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Custom Essay: The Theme Of Religion In Beowulf

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Religion plays an extremely large role in Beowulf. The theme of religion is a recurring topic in the poem. There are many mentions of God. Along with that, the story mentions Pagan and Christian Religion There are several allusions to biblical stories within Beowulf. Whenever Beowulf goes to battle, he allows God to help him. In addition to that, he leaves his fate up to God. Lastly, God protects not only Beowulf, but he also protects Hrothgar’s hall, Herot (Raffel 35). Those are the main three reasons on top of many others. The first reason to why religion plays a huge role in the poem is because of the several allusions to biblical stories. One of them is the story of Cain and Abel. In the poem, it says that Grendel was a descendent of Cain. Cain murdered his brother, Abel, so this is saying that Grendel is the offspring of the root of evil. Another story referred to in the poem is the Great Flood. Beowulf refers …show more content…

God protects Beowulf and also Herot. Herot is Hrothgar’s hall for himself and his men. God protects Beowulf through each battle until the battle against the dragon. Beowulf put his life in the hands of God, and God has guided Beowulf to survive through two battles. God allowed Beowulf to defeat the dragon by ripping its heart out, but Beowulf came back with a mortal wound. This shows that God was willing to protect Beowulf to win battles, but he could also choose when his time to go was. Beowulf truly believed this because before his final battle he said he would let God choose if he should live or die. Not only did God protect Beowulf, he also protected Herot from Grendel. Grendel was not able to terrorize Herot because Hrothgar was protected by God. This is where the elements of good and evil come into play. God chooses to protect Beowulf and Herot rather than the monsters, because they are good, whereas the monsters are evil. This shows that has a choice in who to protect. Obviously, he chooses good over

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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.

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He knew what they had tholed, the long times and troubles they'd come through without a leader; so the Lord of Life, the glorious Almighty, made this man renowned." This quote describes how God played a large role in the success of Beowulf. Assuming that all acts of heroism proven successful are really acts of God. Thus, leaving you thinking success must be a form of divine assistance, in the hands of God. The poem takes on both beliefs of Paganism and Christianity.

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