Beowulfwas manufactured by Christian Anglo-Saxons, who had mostly converted from their pagan religion; however its complexity reveals evidence of both paganism and Christianity. The plot is an allegorical story of salvation, containing supernatural and historical elements, traces of teaching in Christianity. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, Gredels mother and later in his life, a dragon, all of them symbols of the Pagan folk.
The poem begins with the genealogy of Hrothgar, king of the Danes, dating back to Scyld Scefing, the former king, who had died after a glorious life, being buried through a Pagan ritual, his body set on sea, in a boat, alongside weapons and treasures: () there they laid down their dear lord ()/ There were many treasures loaded there, adornments from distant lands;() bedecked with battle-weapons and war-gear / blades and byrnies/ () which were to travel / far with him into the keeping o f the flood.King Hrothgars building of the mead hall, Heorot, the establishment of the Danes historical centre of their social life, resembles Gods foundation of the world in Christian mythology. The Christian Bible reveals the man as being created as the image of the Creator on earth. God is mans creator-model and so, it is on this hypothesis that Hrothgar finds it fit to assume de role of a god and build up a social establishment, Heorot, for his people.
The connection between heaven and earth is established by Grendel, a monster, who is believed to be Cains descendant. The destruction of Heorot is an allegory for mans fall from Gods grace, the biblical moment of Cains murder of his brother, Abel: Grendel lives in the midst of nature, far from society:This miserable man(Grendel)/ lived for a time in the land of giants, / after the Creator had condemned him / among Cains race when he killed Abel / the eternal Lord avenged that death.Grendel is seen as a devil, a wrongdoer. Although a pagan symbol, the monster is created with a Christian purpose. He is Gods punishment for Hrothgar, whose desire is to become a creator. Thus, the happiness of men enrages Grendel, who comes to assail Heorot in search for food and bloodshed. Beowulf is the warrior who must defeat Grendel, to protect Heorot and save the people from misery. He is similar to Jesus: both brave, willing to overcome the opposing evil, both kings who die for their people. An example of this comparison is a scene from the poem, when Beowulf encounters Grendel for the first time and the warrior has a moment of hesitation, of fright, which is similar to the moment Jesus, having been crucified, prays to the Lord to save Him.:As soon as that shepherd of sins discovered / that he had never met ()/ another man / with a great handgrip, in his heart he was / afraid for his life, but none the sooner could he flee./ His mind was eager to escape to the darkness, / seek out a host of devils his habit there/ was nothing like he had ever met before.Just like Christ, Beowulf is the chosen one, whose purpose is to protect the Danes. By defeating Grendel, he brings salvation upon his people. Beowulf, the Jesus figure in the poem, comes to restore order. Christ had been recognized by his people as being the true son of God, and so Beowulf, the warrior, will be crowned king of the Danes.
Nevertheless, plot of the poem is set in pagan times, none of the characters being of Christian religion. On the contrary, they worship pagan gods, even Beowulfs beliefs are not clarified. The god implied is named Father Almighty or the Wielder of All. The narrators own commentaries reveal both pagan and Christian elements:At times, they offered honor to the idols / at pagan temples, prayed aloud / that the soul slayer might offer assistance () / in their minds, they did not know the Maker / the Judge of all deed, they did not know the Lord God / or even how to praise the heavenly Protector / Wielder of glory..The fate of men is doomed to end in death. There is no salvation for man in pagan belief. The pagan god is a soul slayer, as oppose to the Christian God, who will judge and redeem.
The Danes give a feast in Beowulfs honor, and there Hrothgar warns the warrior against the excess of pride and ambition. Remarkable in this scene is Heremods speech resembling the Christian preaching:() It is a wonder to say / how mighty God in His great spirit / allots wisdom, land and lordship / to mankind; He has control of everything. / At times He permits the thoughts of a man / in a mighty race to move in delights , / () grants him such power over his portion of the world / a great kingdom, that he himself cannot / imagine an end to it, in his folly. ().By creating the world, God has offered a place of shelter to human kind. In return, the man must protect this sacred place and not forget the power of the true God, praise Him and not turn to greed and ambition. In other words, Beowulf must not compare himself to God, for He is much stronger than any man and His power is above all. The Biblical motifs of The Flood and The Serpent appear in the fragment.
The third of the pagan folkloric symbols is the dragon, battling Beowulf after the latter had become king of the Danes. Similar toTheBook of Revelationis the presence of gems in the dragons treasures. Beowulf manages to kill the monster, but he is gravely wounded. According to the Bible and Holy Tradition, the gems are symbols of the saints lives, the services and traditions of the Church. Their mention in the poem is considered yet another element of Christian belief. Beowulfs wish to see the gems one last time before his death reveals his will, as a pagan believer to embrace the Christian faith:Now go quickly / () Hurry so I might witness that ancient wealth, / those golden goods, might eagerly gaze on / the bright precious gems, and I might more gently, / for that great wealth, give up my / life and lordship, which I have held so long.Knowing the Christian God as one who judges and redeems, the hero wishes to be confronted with the Creator and be take into account for his sins throughout life
The religious nature of the poem is ambiguous; the conversion of the Germanic pagan beliefs to Christian ones is a highly complex and gradual process, extending over several centuries. Beginning with a Biblical moment (the murder of Abel by his brother, Cain), mixing pagan religious matters (monsters and dragons, the ritualistic burial of the former Danish king), following Beowulfs destiny, similar to Jesus, the poem can be interpreted in numerous ways. Therefore, it is fit to say, given the previous adequate arguments, thatBeowulfcontains pagan beliefs, refurbished by Christian teaching.
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