Beowulf

A detailed Summary of Beowulf

It is common opinion that Beowulf was written by a Christian poet. This was probably true because at the time when it was written, most of the few people who knew how to read and write were in the clergy. There are various references within the poem to elements of the Christian religion. However, the story is about Pagan people and certain aspects of their culture are even glorified. The ambiguity of Beowulf's religious content has caused confusion as to what significance religion had in inspiring the author and in what manner the author meant to inspire or influence his audience. I do not think that Beowulf is a Christian allegory because Beowulf had very little in common with the Biblical figure of Jesus Christ. I think that religion was not the primary thematic concern of the writer. Although there are discrepancies between the two styles of thinking, Beowulf seems to praise values which were considered moral and good among all humanity, both Christian and Pagan.

The text of Beowulf clearly shows that at some point in time Biblical allusions were added to it, and suggests that someone learned in Christianity helped shape the story. The initial depiction of Grendel regarded the beast as "a fiend out of hell," and claimed, "..

Beowulf is a success in that it must have captured something innately human to transcend the massive changes in our culture over time. Part of this success is due to how well the writer combined Pagan and Christian ideas in the poem. This technique allowed the writer to accurately capture the complex moral structure of his society. Combining the two systems of thought simply gave the writer a bigger pool of themes and ideas to draw upon. If there is no conflict in a story it is pretty uninteresting. The conflicting ideas in Beowulf invite the reader to take a more active role and question their own ideas about some of the themes presented. The writer was also able to make the characters more interesting by infusing them with aspects of both Christian values and Pagan folklore. The mixing of the ideas of Paganism and Christianity greatly added to the story itself and our understanding of the morals and values of the culture that created it.

Nobody will ever be able to say for certain what the writer of Beowulf intended his readers to think about the religious aspects of the poem. Beowulf is an epic poem the tells the story of one man's incredible adventures. If one reads the poem as folk story which was meant to entertain people of its time and reflect their values and ideals, the answer to the question of religion not difficult to find. The culture that produced this story was a blend of Pagan and Christian beliefs. Therefore, it would be logical to assume that their literature would reflect this mixture. I do not think that Beowulf was written as a primarily religious text. A complete understanding of its religious content is not necessary to enjoy the poem. I think that the writer was trying to do what all writers try to do, to make the story and its characters seem interesting to the reader. The fact that Beowulf is still popular today makes it clear that the writer succeeded in this task. I think that it is more important understand how religious ideas add to the work in this way than to worry about which religion is made to seem better.

.he had dwelt for a time in misery among the banished monsters, Cain's clan, whom the Creator had outlawed and

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Approximate Word count = 1464
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English