Examples Of Paganism In Beowulf

The epic poem of Beowulf was originally a pagan poem, but many years after it was written a monk rewrote it to add some Christian elements. So throughout the poem it mentions God and the monk’s beliefs about who God is. Throughout the poem it also gives incite on what Beowulf and Grendel are like. The epic, Beowulf, has examples of Christianity, paganism, characteristics of Beowulf and also characteristics of Grendel.
Although the poem was initially written to be pagan, it has different Christian elements throughout the poem. As an illustration, the text shows Christian thoughts by, "…Sung of the ancient beginnings of us all, recalling The almighty making the earth..."(5). Grendel would hear the Geats singing their songs about how they were created, and how God created everything. He heard them worshipping God for all he had done. Grendel got upset because he could not know the God they were singing about because he was a demon. The author shows Christian thoughts again by stating, "... A brood forever opposing the Lords will..." (5). The Lord has a will for everyone; even the …show more content…
For example, the author shows paganism when it states, "Down to hell he would go..."(12). After Beowulf killed Grendel he would go to hell. The Lord does not like demons or the devil. Furthermore, Grendel is going to hell because he is against God and God does not like him because he is a demon on earth. Another example of paganism would be when the author talks about fate. For instance, when the text says, “… a mighty prince mourning the fate of his lost friends…” (6). This examples shows paganism because it talks about how the prince was grieving the fate of his fellow people. The people thought, “fate controlled their lives” (). However, this is not accurate because the Lord controlled their life, and he still controls every body’s lives today. He knew what was happening because that is the way it was