Paganism In Beowulf

The Old English Beowulf verse was one that was transcribed around the year 1000. During this time there was two religions that dominated Northern Europe. These were Christianity and Paganism, which both play a role in the transcribing of the Beowulf verse. Throughout the verse the majority of the material used is depicted as Christian, which from its primary position look down on the Pagan aspect as a secondary, more primitive aspect. These elements lead one to classify this verse as a Christian poem. I however, would classify it as a Pagan poem due to a few overlooked details.
The main characters in the poem may be Christians, but were they? The author or authors of this poem at the time it was transcribed, were most likely English Christians.
One of these is when Beowulf takes the head of Grendel and golden sword hilt after defeating Grendel’s Mother. This was a common Pagan tradition, where these would be claimed as trophies. The sword hilt was especially prized because battle was a common thing for Pagans who loved to wage war, and the hilt of an old sword that has seen many battles was a good way of respecting their ancestral warriors. The concept of treasure to the characters also reflects this poem as Pagan, because much of their culture is engraved on the treasure. The Golden sword hilt also shows this, but other examples are the banners, tapestries, armor, and shields that are found in the dragon’s layer after Beowulf slays it. John Leyerle looked into these markings and designs and found similar and identical ones scattered across different parts of Northern Europe. On them he described creatures, “These limbed lacertines have a coiled and woven appearance and look very like dragons even when they have no wings and have canine heads.”(Pg.133, par.2, lines 2-4) This gives us a view of what some of the mythical creature were like in the Pagan culture. They had elegant designs and symbols too that told of Pagan culture. All these examples are intertwined with battle, which helps to show how important battle was too Pagan culture, and is seen throughout