A fascinating epic poem Beowulf - Book Report/Review Example

A fascinating epic poem Beowulf Beowulf is a fascinating epic poem for a number of reasons. It gives scholars a glimpse into the language spoken in Britain at the time, it is a perhaps unique example of the oral tradition of poetry that has been written down and, as this analysis will consider, it mixes together both Pagan and Christian elements in a remarkable manner. This mixture reflects the fact that Britain had been Christianized at the time it was written (the 6th and 7th Centuries), yet also had the vestiges of strong pagan traditions that survive to the present day. This paper will argue that Beowulf is improved by the bricoleur attitude towards a religious/philosophical outlook within the work – the writer(s) have chosen from various traditions as they seemed to fit with the story they were telling. In this way Beowulf can be seen as a remarkably ‘modern’ piece: it is not limited by a single doctrinal view. As Tolkien (2002) first suggested some sixty years ago, Beowulf can be considered on its literary merits as well as its more esoteric usefulness as a source for Anglo-Saxon scholars. One of the central questions of the work is the extent to which it is actually Christian and/or Pagan. Yaeger (2007) poses the questions which are central to this dilemma: That the scribes of Cotton Vitellius A.XV were Christian is beyond doubt; and it is equally certain that Beowulf was composed in a Christianized England, since conversion took place in the sixth and seventh centuries. Yet the only Biblical references in Beowulf are to the Old Testament, and Christ is never mentioned. The poem is set in pagan times, and none of the characters are demonstrably Christian. In fact, when we are told what anyone in the poem believes, we learn that they are idol-worshipping pagans. Beowulf’s own beliefs are not expressed explicitly. He offers eloquent prayers to a higher power, addressing himself to the “Father Almighty” or the “Wielder of All.” Were those the prayers of a pagan who used phrases the Christians subsequently appropriated? Or, did the poem’s author intend to see Beowulf as a Christian Ur-hero, symbolically refulgent with Christian virtues? (neh, 2007) A number of dilemmas arise. If Beowulf was written within a Christian context, why is there so little mention of Christianity or a Christian philosophy within the text? If not, what does its creation and survival say about the actual nature of Christianity within the educated for Britain at this time? The first route to answering these questions is the undeniable fact that the time-period that the tale is set in, sometime in the distant past from the seventh century, would have been populated by Pagans. This is a pre-Christian time, and yet Grendel and Grendel’s mother are seen as the “kin of Cain” (Heaney, 2001). This may be explained by the fact that “Christianity”, by definition, only developed after the life and death of Christ, but the people described in the Old Testament still believed in a monotheistic God rather than the more conventional gods of the Pagan outlook. There are, as Tolkien (2001) points out, specific elements of Beowulf that appear to have been added after the original had been given to the writer. So as the only people with access to writing materials, and virtually the only people who were literate at this time were monks, it seems sensible to assume that odd details (which add little to the story) such as the fact that Beowulf is regarded as lost in Grendel’s mere “at the sixth hour” (Heaney, 2001) were added by that same monk. Christ died at the sixth hour, and this detail appears to have been added in a rather artificial manner to give the story a Christian element. But such moments have been placed on the overall narrative and appear jarring to the overall flow. Much of the philosophy and outlook within Beowulf is positively un-Christian in outlook. The world of Beowulf is dominated by a sense of doom, pre-destiny and fate. What a person does seems of much less importance than the random chances of fate that he is subject to. This is the exact opposite of the Christian doctrine that a person can save themselves through changing their life in the here so they will be saved in the hereafter. The world of Beowulf the character often seems to belong more within the Classical Greek context of gods playing with human affairs in a coldly humorous manner rather than a “good” God overlooking everything. For example, Beowulf only exists because his father was thrown out of his homeland for killing another man. This is hardly a particularly ‘Christian’ origin for the hero of the piece: there is an irony in his random, criminal origins that is simply not found within most Christian literature. In most Christian literature from this time the law is upheld as something good, because it stems from God’s laws as are found within the Bible. But Beowulf suggests that laws and customs may often put human beings into virtually impossible situations. One of the great examples of this within the poem is the fact that all families have the duty of avenging the killing of one of their kinsmen. Indeed, much of the action of Beowulf involves one kind of vengeance or another. This is characterized as a legitimate (if rather bloody) system of ‘justice’ until an incident in which one young man (Haebcyn) kills his brother Herebeald in a hunting accident. According to the whole revenge ethos, their father, King Hreol, should have to “avenge” one son’s death by killing the other. Faced with this impossible situation the King promptly dies of sorrow because he cannot make the choice. In some senses this story-line might be seen to have a Christian context. The first murder was after all committed between brothers (Cain and Abel) and the “impossible choice” that the King faces is one that might be solved by someone such as Solomon in the Old Testament. The prospect of Abraham being required by God, and thus the law, to kill his own son on the altar, also appears. Yet this part of the story, together with its tragic ending, might also be regarded as a Christian warning against the kind of culture of vengeance that Beowulf portrays. Such a condemnation would suggest a kind of New Testament concentration upon forgiveness rather than an Old Testament obsession with vengeance through “an eye for en eye”. The basic structure of Beowulf is a series of battles which pose progressively greater danger to Beowulf and his men. In the fist battle a monster enters the building where Beowulf and his men are sleeping and promptly eats one of his men. It cannot touch the throne of the King because that, apparently, is protected by “God”. This is the Christian God perhaps. Beowulf then fights the monster and tears its arm off: the monster runs away to die in the swamps nearby. There is something vaguely humorous in this rather unheroic end to the fight. Humor also appears in the next day’s fight with Grendel’s mother, who seeks to avenge her dead son: she ends up being decapitated with one of her own swards after Beowulf’s does not succeed in hurting her. The pattern of vengeance is shown to lead to an endless procession of death which is subtly condemned in a Christian sense, although never explicitly. For much of the rest of his life Beowulf appears to lead a quite calm, enjoyable existence as King of his people. The idea seems to be that within peace there is contentment and happiness. Again, this is a Christian context. But a pagan side appears once again as it is Fate, not his good deeds, that will determine the end of Beowulf’s life. He is forced to battle a dragon because one of his slaves has stolen one of the dragon’s cups. The dragon comes out of its cave in a fury and decides to burn up much of Beowulf’s land. Beowulf must face the dragon alone for a while as most of the rest of his people are afraid of it. Eventually Wiglaf, a young man, comes to help him and they kill the dragon, but not before Beowulf has been mortally burned. So Beowulf’s death can be seen in a number of contexts. A Christian outlook can be identified within the fact that a “sin” (stealing) created the situation in which Beowulf fought his final battle. Also, if the dragon had “turned the other cheek” it would not have died over a single golden cup out of its whole hoard of treasure. Again, violence and vengeance are being condemned here. The idea of a man sacrificing himself for his people, in some senses taking on the guilt of their sin (the slave stealing) reminds the reader of Jesus. Yet there is something slightly absurd about the cause of the final battle that gives it a pagan, fate-ridden nature. Beowulf has spent much of his life as a successful and peaceful King, but he is forced to fight to the death over a single stolen cup. Here Fate seems to be stepping in, suggesting that whatever a human being does during his/her life, their end may be random, tragic and premature if Fate has decided it this way. If a God, or gods, are in control of Beowulf’s death, they seem to be laughing as he dies. Yet there is a sense of justice as well in the barely disguised threat that the young Wiglaf gives to the army that had run away from the dragon: it is goodbye to all you know and love on your home ground, the open-handedness, the giving of war swords. Every one of you with freeholds of land, our whole nation, will be dispossessed, once-princes from beyond get tidings of how you turned and fled and disgraced yourselves. A warrior will sooner die than live a life of shame. (Heaney, 2001) The theology is perhaps mixed here. The men will lose their land because they have “turned and fled and disgraced yourselves”, and yet the most strict reading of Christian ideas, as spoken by Jesus himself, would suggest that in fact fighting would be wrong thing to do. The question arises as to whether “turn the other cheek” applies to cases of self-defense? It would seem not, as it would be a completely illogical and indeed unethical point of view, especially when that defense expands beyond one’s immediate safety to families and the wider population of an area. To conclude, Beowulf has elements of both Christian and Pagan philosophy and storytelling within it. Some Christian elements have obviously been added after the main body of the work was complete, yet others are a more integral part of the whole. In many ways, Beowulf may represent a melding of different traditions, philosophies and religious feelings, reflecting a country within which no one paradigm had yet to dominate. ______________________________________ Works Cited Heaney, Seamus. Beowulf: A New Verse Translation. WW Norton, London: 2001. http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/1999-03/yeager.htmlt Tolkien, JRR. Beowulf and the Critics. Arizona center, Phoenix: 2002. Read More