Religion In Beowulf

Beowulf, a man of God who goes through trials that make him braver than any other. The epic of Beowulf, author unknown and translated by Burton Raffel, tells of the hardships throughout battles that a Geat prince goes through. With battles between a monster, the monster's mother, and a dragon, Beowulf is put to the ultimate test involving God’s helping hand in winning the battles. Within this time frame, most people live by the pagan religion. This changes when people begin to adapt to the newest religion of all mankind, Christianity. The religious symbolism throughout Beowulf is portrayed through Beowulf’s legacy.

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.

Throughout the story of Beowulf, the concept of religion plays a significant role. The Christianity ideology views state that man can survive and do great things through the protection of God. A strong desire of pride is also represented in the form of a hero in Beowulf, which in a sense goes against Christian morals. This clash with Christian morals in Beowulf was in the context of pride vs. humility and selfishness vs. sacrifice. In the book, Hrothgar first explained to Beowulf that pride without humility will only kill him. Beowulf struggles to find his roots as a follower of God, as well as maintaining his views and actions of Paganism.

The significance of Paganism and Christianity are both present in Beowulf. Beowulf was written between the 8th and 10th century’s, when the Anglo-Saxon society was beginning to change from Paganism to Christianity. Many believe that this is essentially a pagan work since the Christian faith hadn’t fully arrived in the Anglo-Saxon society. However, according to Douglas Wilson, “The poet could easily have known individual Christian Anglo-Saxons who had converted from paganism”(page.31); this showing how the author would have been able to retrieve information about the customs and morals of Christianity. Christianity is a religion based upon monotheistic beliefs, belief in one personal and transcendent God and based through Jesus’s teachings. This religion teaches that God has a path for everyone, that people may choose to follow and live by him. The epic poem through the years, has been based upon Christianity but still contains a good deal of Pagan elements. Paganism is a religion founded before Christianity, having no belief in a personal god and based more on the concept of fate, that people do not have control over their life. In Beowulf, God is praised for all of his works by Beowulf himself, and the other characters. While also believing that fate controlled the character’s lives.

Christian symbolism in Beowulf within the poem Beowulf, the poet utilizes the Christian religion to symbolize the elements of good and evil and Heaven and Hell. Beowulf is the oldest known English epic poem. The manuscripts date back to about 1000 A.D., when two scribes wrote it down for posterity. The poem was handed down from the Anglo-Saxon period, and through the retelling of the poem, it changed a little each time. The poem creates an oral depiction of an epic hero who strived to fight against the forces of evil. There really was a “historical” Beowulf who helped the Geats and Danes fight off pirates, but he was neither King of the Geats nor Danish hero at any time. In fact, he was not considered a man of any extraordinary qualities,

Beowulf is 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 mix 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.

Religious undertones are prevalent in the literary texts of times past. The writers of that time often penned those stories specifically to teach a moral lesson based on his or her religious beliefs. Beowulf is no exception to that. Though not all scholars believe Beowulf’s author to have been a Christian himself, it is undeniable that Christianity influenced the text. At one point in the epic, Cain, Eve’s son, is directly referenced. With deeper analysis, one can see parallels between the monsters in the story and Satan. It’s also possible to draw similarities between Beowulf and Christ, Himself. There are numerous other examples of Christian undertones scattered throughout the text, and all of them have a cumulative effect that influences the entire epic. Such influences include prompting the reader to approach Beowulf as if it were an allegory (that is, to treat all elements of the story as a potential symbol representing a Biblical idea), indirectly alluding to Biblical stories, and encouraging introspection on the reader’s part by illuminating potential negative traits they may have.

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.

In eighth-century Anglo-Saxon society, an important transition occurred from the use paganism to the new traditions of Christianity. Beowulf is an epic poem in which the main character Beowulf has an internal conflict regarding two religions. To further understand why Beowulf has both Christian and pagan influences you must first understand the Anglo-Saxon culture. In the eighth century, Christianity was evolving into the orthodox religion for the people. However, aspects of pagan culture were still being observed, but to a lesser extent. This connection led to many works of the time being of both religions. Beowulf was written by an anonymous Christian monk; the ideals of the epic poem represents Christianity, paganism, and coexists as both faiths.

In the story Beowulf, there are a few different religions that are represented by the author. All the religions are portrayed in the story through the author’s eyes and his beliefs. The author makes clear what religion he believes in and his views. Some instances in the story also relate to the conflict between Christianity and the code of warriors. Throughout the story, the author is faced with the challenge of trying to portray his beliefs with a character whose actions are in conflict with his beliefs. Beowulf, in this story is based on the total opposite of the author’s beliefs and there are instances when his behavior is shown, and after there is symbolism of Christianity, to show its conflict with his behavior.

He more than anything represents an idea of something bad that we should strive not to be in our daily lives. Carpentier also goes on to say “ Yet like Frankenstein’s creature, Grendel is more than just an inhuman monster. He is a symbol of the jealousy and hate, that seeks to destroy others’ happiness and can ultimately cripple a civilization.” Grendel hated and was jealous of what everyone around him had and instead of trying to find happiness himself he chose to destroy anything that resembled what he didn’t have. Maybe when he “killed the men” he didn’t actually killed them since he’s the idea of jealousy maybe he just made them into hateful monsters like

Beowulf has both pagan and Christian influences. Throughout the story there are many elements of Christian teachings: that man survives only through the protection of God, that all earthly gifts flow from God, and that the proper bearing of man is to be humble and unselfish (csis.edu, 2011). While many pagan influences appear in the poem, Christian overtones are more prevalent, exhibiting many elements of Christian heroism in the poem. An example is when Beowulf says “God must decide who will be given to death's cold grip” (Norton, lines 174-175).   He knows that God has already created an ending to this battle with Grendel, and he is lavished with peace. He shows true Christian character, bravery, and faith in the manner in which he

This represents the killing of pagan gods and deities. If the author of this poem was not a Christian, there would be no epic struggle to kill Grendel’s mother. Because the author is a Christian, Grendel and his mother are seen as the spawn of Cain, demons coming straight from hell. This shows the change of loyalty from the gods of old to the new God of heaven. “Holy God, who sent him victory, gave judgment for truth and right, Ruler of the Heavens…” ( ) Beowulf perceives it as his duty from God to kill the demons and to show allegiance to

The Anglo-Saxon poem “Beowulf” takes the reader back into a time long past; one of family, fate, and fealty. Beowulf offers a glimpse of a society struggling between two different paths, one path being the assimilation into the new Christian traditions and the other is the fast fading past of glorified warriors and family ties. In the poem, the reader can see the attempts of the poet to convey the values and stories of Judeo-Christianity in a society of Anglo-Saxon paganism. The poet illustrates the infiltration of the Christian teachings and how they might have appeared within the lives of the people through the literary devices of symbolism, allegory, and allusion.

The representation of Christian Theology in Beowulf is uncanny all throughout the story. Although, the story of Christianity may not be what some people pull out of this story, there is some evidence that Beowulf maybe the same, or resemble God. Throughout the story, Beowulf is faced with Monsters and Creatures that threaten his people's safety. These creatures being so evil and cruel, could be represented as Satan himself. As the story progresses the portrayal of Beowulf makes him out to be almost immortal and Godlike. Nevertheless Beowulf and Christian Theology have many corresponding themes.