Examples Of Paganism In Beowulf

Unearthing Beowulf-ian Paganism
Beowulf is a work of literature which provides an inside look into old Anglo-Saxon tales, customs and language on the wake of the conversion to Christianity. The extent to which Beowulf’s history is the knowledge of its Christian monk author, and its assumedly previous oral nature. While it is apparent that the author of Beowulf is Christian (perhaps the first in his generation), due to its clear references to God and his will, Beowulf itself is a traditional Germanic pagan story that essentially remained pagan in its plotline and themes. Really, Beowulf is a pagan story transcribed into words on paper by a Christian, evident in the basic pagan themes of the ancient story. Scholar E Talbot Donaldson argues of
Pagan culture conceptualizes wyrd as inevitable and finite. In Beowulf, the role of fate is prominent in Beowulf’s actions and his justifications behind them, detailing, “Fate goes ever as it must” (455). This extremely pagan concept of fate shines through the half-put addition of the will of God by the author and the obvious inability to understand the pagan influences that Beowulf already contained. The powerlessness of humans against fate is mixed with the submissiveness of humans to God by the author, attempting to ingrain all that he knows of fate and apply it to his current, new
The main character, in fact, self-titled Beowulf, earns his glory and fulfills his fate by fighting and defeating “fatherless creatures” previously “hidden in a past of demons and ghosts” (1345-6). Often, defeating these creatures requires superhuman strength or the magical appearance of a sword that clearly does the impossible in order to fulfill the wyrd of Beowulf. These mystical horrible creatures, meant to increase fear factor in the tale, are clearly not of Christian-origin. Biblical and Christian stories do not focus on humans with superpowers, rather, they focus on humans who not only make errors that can be related to and understood, but have a limit to their world which defines them as “human”. This is not the case in Beowulf, where the main character does the impossible whenever possible, completing tasks comparable to Jesus’ miracles—clearly, garnished with the “will of god” as influenced by the religion of the