Christianity In Beowulf

Beowulf was written by an unknown Christian Monk that lived in Anglo-Saxon England who used Judeo-Christian beliefs and pagan traditions in his epic poem. The poem was written about the Jutes and the Danes and their Germanic tribes while they lived in a pre-Christian time. It was composed orally during the time when the Anglo-Saxons were still pagan but wasn’t written down until after they became Christian. These elements were hard to ignore because of how much they define Beowulf and his heroic warrior figure. The author used paganism and Christianity to show that even though pagan was coming to an end and Christianity was the one true religion that was coming to be; they were both still important and both interrelated throughout the poem. …show more content…
It was written for a Christian audience. Beowulf is a complete mixture between a selfless Christian and a heroic warrior of the pagans (Christianity in Beowulf). The author of Beowulf referred Beowulf’s strength as a great gift from God (A Christian Apology for Beowulf and Treasure). Throughout the epic poem, there are several Biblical references that stick out. In the Old Testament, it states how God punished Cain for the murder of his brother Abel in the book of Genesis. He punishes him by cursing him to wonder, and just like in the epic poem, Grendel is punished by being cursed and to wonder. In the poem, Grendel is referred to as a descendant of Cain, which is the Bibles first murderer (A Christian Apology for Beowulf and Treasure). Beowulf acknowledges God as his protector because he knows that he must earn Gods protection by being true to his Christian values. These values include; courage, honesty, loyalty, and pride. The statement from Beowulf: “let him who can win fame before death, because that is a dead man’s best memorial” (Christianity in Beowulf), shows how important fame is to the character. Beowulf must show his prowess somehow, so he agrees to go kill Grendel himself. He decided that he would go out and either kill Grendel and accomplish his goal or he would die trying. After accomplishing his goal, Beowulf shows his prowess and great heroism. Even though prowess and …show more content…
Beowulf tired fighting her with his bare hands but that was not enough to kill her. While the fight was going on, Beowulf spotted a sword hanging on the wall. He then grabbed the sword and cut Grendel’s mothers head off. After she died, the Danes were amazed with what he had accomplished so Hrothgar praised Beowulf because of his loyalty towards them. Beowulf knew that the fight would have ended fast and he would have died right away if he didn’t have God watching over him during the fight. He believed that it was God who saved him from Grendel’s mother, so he gave God all the credit for the weapon hanging on the wall. Beowulf also believes that all success comes from God and that’s why he gave God all of the credit. Grendel and his mother are yet again referred to as the descendants of Cain. It even states that they were both sent by fate which is a pagan