Pagan Burial Rites in the Epic of Beowulf

The Pagan churches were stripped from the gods they worshiped into places for Christianity to be worshipped. The entire conversion did not begin with the people but with the king himself first which was why the changes shoved into the pagan worshipers. After the last Pagan kin... ... middle of paper ... ...new god in a simpler way. The author of Beowulf presents the same goal to Christianize the pagans through his descriptions of characters. The two major societies presented in Beowulf are the Danes and Geats and they are supposed to completely represent Christianity and just that, however; paganism was seeped into the epic poem purposely by the author.

These are two separate entities that serve different functions throughout the epic. A true Christian tale would not include any other “God” or all-powerful being rather than the one true God of the Christian teachings. The story also mentions that Hrothgar and his people make sacrifices to idols in an attempt to overcome the monster Grendel. “And so it came to pas... ... middle of paper ... ... wealth. In conclusion, the epic tale of Beowulf is a pagan tale with a pagan hero.

The Beowulf poet makes sure to include small but meaningful references to the paganistic background of the epic poem. There are too many pagan symbols scattered throughout the work to be ignored, and too many rules of the Christian religion are broken by the characters of the poem for an argument to be made against the paganism of Beowulf. Also, we must not forget that ideas such as fate and revenge, which are shunned in Christianity, are two of the main themes in this story. Consequently, even though the Beowulf poet may have been Christian, as for the poem itself, all signs point towards paganism. Works Cited: Beowulf.

This first piece of information confused people immensely. Some found it hard to believe that a Pagan legend would be left in the hands of someone who worshiped Christianity to scribe it on paper for all the read. The Christian speculations that many encompassed are justifiable because of the various Christian references and elements that can be decoded and interpreted within the text. An example of this within the poem is the reference of the biblical figure Cain being a related figure to the despise...

Due to the intertwining ideas of wyrd and the will of God, the distinct ideals of the afterlife, and conflicting views of the entity, Beowulf epitomizes the attempts by Christian monks to turn the parable into a Christian novel; however, these efforts proved mixed. In the end, the poem shows efforts to proselytize pagan worshipers by the Church, but those endeavors remained inconsequential until the Christianization of the world.

Monasteries provided a place for learning and they also saved some of the manuscripts, such as the story Beowulf. Christianity does eventually replace pagan religion as far as Anglo-Saxons are concerned. Although the unknown author of Beowulf develops the main protagonist to represent both paganism and Christianity, the ideals conflict create a unique epic poem. Pagans do not believe in an afterlife. Pagans simply believe that there is nothing after living on Earth.

The poem and Beowulf both show paganism and Christianity ideals and beliefs. In Beowulf there is fate, humility, fame, loyalty, and so much more that did not even get mentioned. Although the poem appears to be originally a pagan story, there are many clues in the text that point to Christian influence and traditions. In addition to Beowulf and his heroic deeds against Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the Dragon the author combines elements of Christian ideal and pagan ideal. The combination of Christian and pagan elements and references now shows Beowulf’s position in English history.

Unknowingly, they develop their character through this religion without knowing that it is heavily stemmed from Paganism! Many practices, cultural elements, and habits in Paganism are strongly seen as ignoble by a majority of the modern Christians. A supreme amount of the text in the Seamus Heaney’s translation of Beowulf help to entirely clarify the religious transitions that have occurred between both Paganism and Christianity. Throughout the ages, human beings used a religious power to help them evaluate their lives and wellbeing, specifically Paganism, Christianity; the transition from paganism to Christianity illustrates how much religion effects one’s life. To distinguish the changeover from the two religions (Paganism and Christianity) it is unquestionably vital to understand what Paganism actually is.

The issue is that the poet tries to portray his Christian beliefs throughout the story, but all of the characters have un-Christian like behavior. For example, Beowulf does not act like a Christian, but he is still very dedicated to his people and helping Heorot defeat Grendel. He also believes in glory after death, which is in contrast to the Christian belief that you go to heaven. One of the instances when the author talks about Christianity, is when he is introducing and describing Grendel. He introduces Grendel as the monster that is “haunting the marches, marauding round the heath and the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters” (9).

This fact seems to point to a heathen work which has undergone revision by Christian minstrels. The Christianity of Beowulf is of a vague type. The minstrels who introduce the Christian element probably had but a vague knowledge of the faith, and on top of that they were under pressure from the audience to give them the interesting old pagan stories. At the beginning of the poem, there is the account of the pagan funeral rites of Scyld Scefing, and at the close of the poem we see the heathen rites of burial for Beowulf himself, including cremation, deposition of treasures and armor, etc. with the corpse in the burial mound overlooking the sea.