Historical Significance of Beowulf
Beowulf is an epic poem written, most likely, towards the end of the first millennium. It is considered a masterpiece and is the oldest known piece of English literature. Written in Old English, the story tells of magnificent heroes and terrible monsters, of the struggle between good and evil. Beowulf follows the style of the time, intended to be read aloud and one of few stories written in that manner successfully recorded. Because of the time period the story was told, it encompasses many different worldviews. Within the epic are found ideas common in the Christian faith, alongside the values of Germanic warriors of the Teutonic tradition. Each of the characters in Beowulf also have importance in both lines of thinking. The Anglo-Saxon poetry allows the reader to get a picture of the beliefs held by society of that time, and these beliefs are exemplified through the uses of the main characters. Though it's a poem full of entertainment, once one looks beneath the surface and past the excitement found in Beowulf's battles with mysterious monsters of the shadows, many more applications can be found within Beowulf's pages. Beowulf tells the tale of the Danes and how a horrible monster, Grendel, plagued them. Upon hearing of this g
Crucial to understanding the importance of Beowulf's place in society is the ideas of Christian and pagan thought found within the poem's twelve episodes. Most obvious are the references to Christianity. These points are easily recognizable by the mentions of there existing one God. Many quotes from the text are evidence of this. When Beowulf and his men arrived safely on the shore, "they thanked God..." (page 5). Grendel's anger is described as "he was hostile to God" (page 15). However, many times in the text, a character will refer to the grace of God and the presence of Fate in the same breath. These examples show that both ideas are intermingled in the thoughts of the author for one reason or another. One example of this is when Beowulf requests permission to fight Grendel and says "there he whom death takes my needs trust to the judging of the Lord" (page 8) (meaning that God will decide who shall be taken by death) and "Fate ever goes as it must" (page 9) in the same plea. The ideas of fate and God do not follow the same beliefs. This notion of fate is along another line of thinking entirely. The values of Germanic warriors at the time believed in fate and that their works on earth are what mattered most, along with wealth, power, and heroic deeds. Through the presence of characters and situations, the reader sees that both ideas are laid out in the text. The third and fourth major characters in Beowulf are Grendel and his Mother. This monster, Grendel, also exhibits characteristics common to both pagan thought and Christianity. Direct mentions are made of Grendel being a descendant of the Biblical figure, Cain. By alluding to these similarities, the author is describing Grendel as chaotic and his presence being evidence of the presence of evil. Both he and his Mother live in the shadows, similarly to the way Cain was cast outside of society after killing his brother. They are on the outside, roaming around in the shadows. They are threats to the order of society and destroy the peaceful mood surrounding Herot. As Grendel approached the civilizations at night, it was stated that "he bore God's anger" (page13) just as Cain bore the seal of sin after killing his brother. Grendel's Mother lives beneath the murky waters and in an underground cave of sorts. The symbolism here is that Beowulf had to swim down to her lair to engage in the battle similarly to the descent into hell. The presence of the light shining on the cave after Grendel's Mother is defeated is likely an allusion to the way a light supposedly shone down from heaven when a saint has done a wondrous deed. A second character who exemplifies pagan charac
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1782
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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