Hero Vs Christianism In Beowulf

In modern ages, a hero could have the slightest bit of reason pertaining their cause for fighting and risking their lives for the greater good of society. However, in Anglo-Saxon poetry, a hero’s actions result from their own selfless generosity or from their loyalty to a person or God. Nearing the end of the Anglo-Saxon period dating the late 1400s AD, Christianity had nearly replaced Paganism in morality and law. Hence, an incredibly possible reason for a hero such as Beowulf to fight for others during this time period could be that he or she desires to abide by the laws of Christianity. In Seamus Heaney’s translation of the epic Beowulf, the story’s hero serves as an excellent example of the large effect Christianity endowed regarding his …show more content…
Characters besides Beowulf, including the narrator have made different references by calling God, “the Lord of Life,” (l. 16) or, “the Ruler of Heaven”(l. 1555). From a Christian point of view, it could be readily defended that a majority of characters in this epic claims Christianity as their religion. By calling God the Lord of Life they recognize that he is the person who has created everything on the Earth. Additionally, naming him the Ruler of Heaven would make it understandable that their belief in an afterlife as, “their lives are in the hands of God, who determines their destiny and who will reward or punish them for their deeds” (Mazzeno). Regarding Beowulf, if the reader considered the scenes before Beowulf entered each battle, his behavior exhibits the reality, “that he will eventually die, and he accepts that knowledge stoically” (Mazzeno). It is in the moments before he enters into each battle that displays his personal religious beliefs to the audience. In a story where the narrator includes aspects of Paganism and Christianity, it is knowledgeable that there are deeper and increased supplements of Christian vocabulary in this