Wesley Martin
Ms. Morris
Senior English – 2nd Period
28 November 2016
The Influence of Religion on Anglo Saxon Literature
In early times, religion has always played a major role in forming society, be it Christianity or the religion of Ancient Greece and Rome. In the Anglo-Saxon culture, Christianity was the main religion that people would follow, with this being shown in many works of literature from it. Christianity is influential on Anglo-Saxon literature in works such as “The Seafarer”, “The Wanderer”, and Beowulf.
“The Seafarer” is an Old English poem that was written in the Anglo-Saxon era by an unknown author. The poem is shown to have Christian elements in the last half of the poem. The author writes at the end of the poem, which was …show more content…
While the Epic does not directly talk about God, it does have references in the Bible throughout the work. In the text, Grendel is said to be born from the descendants of Cain, who was the first murderer in the Bible. The author writes in the text, “Conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God, punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death” (Page 42, lines 20-23). The author writes about the Cain, the first murderer, killing his brother Abel out of anger and jealously due to God not picking his sacrifice over Abel’s. This is considered one of the most sinful events to occur in the Bible and it draws Grendel to it to describe the evil that’s in him. The author also writes in the text, “Now he discovered—once the afflictor of men, tormentor of their days—what it meant to feud with Almighty God” (Page 51, lines 383-385). When Grendel is fighting Beowulf, he is easily outclassed by the warrior, to the point where he has his entire arm ripped off. The author compares Beowulf to God himself to create an idea on how strong he is, and also to describe how Beowulf is a warrior of light. With the evidence shown, it is proven that Beowulf has Christian elements in it due to the references to events from the Bible and comparisons to God in the text.
With the evidence shown, it is proven that Christianity is influential on Anglo-Saxon literature. With works such
Ms. Morris
Senior English – 2nd Period
28 November 2016
The Influence of Religion on Anglo Saxon Literature
In early times, religion has always played a major role in forming society, be it Christianity or the religion of Ancient Greece and Rome. In the Anglo-Saxon culture, Christianity was the main religion that people would follow, with this being shown in many works of literature from it. Christianity is influential on Anglo-Saxon literature in works such as “The Seafarer”, “The Wanderer”, and Beowulf.
“The Seafarer” is an Old English poem that was written in the Anglo-Saxon era by an unknown author. The poem is shown to have Christian elements in the last half of the poem. The author writes at the end of the poem, which was …show more content…
While the Epic does not directly talk about God, it does have references in the Bible throughout the work. In the text, Grendel is said to be born from the descendants of Cain, who was the first murderer in the Bible. The author writes in the text, “Conceived by a pair of those monsters born of Cain, murderous creatures banished by God, punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death” (Page 42, lines 20-23). The author writes about the Cain, the first murderer, killing his brother Abel out of anger and jealously due to God not picking his sacrifice over Abel’s. This is considered one of the most sinful events to occur in the Bible and it draws Grendel to it to describe the evil that’s in him. The author also writes in the text, “Now he discovered—once the afflictor of men, tormentor of their days—what it meant to feud with Almighty God” (Page 51, lines 383-385). When Grendel is fighting Beowulf, he is easily outclassed by the warrior, to the point where he has his entire arm ripped off. The author compares Beowulf to God himself to create an idea on how strong he is, and also to describe how Beowulf is a warrior of light. With the evidence shown, it is proven that Beowulf has Christian elements in it due to the references to events from the Bible and comparisons to God in the text.
With the evidence shown, it is proven that Christianity is influential on Anglo-Saxon literature. With works such