally written in a pagan time and land; however, by the time the epic was written down, almost all of the native inhabitants of it’s land had converted to Christianity. This gave the Beowulf poet the arduous task of ensuring his Christian beliefs would remain unfettered while he recorded the entirely un-Christian behavior of the poems characters. This dilemma leads to frequent analogies about God, Heaven, Hell, and many references to the Old Testament, that one can only assume are the attempted justifications to the otherwise morally defunct chronicle.

The ideas of Christianity and paganism are not usually ones that collide. Nonetheless, the epic poem Beowulf has several references to them both. This can largely be explained by analyzing the people and culture of the period. While the events of the poem take place in modern-day Scandinavia, the author and audience are assumed to be residents of England. It was written in approximately 700 A.D., during the Anglo-Saxon period. By this time, the Anglo-Saxons were already largely converted to Christianity, but there were still echoes of paganism in their society and beliefs. This is presumed to be one of the reasons why Beowulf incorporates this unlikely mix of religions. Although Christianity and paganism are generally thought to have few similarities, Beowulf’s unknown author utilizes Christian symbolism, allusions to paganism, and interaction between the two to make Beowulf representative of the period in which it was written.

Beowulf was written by an unknown author but is suspected to have been written by a Christian monk around 700-1000 A.D. This poem is known as the mother poem of England and one of the most influential works. All throughout the poem, we are introduced to the religions Christianity and paganism. Paganism is a “dark mystical religion from dark ages and is polytheistic religion and worship more than one god in the wilderness and they make idols out of wood or stone that they pray to.” Christianity is the “Belief in God the Father, Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and the Holy Spirit.” Christianity and paganism contradict each other many times during the poem and they both work together to show how Beowulf reacts with both fate and God at his side. The unknown author does a remarkable job at combining the two to show how other characters also react to both. Although never precisely told which religion Beowulf is, the unknown author shows the combination of Beowulf's religion is paganism, Christianity, and is even able to combine and show the cross of the two and how it affects him.

The heroic poem, Beowulf, is a reflection of many Anglo-Saxon ideals and concepts. This work was written after the Anglo-Saxons were already Christianized, but there were still acts of pagan culture at the time. This conversion from paganism to Christianity mixed a lot of the elements. Many Anglo-Saxons still had pagan beliefs, but tried to connect these beliefs with Christianity. Beowulf was written in the time when the society was in the process of converting from Paganism to Christianity. In this epic poem, these two religions come through the actions of its characters. The poem uses portions of Paganism and Christianity. Even though many Pagan influences appear in the poem, Christian influences override them. Beowulf should be considered not as a pagan text, but rather a Christian one because Christian values are considered the mainstay of this literary work.