Paganism

The Anglo-Saxon Era was one of transition from pagan beliefs to Christianity, which can be see interwoven in the literature of the period. By the time “Beowulf” was transcribed, pagan mythology and Christian truths were viewed as mutually exclusive ideals, but to many people these tales coexisted within their hearts and minds as is revealed by the story of “Beowulf” as the author transitions seamlessly between the two warring worldviews. The relationship of Christianity and pagan legends is…

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. Beowulf is a composition that…

Syncretism is an attempt to bring together beliefs from different schools of thought. Almost every religion has some form of syncretism. Christianity for instance, was focused on the Judaic thought and there were numerous practices that were picked up which were clearly not part of early Christianity. For instance while celebrating Christmas, the tree, and feasts are all Pagan rituals that were incorporated into Christianity as a means to convert the non – Christians (Maroney, 2006). Another…

The religion that I chose was Wiccans. They are a modern section of Paganism. I chose that religion because I have always liked reading about Paganism, and about Wiccans. It established in England during the early 20th Century. In the mid-20th Century, 1954, it was presented into the rest of society by a British civil servant, Gerald Gardner. Wiccan is a religion that idolizes the Earth, and Mother Nature. As you can probably tell from the sentence before, Wiccans are a nature religion. They act…

While Pompey’s work lacks some of the variety a self-actualized person might require, she does challenge herself to work efficiently and construct her narrative when she free time. In addition, Sir Phoebus has awarded Pompey tremendous responsibility because of her expertise capabilities. She achieves this despite the limitations of the era and her understanding that she may not have the perfect job, but she does have the ability to find it satisfying. In showing her autonomy, Pompey reveals she…

Language and literature remain often much longer then the cultures that inspired them. Beowulf is one of the oldest pieces of Anglo-Saxon poetry with its manuscript fating back to the early 1000s. Though the manuscript being written by hand could have been copied for a much longer period of time. Beowulf as a manuscript can be seen as the intersection of two cultures. In its original form the poem was part of a long tradition of oral poetry. When this tradition was final written down it was…

Religion in Beowulf Religion is a sensitive issue in Beowulf, because this story was taken from early medieval times period when the pagan religion was practiced. However, the story has been Christianized because it was told in late medieval Anglo-Saxon Britain and the Christianity was widely practiced this time. If this story was told in early medieval time it would have been told more about pagan, but because of the time period and the number of audience was Christian, the ideas of both…

Christianity in Beowulf The devout followers of the Christian religion have a long-standing reputation for adapting and manipulating antecedent and subsequent “unholy,” outright pagan symbols, practices, and traditions to have their righteous agenda subsumed into popular culture, such as Christmas or December 25th - which, to Christians, is the birth of Jesus Christ, but historically was the celebrated day of the birth of the pagan god, Mithra, the Greek god, Dionysus, and the Phrygo-Roman god,…

There can be many parallels made between these ‘Sir Gawain and the Green Knight’ and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Apart from the fact that Tolkien is said to idolize the author of the poem and even released a translated version in the mid 1900s, Tolkien stresses many of the same themes as the poem. From temptation to Christian themes and morals, Tolkien weaves many elements from the poem into his trilogy. Although the poem outright states Christian themes, Tolkien was against making Lord of…

Beowulf is a poem that reflects a period of religious fusion. Beowulf took place around 450-600 A.D., even though the story was composed between 700-750 A.D., and it wasn’t until roughly 300 years later where the manuscript was in circulation. During this span of time, the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain and approximately 200 years later, the Pope began sending missionaries to start converting the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. It is important to know the history of this time frame because there is…