Christianity and Paganism in Beowulf

Christianity and Paganism in “Beowulf”

The heroic elegiac poem, Beowulf, is a reflection of many Anglo-Saxon ideals ideals and concepts This wor! was written after the Anglo-Saxons were already Christiani"ed, yet the pagan traditions that had dominated their li#es were still present in their minds $#erall, Beowulf  contains many pagan themes and concepts, %ut yet it also contains many clear references to Christianity &t is an Anglo Saxon wor! with a peculiar spiritual a tmosphere

&n order order to e#aluat e#aluatee the fusion fusion of Christi Christian an ideas ideas and pagan-h pagan-hero eroic ic charac characteri teristic stics, s, the de#elopment of religion in Britain must first %e considered $riginally dominated %y the Celtic faith, Britain's %elief structure underwent a significant change with the con(uest of the Anglo-Saxons and their )ermanic paganism

&n these and the following centuries, Britain was gradually con#erted to Christianity The Anglo-Saxons' Christianisation %egan in *+ This con#ersion and the expression of Christian ideas were founded on the existing pagan terminology and sym%ols, with pagan temples merely stripped of their idols and used as places for Christian worship Christianisation in#ol#ed the con#ersion of a !ing rather than the people themsel#es &t is in Beowulf, composed not more than approximately * years after this con#ersion, that we are a%le to find a #i#id image of a society still struggling to esta%lish their identity within a new %elief  structure

The two ma.or societies directly depicted %y the narrator of Beowulf are the /anes and the )eats, of Southern Scandina#ia, home to the epic's hero, Beowulf At first glance, the two societies seem completely con#erted to the Christian faith Both 0rothgar and Beowulf, as representati#es of their people, ac!nowledge the power and so#ereignty of )od in #arious instances instances 1egarding 1egarding his people's people's plight, plight, 0rothgar 0rothgar tells Beowulf2 Beowulf2 34y household household guard are

on the wane, fate sweeps them away into )rendel's clutches - %ut )od can easily halt these raids and harrowing attac!s5”

Christian terminology is found in the speeches of #arious characters throughout the poem e#en regarding the final %urial of Beowulf himself6 3then let us %ring the %ody of our lord, the man we lo#ed, to where he will lodge for a long time in the care of the Almighty”

4oreo#er, the poet himself praises the di#ine supremacy on se#eral occasions6 3Almighty )od rules o#er man!ind and always has while denouncing pagan traditions6 3$h, cursed is he

7ho in times of trou%le has to thrust his soul in the fire's em%race, forfeiting help6 he has nowhere to turn”

As Boris 8uhne argues in his essay6 The Amalgamation of Christian &deas and Pagan 0eroic Characteristics in Beowulf, it is nota%le that the epic %ears occasional reference to the $ld Testament %ut none to the 9ew Testament This goes counter to our !nowledge of $ld :nglish  poetry such as The /ream of the 1ood, which pro#es that the medie#al Anglo-Saxon society was well ac(uainted with the 9ew Testament 9onetheless, %oth societies were intrinsically  pagan6 /enmar! was Christianised during the %eginning, Sweden close to the end of the ;;th century The poet ac!nowledges this fact most nota%ly for the /anes2 as they suffer under  )rendel's reign of terror, they turn to their heathen gods for help6 3at pagan shrines they #owed offerings to idols, swore oaths that the !iller of souls might come to their aid” 0owe#er, A) Brodeur ma!es an interesting point in his %oo!6 The Art of Beowulf, that the  poet was faced with a dilemma 2 on the one hand, he had to recognise his su%.ects' idolatry and their resulting punishment6 while he still wished to present them as good and no%le men for whom a god-fearing attitude was crucial ord, %ro!en his commandment”

$n the other hand, it is courage and the resulting glory that go#erns the life of the hero and is cele%rated in #arious speeches6 after Aeschere has %een !illed and carried away %y )rendel's mother, Beowulf consoles the grie#ing !ing saying2 3et whoe#er can win glory %efore death”

&t has %een argued that Beowulf con#eys the attri%utes of a Christian sa#iour, a claim that is easily refuted if we inspect the hero's deeds &ndeed there are se#eral nota%le annotations to this throughout the poem As Beowulf prepares to face the wrath of the dragon he is .oined %y twel#e men @ali!e the twel#e apostles though in his struggle for life he is a%andoned %y all  %ut one, 7iglaf

0owe#er, although the means through which men gained fame may seem to conflict with certain elements of Christianity, the author reconciles this fame with many references to )od Although strength and heroism may not necessarily %e Christian concepts or #irtues, the author attri%utes %oth of these to )od through the speech of his characters 0rothgar states that Beowulfs !illing of )rendel was achie#ed with the help of )od2 3atin literature