Religion In Beowulf

Beowulf is a masterpiece that has pillaged and powered through centuries of oral retelling and translating just as the character it vividly illustrates does throughout the epic. Despite being so impressive and entertaining on the surface, the Old English classic embodies something a lot greater, and that is the moral struggle of religion going on at the time. Religion played a huge role in Anglo-Saxon culture for it was what gave the people a reason to live for, it was what motivated people to work to make it through the harsh winters. Even today, it can be seen that people require that extrinsic motivation to work hard and push through obstacles in their path. The dichotomy of Paganism and Christianity at the time is depicted by the tone of the narrator, which subliminally hints at what their own beliefs are, symbols, that accentuate the severity of the dichotomy itself, and allusions as well as foreshadowing, that further the Christian impact on the poem. The moral ambiguity of the tone is a result of the inner conflict the narrator is facing in depicting pagan characters when being a Christian themselves. The first instance in which the tone relays a sort of lack of faith in Paganism is when the people are being terrorized by Grendel and begin to pray to the pagan gods to harm him. The
Despite having such little information, this story gives us a deep look into the minds of Anglo Saxons. By using various writing techniques, the Anglo-Saxons that created Beowulf were able to fulfill the promise that all great and memorable poems have, which would be its reflection on the big ideas and just encapsulating so much meaning in a set number of