Examples Of Paganism In Beowulf
Beowulf: Pagan or Christian?
Beowulf is the first important work of English literature. It is composed around 700 A.D. by an unknown poet (Greenblatt, 36), after the Anglo-Saxons were Christianized. The manuscript of the poem was seriously damaged in a fire; so several lines and words have been lost from the poem. One of the significant issues of this poem is whether or not it is a Pagan or Christian poem. Although the poem appears to have many Christian elements, it has roots in a Pagan past. The Christian and Pagan elements in Beowulf are a matter of debate for years. Most critics agree on the fact that Beowulf is the work of a single Christian poet. There are critics who consider it a Pagan poem, but there are also critics who think …show more content…
Charles Moorman compares Beowulf to Andreas and Judith. In this poem there is a strong heroic character like in Beowulf. Moorman points out that “the difference between Beowulf and these poems is ultimately more qualitative than quantitative: it is not so much a matter of more or less Christian coloration, or even of more or less specifically Christian subject matter, but one of point of view, of language and dictions and, especially, of tone” (4). The endings of the poems are not the only difference. Although there are Christian elements in the poem, it has a not Christian view of life. There are no Christian references like other Christian poems from the time. There are no angles or saints. The center of the culture in Beowulf is not the church, as in most Christian poems, but rather the …show more content…
That was their way, their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts they remembered hell (175-180).
It is one of the only times when the difference between the Christian narrator and the pagan characters is really explicit. It is clear that the narrator disapproves of the Pagan activities of the Danes.
The Almighty Judge of good deeds and bad, the Lord God,
Head of the Heavens and High King of the World, was unknown to them. Oh, cursed is he who in time of trouble had to thrust his soul in the fire 's embrace, forfeiting help; he has nowhere to turn. But blessed is he who after death can approach the Lord and find friendship in the Father 's embrace (180-188).
In this passage the narrator feels sorry for the characters in the poem, because they didn’t have a Christian God for
Beowulf is the first important work of English literature. It is composed around 700 A.D. by an unknown poet (Greenblatt, 36), after the Anglo-Saxons were Christianized. The manuscript of the poem was seriously damaged in a fire; so several lines and words have been lost from the poem. One of the significant issues of this poem is whether or not it is a Pagan or Christian poem. Although the poem appears to have many Christian elements, it has roots in a Pagan past. The Christian and Pagan elements in Beowulf are a matter of debate for years. Most critics agree on the fact that Beowulf is the work of a single Christian poet. There are critics who consider it a Pagan poem, but there are also critics who think …show more content…
Charles Moorman compares Beowulf to Andreas and Judith. In this poem there is a strong heroic character like in Beowulf. Moorman points out that “the difference between Beowulf and these poems is ultimately more qualitative than quantitative: it is not so much a matter of more or less Christian coloration, or even of more or less specifically Christian subject matter, but one of point of view, of language and dictions and, especially, of tone” (4). The endings of the poems are not the only difference. Although there are Christian elements in the poem, it has a not Christian view of life. There are no Christian references like other Christian poems from the time. There are no angles or saints. The center of the culture in Beowulf is not the church, as in most Christian poems, but rather the …show more content…
That was their way, their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts they remembered hell (175-180).
It is one of the only times when the difference between the Christian narrator and the pagan characters is really explicit. It is clear that the narrator disapproves of the Pagan activities of the Danes.
The Almighty Judge of good deeds and bad, the Lord God,
Head of the Heavens and High King of the World, was unknown to them. Oh, cursed is he who in time of trouble had to thrust his soul in the fire 's embrace, forfeiting help; he has nowhere to turn. But blessed is he who after death can approach the Lord and find friendship in the Father 's embrace (180-188).
In this passage the narrator feels sorry for the characters in the poem, because they didn’t have a Christian God for