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Beowulf and christianity the monsters and the critics
Beowulf as a judeo-christian reconceptualization of the heroic pagan past
Beowulf and christianity the monsters and the critics
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Impending Doom The language and usage of various traditional Anglo-Saxon literary elements in “Beowulf,” translated by Charles W. Kennedy, help the reader to understand the purpose of the folk epic. When Beowulf arrives to kill Grendel’s mother in an underwater hall, he and his men see “on the rocky sea-cliff,/…slaughtered Æschere’s severed head./ The water boiled in a bloody swirling/ With seething gore as the spearmen gazed” (931-934).
Beowulf is a story of a hero who comes and saves a land. Beowulf, the main character, comes to Herot to tell the king, Hrothgar, that he is there to kill the evil monster named Grendel. The story of Beowulf was adapted into a movie that has many different examples of biblical references and mythological references. The movie didn’t follow the text version of the story Beowulf, but they were related. The movie added a more scenes that the text didn’t have.
Not surprisingly, in the poem Beowulf, the characters of Grendel and Beowulf showed the significant role of religion. Biblical allusions were scattered throughout the poem. The alienated character Grendel was a descendant “of Cain (who was) punished forever for the crime of Abel’s death.” Due to their blood connection to Cain, Grendel’s parents were “murderous creatures banished by God.” God has exiled all monsters; shunned them away from the prosperous lives of humans.
This part of the documentary on the draft riots of 1863 really enlightened me and informed me to things that I did not know about. The draft riots of 1863 actually lasted four days. The reason why these riots were happening was because of the three hundred dollars they had to pay if they did not want to participate in the draft. People could not afford to just shell out three hundred dollars. Some people, back in those times, were only paid five hundred dollars a year.
Today, many works incorporate religion in order to thrive during their time period and region. The incorporation of religion into literary works has occurred for thousands of years. In Seamus Haney 's Beowulf, a Christian narrator is present in order to spread throughout Anglo-Saxon culture. While the narrative presented in Beowulf is that of the Vikings, the narrator can be identified as Christian, an element that would best appeal to the audience of Anglo-Saxon England. After exploring the historical influence of Christianity on the Anglo-Saxons, an analysis of the first descriptions of Grendel in Seamus Heaney’s translation will reveal that it was best to have a Christian narrator in order for the audience to fully understand and appreciate the poem’s morals and themes.
The thing that stands out when reading the stories of Beowulf, Sir Gawain, and the Canterbury Tales is that the writers use Christianity to show conflicts in human nature. Also with these stories taking place in different times with writers who have different opinions about Christianity and how it has influences Society. For example, in Beowulf, the writer chooses to mash up the ideas of Christianity and paganism because during the time that the writer was transcribing the story there were missionaries trying to convert the Anglo-Saxons that lived in Britain, so the missionaries used Beowulf as a way to reach the pagans. This is also been done to other stories like in the Viking legend Thor god of thunder where at the end of the story the world
(Beowulf 478-480). The Anglo-Saxons, as a whole, depended on God for their well-being and protection. This dependency shows the significance God held within their everyday lives and how they had resorted to praying and religious rituals to attain peace. In addition, the epic mentions the relations of Grendel to Cain, the brother and murderer of Abel (Beowulf 104-108). This portrays a direct biblical reference within the story itself and provides background knowledge of their belief system.
At the end of his voyage, Chris is at peace with himself, as shown by the picture of him in front of the bus. He is so ambitious, and finally kicks himself off the track of the conformity that society puts upon him, and into his own freedom that he finds through exploring and being one with nature. While Chris is in Alaska, he makes an attempt to leave the wilderness, but was prevented by a treacherous river, which may indicate his desire to return back to civilization and his family. During his trip into the wild, Chris soon begins to starve and voyages out to find food. He finds potato roots and poorly stores them causing them to grow toxic mold that is fatal when digested.
In Beowulf he is not interested in being Christian or following the Christian morals, Beowulf is stuck in between his Christian backbone to help the people and his selfish prize of paganism. Even though he wants respect from Christians he has a passion and drive for fighting. Beowulf is known as being a hero and the one to defeat Grendel. Beowulf looks away at weapons when fighting but relies heavily on his strength... as he refused to use a weapon he portrays a confident attitude towards his battles when he refuses to use a weapon. Signs of christianity are giving selfishness and being loyal.
By the time this monastic scribe began his work, the stories of Beowulf were already legendary tales of this era; legends that were passed down orally. The poet cautiously uses this information to compose an epic poem while also combining the notions of the pagan wyrd (fate) and dom (worth), along with the Christian ideals of refinement and final judgement. A pagan poem in its own right, steeped in ancient Germanic culture, yet it is baptized in lax Christian comments and passages. However, while the passages are referred to as Christian, there is never any reference within the poem, to Christ Himself. When we are first introduced to Grendel, we see the first signs of Christian passages appearing: God had condemned them as kin of Cain.
Although the general story of “Beowulf” was created as early as 700 AD by northern european pagan invaders, these Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian invaders would later experience a large-scale conversion to Christianity at the end of the sixth century, which would ultimately result in a Christian interpretation/translation of the story of Beowulf. Despite the Christian adaptation introducing more of an emphasis on the Christian values of faith in and reliance on God, Beowulf retains its original scandinavian cultural pagan themes of revenge and battle while accepting Christian symbolism and metaphors. A part of “Cain’s clan, whom the creator had outlawed / and condemned as outcasts” Grendel, like Cain, is an outcast of society and the embodiment of evil. Doomed to forever roam in the shadows, Grendel remains an alienated outsider looking inside. Essentially, Grendel represents an outside threat to the order of society and all that is good.
Christopher Cain, professor and expert in Old English and Medieval Scandinavian literature and culture, published an essay analyzing the relationship between Beowulf and the Old Testament, as well as the presence of paganism in this poem. In the essay, it is noted that “the general tone of the poem and its ethical viewpoint are decidedly Christian;” the poet relied heavily upon the Bible, as can be evidenced by “allusions to Cain, the Creation, and the Deluge,” which are all Old Testament allusions (Cain). The characters themselves also serve to represent Christian ideologies, though references to Germanic culture appear frequently. For instance, this is embodied in the scene where Beowulf is fighting to rid Heorot of Grendel, and “Beowulf recognizes it to be God's will that determines the outcome of the fight—” not his own strength (Cain).
The names of Nelson Mandela, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King Jr. are known worldwide. They have lead many fighting what they believe in. One man many people think of when being a leader to fight for his beliefs of the people is Jesus Christ. Jesus is loved by many and hated by the powerful, just like these three other men, but their is one comparison that has been made to a certain protagonist of ancient times. In the epic poem ,Beowulf, the protagonist, Beowulf, is a leader who fights for the betterment of society while being the one that many look up to.
I believe that Beowulf can be seen as a Christ figure throughout the epic of Beowulf. He shares many characteristics with Jesus. He faces a devil figure, sacrifices himself, and is recognized as a savior by his people. Beowulf to the Danes is a savior, taking away the fear that Grendel will kill all of Hrothgar’s people. In the Christian sense Jesus Christ is a savior to all Christians.
The Anglo-Saxons mixed both Pagan and Christian traditions. Beowulf contains traces of both beliefs. In Beowulf, God is mentioned by two of the main characters, Beowulf and Hrothgar. In the poem, Grendel represents Lucifer and is described as a son, or descendant of Cain, a clear Biblical reference.
