Pagan And Christian Views In Beowulf

Andrew Jefferson
10/26/10
Period 3
Beowulf essay

Opening up with an unearned burial at sea and ending with an equally spendthrift funeral bonfire with plenty of killing and gore in between, Beowulf is an heroic poesy poesy about the Anglo-Saxons and the monsters they encounter. Despite the obvious pagan roots, Beowulf possesses a Christian undertone that is hard to ignore. When Christian missionaries introduced their beliefs to the Anglo-Saxons, it was clear that the both could not coexist; therefore, they must abandon these ancient icons to reign a more straightforward view. Just as the poems present-day readers were thrown into an anxious state by analyzing the pull of a pagan past against the new t distributivelyings of Christianity, the Christian monk whose task was to blend Christian ideologies in a complex yet effective way was a approximately daunting task. The poem had to appeal to Anglo-Saxons and his fellow Christians precisely because they were attempting to join their own beliefs and at times during the poem those beliefs appear to amalgamate. Actions and events leave behind expose both beliefs as they appear distinct from each other throughout the story. The Christian influences were combined with early folklore and the august legends of the German tribes.



As Christianity and paganism are intertwined in the poem Beowulf reveals both Christian and pagan influences. Therefore, it would be understandable to declare that the original pagan scop, who sang of this epic poem, was influenced by Christian beliefs but then a Christian monk in conclusion put it on paper. Within the translation of Beowulf by Burton Raffel, it contains the scops pagan and Christian influence as well as the monks Christian influence.
The pagan elements in the epic poem Beowulf are evident in the characters superhuman personifications, need for material possession, and superstition. Beowulf takes it upon himself to save people imperil by untold of monsters because he is a man who was bestowed superhuman...If you destiny to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



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