Christian Influence In Beowulf

756 Words4 Pages

Beowulf Reborn Many years ago, civilizations always told stories but never wrote them. These people will always act out as the character by using random dialect; become physically close, and developing a connection to one another through the communal experiencer. Oral storytelling and an example of an oral story in the ancient times is Beowulf from a pagan culture. Eventually, storytellers began converting the story of Beowulf into a Christian point of view; therefore leaving only fragments of Pagan elements within the story. During that time, when Pagan beliefs were dominant, Christian influence has changed the story of Beowulf and Beowulf's character. Beowulf is a story that was originally from a dominant Pagan lineage. In a Pagan religion …show more content…

Anglo-Saxon’s work in Beowulf has greatly impacted the story that in many Classic British Literature. This new story that Saxon tells emphasizes a lot of the Christian themes: such as humility, bravery, generosity, hospitality, and reverence to God (Christian always capitalize the G). The Old Testament character Cain and the Pagan idea of fate have been merged to characterize Grendel's mother. Beowulf himself defined in terms of wyrd. Beowulf says, "Fate often saves the undoomed man when his courage is good" (34) just after a "signal of God, the sea became still" (34) saving the warrior from sea-monsters (Vengeance the Pagan and Christian Inspiration). It has been quoted by “Christian poem often centers on the poet’s struggle to understand and reconcile it is obvious pagan elements with its religious values. Understanding these cultures that makes up the modern day epic-hero of Beowulf gives the reader a clear idea; of the changes that occurred and how the Christian influences impacted Beowulf. This is why, readers who has read this poem tend to believe that Beowulf is more a Christian epic-poem, and forget about it’s Pagan lineage. In this story, the readers learns about importance humility, honor, generosity, and understand the difference in qualities of a true hero, from a person who is seeking for self-gain. Well guess what, these qualities

Open Document