The men of the cross rode out to retrieve the holy land of Jerusalem, bearing arms and the power of our great Lord, Jesus Christ. Medieval Literature was able to further strengthen Christianity during its time as Medieval Literature explores the tales of those who follow Christianity and those who do not are mocked and/or portrayed as villains. For example, Beowulf, The Canterbury Tales, and The Divine Comedy are all beloved works of arts that explore the idea of the effect of religion has on the masses or individuals. Christianity and the power of Christ played a monumental component of the Medieval era and is one of the overlapping themes of the Literature that was born from the era.
Medieval literature is considered to of been produced
…show more content…
In order to do this he is guarded by God in order to survive from these beasts. In fact many time within the epic poem Beowulf can be quoted thanking god for his protection.
Now how is the story of Beowulf related to religion? Besides the mentioning of demons, the epic poem of the geat warrior as many relations to religion. The inhuman strength Beowulf has can be inferred to be a gift of God to asphyxiate all evil slaughtering our world. With more tales of Beowulf’s strength throughout the medieval era the more the power of God was able to spread. These tales could also of instilled fear within the enemies of the cross during the crusades as they would be fearful of those with the “gift of God”.
There are many biblical stories mentioned or referred to as inspiration within Beowulf. When Beowulf goes to fight the dragon which harms his land, he is betrayed by those who once followed him into battle. This is a direct reference to the betrayal of Judas leading to the death of Jesus Christ. In both cases the betrayal lead to the death of both figures, one to a dragon the other the
…show more content…
The Divine Comedy follow a man named Dante and his journey to God. His journey takes him to hell purgatory and paradise, also know as Heaven. Dante is lead through this journey by his ideal woman named Beatrice. Dante meets lucifer and visits the Garden of Eden.
Dante’s journey, while it may just be one that follow a man into the three realms of the dead, it also describes a spirit’s journey to God in order for their sin to be forgiving and to pass into the afterlife. A spirit must transcend hell and purgatory in order to reach paradise the homeland of God.
Religion was a major powerhouse during the medieval time which lead many countries to power. Many religions lead countries want to gain power over the other religion which was the cause of the Crusades. Medieval literature became a catalyst for the power struggles during this time era and allowed the spread of tales of amazing feats which were able to be done because the men who performed the feats were either guarded or given powers by God. These stories are to this day still works of art with significant literary
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.
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.
Christianity had recently took hold in England at the time of the writing of Beowulf. Many people believe that Beowulf is a Christian story, when in fact it is not. Instead, the poem reflects a society that has a deep pagan background and has brought with it stories from its pagan past. Beowulf is a Germanic tale that was likely first composed in the first half of the eighth century, but it was not until the late tenth century that it was committed to parchment. At the time of its writing, the Germanic tribes were clearly pagan, as seen by such evidence in the text as Beowulf’s cremation at the end of the epic and the direct reference to swearing oaths at “pagan shrines” (line 175). As Christianity’s teachings and values began to take root in these pagan societies over the decades and eventual centuries, the stories of the Bible began to be worked into the tale as it was told, retold, and retold even again. When it came time to be written—probably by a Christian monk (or monks) whose beliefs, it is fair to say, flavored the work—the bards and storytellers had crafted an epic with the Christian permutations already in it. However, that is not to say that the writer was ignorant when it came to what message he desired to relate to the reader.
Dante experiences a vision, at the age of 35, after experiencing traumatic events in his hometown of Florence. The events that are occurring in Florence at the time are associated with papal corruption and cause Dante to be forced into exile. Following the vision, which confirms to Dante that he has strayed from the right path in life, Dante begins his travel through the three realms, which contain the possible consequences following a person’s death. Dante’s journey begins on Good Friday, when he is escorted to the gates of Hell, moves to Purgatory and ends in Heaven. However, an escort accompanies him for duration of his journey. Virgil, who Dante has long admired, escorts Dante through Hell and...
The king of the Geats, Beowulf is portrayed as the son of a great military leader who is respected and well known for his and his father’s valor in battle. The tale of Beowulf in a race with a man from another country in the ocean is one of Beowulf’s personal victories against a creature that is clearly unable to be taken down by a single man. The seas creatures were attacking Beowulf and yet he still slew them; however he lost the race for the other man continued leaving Beowulf to the sea monsters. This just enunciates the fact that Beowulf is a clear and set epic hero. The traits of an epic hero can be aligned with a figure of faith within either Pagan or Christian belief. The creatures could be seen as the sins that keep man-kind from living a full and sin free life, these creatures (sins) that stopped Beowulf from winning the race (a sin free life), this could easily be a representation of the temptations of everyday life only expressed in a more grotesque and terrifying form. The creatures are terrifying yet are beat able. Beowulf’s strength could be represented as faith, for those with strong faith could possibly overcome these temptations that haunt everyday men and women. The faith to overcome the challenges of temptation is a religious belief that sins are a manifestation of the devils ability to coerce you into the wrong path, sending yourself to him, rather than to god. This belief generally is not followed strictly simply because man has decided not to because we are mortal and what point would we have these thing if the religion people follow cause you to lead a less fulfilling life. Religious people argue that faith creates a fulfilling life, yet there are so many thing that a single person could complete before their time comes. The progression of Christianity and Pagan beliefs within Beowulf are contradictory of modern belief
In The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri there are two main guides who help Dante on his journey to salvation. These guides help demonstrate the consequences of sin and teach him how to overcome the temptation of it. These guides are each a crucial part in Dante’s transformation to allow him to fully grow and learn to be pure on his own.
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.
Dante’s The Divine Comedy illustrates one man’s quest for the knowledge of how to avoid the repercussions of his actions in life so that he may seek salvation in the afterlife. The Divine Comedy establishes a set of moral principles that one must live by in order to reach paradise. Dante presents these principles in Inferno, where each level of Hell has people suffering for the sins they committed during their life. As Dante gets deeper into Hell, the degrees of sin get progressively worse, as do the severity of punishment.
Beowulf is an interesting story in that it has a meaning that is firmly rooted in fantasy creatures based in mythical origins while providing insight into religious ideals and practices of the time. It also speaks of tradition and the struggle of man against things perceived as evil. In this tradition especially, Beowulf is an incredible allegory regarding the struggle of good and evil in the Christian tradition.
“In my youth I engaged in many wars”, Beowulf boasts to his warriors, which is certainly true. Throughout his life, he faces many deadly foes, all of which he handily defeats, save one. His story focuses on the most challenging, as well as morally significant of foes, Grendel and the dragon. These creatures reveal much about society as well as Christian virtue at the time. Even after Grendel and the dragon are defeated physically, the two monsters pose a new threat to the hero on a higher plane. Beowulf is not only at risk of losing his life, but his humanity, virtue, and even spirituality.
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 has multiple references to God and how God chooses what happens in his life. For example on the very first page of the story (Beowulf, 27) we see that God saw the need for a king so he sent a king to the Danes. This shows us that God is able to see his people and in a fair and just way he sends them a much needed king. Later on, we see how God punishes those who go against his will. On page 29 we read that Grendel is from Cain.
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.
Dante's "Inferno" is full of themes. But the most frequent is that of the weakness of human nature. Dante's descent into hell is initially so that Dante can see how he can better live his life, free of weaknesses that may ultimately be his ticket to hell. Through the first ten cantos, Dante portrays how each level of his hell is a manifestation of human weakness and a loss of hope, which ultimately Dante uses to purge and learn from. Dante, himself, is about to fall into the weaknesses of humans, before there is some divine intervention on the part of his love Beatrice, who is in heaven. He is sent on a journey to hell in order for Dante to see, smell, and hear hell. As we see this experience brings out Dante's weakness' of cowardice, wrath and unworthiness. He is lead by Virgil, who is a representation of intellect. Through Dante's experiences he will purge his sins.