In Beowulf, the poem uses Christianity as symbolism fro good and evil . The poem is about an epic hero that is raised to fight against the forces of evil. During the time the poem was written Christianity influence a lot of the culture, so the idea that Beowulf resembles Christ is prominent. Although the poem never mentions Christ, the poet uses different characters and references to the old testament. The poet uses them sparingly but the references to biblical event and characters are clear. In the very beginning of Beowulf, the poet summarizes the beginning chapters in Genesis. So we know that from the very beginning this poem is going to represent Christ in Old Testament references. God gives free will to all of his children and Beowulf
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With Beowulf’s life at stake, God exercised His will and intervened in the fight to set good above evil. Christ second battle is depicted as death on the cross; the devil thought he had the upper hand but God knew from the beginning that He would have to send his Son to die and thus the devil loses. Beowulf was a great fighter and he knew that, but he also knew that God was ultimately in control and could change his life in an instance, like from his success to failures and eventually his death. “My hands alone shall fight for me, struggle for life against the monster. God must decide who will be given to death’s grip”(172-175). God knew that Beowulf’s battle with the dragon would be his last, therefore, God’s will plays a tremendous factor in Beowulf’s victories. The three battles are significant because they were not against men. If they were against men, then his motives and actions might have been portrayed differently. As it turns out, his battles were against evil monsters that represented everything that points to evil. Jesus’ last battle is represented in hell when he took the keys of death and hell for good. It has no dominion over man after his death and resurrection. This is significant in our walk with Christ because it gave every man an opportunity to be with Christ in eternity. These all are force of evils that Christ faced. Very similar to the evils Beowulf faced. In the
With Beowulf’s life at stake, God exercised His will and intervened in the fight to set good above evil. Christ second battle is depicted as death on the cross; the devil thought he had the upper hand but God knew from the beginning that He would have to send his Son to die and thus the devil loses. Beowulf was a great fighter and he knew that, but he also knew that God was ultimately in control and could change his life in an instance, like from his success to failures and eventually his death. “My hands alone shall fight for me, struggle for life against the monster. God must decide who will be given to death’s grip”(172-175). God knew that Beowulf’s battle with the dragon would be his last, therefore, God’s will plays a tremendous factor in Beowulf’s victories. The three battles are significant because they were not against men. If they were against men, then his motives and actions might have been portrayed differently. As it turns out, his battles were against evil monsters that represented everything that points to evil. Jesus’ last battle is represented in hell when he took the keys of death and hell for good. It has no dominion over man after his death and resurrection. This is significant in our walk with Christ because it gave every man an opportunity to be with Christ in eternity. These all are force of evils that Christ faced. Very similar to the evils Beowulf faced. In the