Essay On Beowulf Religion

Improved Essays
Many years there have been conflicts of religion, and essential means of living. Some people try to live their life through the religion they believe in. However, the foundation of numerous religions is unity. Only the way they influence people is the difference. Like perhaps, Buddhist believes in the enlightenment of oneself. There is a religion, Paganism, that believes in multiple gods, and has contrasting beliefs than other top religions. Numerous religions have narratives, or accounts that show the way a person may live. Although many stories are pagan driven, the author of Beowulf, an unknown Christian monk, disorients the reader by showing Christian references, pagan symbolism, and association, and diversity between Christianity and paganism. However, Beowulf may be a good versus evil poem, it has many Christian assertions and symbols that show Beowulf himself is a Christian or has Christian attributes. Just as Jesus is a savior of the Christians, and protects them from hurt, harm, and danger. Beowulf is the savior of the Geats, …show more content…
The two religions share the same practices and rituals. The differences amongst the two are, that Christianity, monotheistic religion, that imputes the teachings of Jesus Christ. Pagans are similar to Christians, just that pagans believe in several Gods. Believing in multiple Gods, polytheistic religion, pagans are in some ways undoubtedly different from Christians. One way is that Christians believe in the being content in God. Pagans believe in being delighted in the pleasures that apes themselves, for instance, materialism. One of the materials pagans use is wergild, which is using payments to indemnify injuries or deaths. Lines 69-73 reflect wergild: Alive, seeking no peace, offering/ No truce, accepting no settlement, no price/ In gold or land, and paying the living/ For one crime with another. In Beowulf, it is the foreshadowing of

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    History 425 discussion Lecture 1)A) In what ways were “pagan” and early Christian Antisemitism distinct from each other? In what ways were they similar? The ways that the two groups were different is that pagan is a person holding religious beliefs other than those of the main world religions.…

    • 322 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    To further insult Beowulf, Unferth tells him “I not only doubt that you will be able to stand for a moment against Grendel, but I doubt you will even have the belly to stay in the hall all night.” This burning envy is born from Hrothgar’s favoritism towards Beowulf. Before Grendel’s attacks, Hrothgar had honored Unferth as his “wisest advisor”, but with Beowulf’s arrival the king had completely forgotten about Unferth. The poem, Beowulf, relates the hero with the Christian figure, Jesus Christ through the representations of Beowulf’s character and funeral; yet the film paints Beowulf as a pagan figure through his involvement in Nordic rituals and relics as well as humiliating the ethics of Christianity by displaying a sinful character such as…

    • 795 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Beowulf is an epic story. It is a complete epic; the oldest surviving Germanic Epic as well as the longest and most important poem in Old English (Anglo). Scholars think the story originated around 500 AD (Notes). An epic story is a poem or story that is about a larger than life hero that goes on a long adventure and does heroic things. Example of an epic story besides Beowulf would be something like Star Wars, The Odyessy, or the movie Three-Hundred.…

    • 1380 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf's Faith

    • 65 Words
    • 1 Pages

    He admits that God is with him and he is the one who has control over everything and all trials. Beowulf attributes his successful battles and struggles result to the judgment of god, so he accept his destiny and put his trust in God. Therefore, Beowulf's idea of defeating Grendel with his bare hands not only confirmed his bravery, but also his devotion and…

    • 65 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Pagan Criticism Of Beowulf

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited

    His enemy is a dragon which attacks Beowulf’s kingdom because a thief has stolen its treasure (2217-20). Thus the dragon represents greed and pride. By this time, Beowulf is old and weaker than he was before. Nevertheless, he decided to face the dragon on his own, which shows his great pride. Beowulf’s pride is a deadly character flaw, as it makes him reckless and arrogant.…

    • 700 Words
    • 3 Pages
    • 1 Works Cited
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Anglo-Saxon paganism, or pre-Chrisitanity, can be seen in the Ruthwell Cross that contains ancient pagan symbols known as runes. Later on, missionaries introduced Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons. The Dream of the Rood documents this era 's conversion to Christianity where a supernatural, personified cross speaks of the crucification of Christ. Also seen in that period 's heavily criticized poem Beowulf, which shows conflict between Paganism and Christianity. The poem is Paganistic, however, it is written by a Christian poet.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf is an epic poem revolved around the theme good versus evil and how Beowulf is considered a hero. To begin with an epic poem is a narrative about heroic deeds. Beowulf demonstrates this by Going on the hero's journey. He is brave and skilled warrior that once hearing of Grendel's destruction goes to slay him. In the narrative Beowulf, warriors follow the heroic code: having strength, courage, generosity, and honor.…

    • 1757 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Christianity In Beowulf

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Beowulf comprises of a Christian superimposition, Viking values, and a hero. In the beginning, it was simply told by bards who had committed the story to memory. It used kennings, caesuras and alliteration to continue the poem. Throughout the story, there are multiple indications that allude to the ideology of Christians. An individual can come to consensus with the fact that a Christian figure transcribed the work, but intelligibly embodies norse principles.…

    • 656 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Heaney illuminates that Beowulf is a warrior sent from God to defend the Danes and King Hrothgar from monsters that terrorize his kingdom. Heaney ends with asserting that the Geat have complete faith in his strength. Heaney bolsters Beowulf’s image in the eyes of the reader by highlighting…

    • 1007 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The entire story of Beowulf is based around the Good versus Evil where character Beowulf takes up the challenge to fight these evils. Whether or not Beowulf was doing this to actually help save people, or only doing it for attention is unknown in each different persons eyes who have read it. Either way if they were for selfish reasons or not, Beowulf still was able to defeat the monsters and save most people before they were hurt, thus earning him the title of Good and Hero. The evil or monsters he fought and defeated in the story can be listed not only the obvious monsters such as Grendel, Grendel’s Mother, and the Dragon, but another evil could also be a different side of Beowulf not easily seen such as his side of greed.…

    • 1206 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Beowulf’s heroic code and Christian values conflict throughout the story. The heroic code shows strength, courage, and honor in warriors and hospitality, generosity, and political skills in kings. Overall, the code values a good reputation. On the other hand, Christianity values truth, freedom, and…

    • 45 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    (Goldsmith, Margaret E. " The Christian Theme of Beowulf. " Poetry Criticism, edited by Carol T. Gaffke and Anna J. Sheets, vol. 22, Gale, 1999.…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Beowulf’s courage at this moment shows that although he has “mortal wounds”, he is able to exemplify characteristics of being a loyal king. By leaving their king, the thanes do not realize that without a king, no one will protect them and their land. This will lead to Geatland becoming a bigger target. Instead, they should have stayed to help fight the dragon, ensuring their king would live to secure their safety.…

    • 1050 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Darkness In Beowulf

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In the epic poem, Beowulf, the recurring image of darkness is often used as a portrayal of death and the unknown. The author also uses the same image to depict evil and sin and its relationship to Christianity. The underlying elements of Christianity within Beowulf can be attributed to the recent conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. Through the persisting application of darkness, Beowulf addresses the presence of sin and the fundamental Christian beliefs in a savior and the redemption from sin. Throughout the poem, the pervasive use of sinister monsters lurking in darkness portrays the immoral acts of sin and evil.…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On Earth, right now, at this very moment there are two hundred and seventy religions. Two hundred and seventy ways of communicating to a higher power, of finding one’s place, and making sense of the ever-changing unreliable world. All religions in their center core have the same principles-be an honest person, respect oneself, and respect all others. Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, and Christianity are no exception. Buddhism and Hinduism, two eastern religions, share common center teachings, and lifestyles, while Christianity and Judaism, two Abrahamic religions, share similar stories, teachings, and practices; all of the religions overlap with their preaching’s and ideas, illustrating the certainty that all religions strive to accomplish the…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays