The story "Beowulf" is thought to have been written by Christian monks. But the story could be either a Christian story, or a Pagan story. Scholars have argued that the author of "Beowulf" relates the story to Christianity in some ways. He talks about Cain, and the flood. The only people during this time that can read are Christians. In other ways the author relates it to Paganism. The story has trolls, and idols, and sacrifices to things other than God. Also the story talks about giants fighting wars with God, which is not mentioned in the bible. This story seems to be Christian with bits and pieces of paganism thrown in.
Beowulf is a story about a king who hires Beowulf to fight a monster, named Grendel. King Hrothgar of Denmark, builds a great mead-hall, called Heorot, where his warriors can gather to drink, receive gifts from their lord, and sing songs. But the noise from Heorot angers Grendel, a cruel demon who lives in the swamplands of Hrothgar's kingdom. Every night Grendel terrorizes the Danes, killing them even though they tried hard to fight back.
The Danes suffer through twelve years of Grendel attacking them every night. Beowulf hears about the problems that Hrothgar is having and sails to Denmark, determined to defeat Grendel. Beowulf fights Grendel unarmed and kills him.
This makes Grendel's mother very upset. She seeks revenge and kills Aeschere, who was one of Hrotgar's most trusted advisers. She did this because Beowulf killed her son, and he was important to her. So she killed Aeschere, because he was important to the king. Beowulf kills her with a sword, and finds Grendel's corpse, decapitates it and brings the head back for the King.
Hygelac is killed in a war against the Shylfings, and, his son dies as well, Beowulf now takes the throne of the Geats. He rules for fifty years, bringing prosperity to Geatland. When Beowulf was an old man someone stole an item from the tower, awakening and making the dragon mad. The dragon burned down villages, people, and Beowulf's castle. Beowulf then took twelve men with him to fight the dragon and lost. All of the men but one ran away. The dragon bit Beowulf in the neck, and the dragon's poisonous venom killed him.
The first part of "Beowulf" that could make it a Christian story is: "It came into his mind that he would command the construction of a huge mead-hall, a house greater than men on earth ever had heard of, and share the gifts God had bestowed on him.
The theology which appears in the Christian allusions in Beowulf is very vague and indefinete: there is no mention of Christ, the saints, miracles, Mary His Mother, specific doctrines of the church, martyrs of the church, the New Tes...
It is common opinion that Beowulf was written by a Christian poet. This was probably true because at the time when it was written, most of the few people who knew how to read and write were in the clergy. There are various references within the poem to elements of the Christian religion. However, the story is about Pagan people and certain aspects of their culture are even glorified. The ambiguity of Beowulf’s religious content has caused confusion as to what significance religion had in inspiring the author and in what manner the author meant to inspire or influence his audience. I do not think that Beowulf is a Christian allegory because Beowulf had very little in common with the Biblical figure of Jesus Christ. I think that religion was not the primary thematic concern of the writer. Although there are discrepancies between the two styles of thinking, Beowulf seems to praise values which were considered moral and good among all humanity, both Christian and Pagan.
Nobody dared to stop the bravest man in all the land known as Beowulf. Beowulf is the strongest warrior from Geatland. When Beowulf hears about the Danes and Hrothgar’s struggle to keep his men safe, he offers to help. The Danish king, Hrothgar, accepts Beowulf’s request to kill Grendel and his mother. Beowulf proves his strength and becomes famous when he defeats Grendel in a battle using nothing but his bare hands in Herot. He keeps Grendel’s arm as a symbol of his victory. Grendel’s mother looks for revenge, but she is also killed by the brave warrior. Beowulf becomes the King of Geatland after the king’s son, Heardred, is killed. Beowulf rules for 50 years and he is very successful in keeping peace across the land and Geatland becomes very prosperous. Beowulf later dies after a final fight against a dragon. The Geats build a tower strong and tall just as Beowulf requested so that sailors could find it from far and wide. Beowulf perfectly embodies the Germanic heroic ideal.
After fighting and winning many battles, Beowulf's life enters a new stage when he finally becomes king of his homeland, Geatland. Even in his old age, his code of honor still obligates him to fight against an evil, fiery dragon. For fifty years he has governed his kingdom well. While Beowulf is governing, the dragon "...kept watch over a hoard, a steep stone-barrow" (Norton 55). Under it lays a path concealed from the sight of men. Over centuries no one had disturbed the dragon’s kingdom until one day when a thief broke into the treasure, laid hand on a cup fretted with gold, which infuriated the dragon. "The fiery dragon had destroyed the people's stronghold, the land along the sea, the heart of the country" (Norton 57).
The story begins with Grendel taking the lives of countless innocent men. It seems to all that there is no one who can face this great monster who lives down in the swamp. The king, Hrothgar, becomes concerned for the health of his country and seeks out help from someone of great strength. In hearing this, Beowulf sees it as an opportunity to increase his popularity and fame. Upon arrival, he is anxious to come face to face with the great beast. In addition, he declares that he will fight Grendel without any weapons to prove who is truly the strongest. After his victory, Beowulf gets his fame and becomes king of another land for fifty years.
In the epic of Beowulf, Herot is plagued by the monster Grendel. A hero, Beowulf is summoned to defeat the beast. Beowulf is a Christian and Pagan based poem that includes several examples of each element. There are several biblical illusions in the text that give insight into the use of Christianity but just the same, there are several references to the Devil and Hell and Cain. Therefore the poem must be both Christian and Pagan because it represents both.
Then the Danes decide to go back to Herot and while they are sleeping, Grendel’s mother comes to attack them in order to even the score for the killing of her son. Then she leaves, taking the body parts of her son and Esher (which is one of Hrothgar's close friends) with her. Beowulf attempts to save him by entering the monster-filled lake, although the sword that he uses is useless against the skin of Grendel’s mother. As he continues to fight, he grows tired, but then notices that there is a huge sword on the wall of the battle hall where he was dragged to. The sword just so happened to be a magical one that was blessed by the giants that made it.
Scholars have argued about the religious stance of the epic poem Beowulf for centuries. Although the man who put the poem down on paper, known as the Beowulf poet, was a devout Christian, the actual poem itself is pagan. There are many clues in the epic that lead us to this conclusion such as the numerous references to pagan symbols, namely the symbol of fate. Also, the central idea of revenge in the poem opposes the ideas of Christianity. The poem also contains many breaches of the Ten Commandments, which prove that the story is not Christian. However, the biggest clue to the paganism of Beowulf is the scene that contains the burial of Beowulf and the building and idolization of the tower, all of which go directly against the Christian religion.
The character Beowulf, “a man of great strength and bravery” (Magill 388), is a hero in the way he defends his neighboring country, Denmark. When the word that a hostile creature, known as Grendel, was killing tons in Denmark, Beowulf set sail to help defend the people and rid them of the hideous monster.
King Hrothgar once again looks toward Beowulf to take care of another monster. To get ready for this battle Beowulf wears armor and uses the Horting sword which has never lost in battle. Once again Beowulf shows his courage by deciding to go to the bottom of the monster filled swamp and fight alone. Fighting off monsters on his way down, Beowulf reached the bottom where he was met by Grendel 's mother. He tried to cut her head off with Horting, but she is too strong. Beowulf takes a sword made for giants off the wall, and uses his super strength to cut the mother 's head off. As a trophy of this battle Beowulf finds the body of Grendel in a corner and decides to take his head back to the mead hall. Hrothgar celebrates another victory by once again throwing a large celebration where they gave more gifts to Beowulf and the Geats. After two battles, Beowulf decides it is time for him and his men to head back to their homeland. Continuing to show courage, honor, and strength Beowulf states that if the Danes ever have anymore problems with monsters he will help protect
The poem Beowulf is a renowned story that displays many different surroundings and religious beliefs. Some may believe the story of Beowulf portrays pagan beliefs or customs and others believe that the poem is more in agreement with Christian ethnicity. The author of Beowulf uses both Christian and pagan elements in the poem to define the heroic warrior, Beowulf, and the evil dragons. After reading Beowulf the author clearly shows how Beowulf is a man who is filled with Christian customs and is willing to die and defend the world against evil using the help of God.
The book starts the journey out by Grendel’s mother killing Hrothgar’s best friend. Beowulf then sets out for revenge to the lair of Grendel’s mother. This becomes a long and dangerous journey down to the bottom of a dark lake that not even the animals would go near. The entire time Beowulf is swimming down to the lair he is being attacked by other monsters. Finally, when Beowulf arrives at the lair he confronts Grendel’s mother. They then engage in a “wrestling match” that Beowulf begins to start losing in. Beowulf starts to think that this will be his last fight until he see’s a sword made by giants. Beowulf then grabs the sword and and kills Grendel’s mother. After this they celebrate and return home to the land of the Geats where Beowulf eventually becomes king. The movie has Grendel’s mother kill Beowulf’s men. Beowulf and Wiglaf set out to kill Grendel’s mother. The journey to the lair is extremely easy. Once Beowulf arrives he does not end up killing Grendel’s mother. Grendel’s mother then offers him to be king if he gives her the golden horn and a new son. Beowulf returns and lies about killing Grendel’s mother. Hrothgar then announces that he makes Beowulf the next king when he dies and then kills himself making Beowulf the
Grendel relieves his anger and hatred for the Danes by killing them. He torments them and enjoys the act. Eventually he is defeated by the hero of the story, Beowulf, the prince of the Geats, and his evil reign is ended abruptly. This introduces a character of great evil, the mother of
Beowulf has been estimated to have been written over twelve hundred years ago. According to The Norton Anthology Of English Literature, “It is now widely believed that Beowulf is the work of a single poet who was a Christian and that his poem reflects a well-established Christian tradition,” (37). This conclusion was likely drawn by accounting for the time at which Beowulf was written and factoring in most people in the area of where it was believed to be written had already been converted to Christianity. In a way, this provides the best explanation for why Beowulf contains a high level of Christian influences for the story to have taken place when it did. Dr. J. Michael Stitt of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas says that, “Much of this epic poem is dedicated to conveying and exemplifying the heroic code which values such attributes as strength, courage and honor. Conflicting with this ideology are other factors such as Christianity, and these tensions affect the lives and decisions of the narrative's characters.” If the one of the main focuses in Beowulf is the heroic code and the heroic code convicts with the authors beliefs than why did he write it? This is not to say that authors do not write about things that they ...
Beowulf was written in the time when the society was in the process of converting from Paganism to Christianity. In this epic poem, these two religions come through the actions of its characters. The acceptance of feuds and the courage of war are just a few examples of the Pagan tradition, while the Christian mortalities refrain from the two.