Christian and Pagan Elements in Beowulf - Research Paper Example

Beowulf – elements of Christianity and Paganism The epic poem ‘Beowulf’ ideally conforms to the definition as far as the hero of the story is concerned along with melodramatic components and fantasy. Not only should the king be known for his acts of courage and unusual strength demonstrated in war, but also some boasting should precede this. Hence all these are the ideal characteristics where generosity is another nature that I have observed in the ideal ruler. Fighting used to be a way of living in these times. Anglo Saxon culture pertains to that of a tribal unit of Rome. It is a culture where too much sophistication is avoided and the beliefs and faith of the workers are primitive and rather prejudiced at times. The idealistic qualities of bravery, loyalty and generosity rule the cultural set up of Anglo Saxon era (Hieatt). The land of Scandinavia is not yet Christianized and the people follow a culture, which does not conform, to the modern times. Despite all, certain Christian and pagan elements are found in the epic poem and it has often been claimed that the author was a Christian monk. ‘Beowulf’ based upon the unequalled hero of the time appears to be an epic poem which celebrates the beginning and ending. (Crossley-Holland, 33; Swanton) Initially we are brought in contact with Scyld Scefing and the rise of Danes. The author introduces Scyld as ‘a great king’ and introduces Beowulf who says that his father held a good repute and was the noble leader of war named Ecgtheow (Swanton, 47) Later one finds Hrothgar addressing Beowulf, rather recalling his identity with the help of his memories of his ancestors. He says that he was familiar to him when since his youth and that his father who has passed away was called Ecgtheow with whom Hrethel of Geats had married his only daughter. He declares that his son was there and was a faithfull friend (refers to Beowulf) with a renowned repute in war (Swanton, 53). Hrothgar with deep faith in God is quick to address Beowulf as the godsent rescuer – “Holy God in his mercy has sent him to us, the West Danes, to meet the terror of Grendel, or so I hope” (Swanton, 53). Although the Danish prince has never seen Beowulf, he takes little time to recognize him and acknowledge his identity with the help of his ancestral linkage and in spite of being unfamiliar with his real status, Hrothgar permits him to enter his territory merely by hearing the mention of his name and the magnificence of his ancestry. (Maslov) The author also depicts Beowulf introducing himself to the prince as a relative of Hygelac, his lord and uncle. (Swanton, 7) After his death, Beowulf was requested to take the throne of Geatland. (Swanton, 8) Then the author reveals his long governance marked with achievements. Here we are compelled to realize the significance of personal achievements irrespective of ancestry. The author has also introduced him as Hrethel’s offspring. (Swanton, 177) The use of Beowulf’s reference to his famous father of Geatish origin (Ecgtheow) may also be due to the fact that one may be inclined to mix up his identity with that of Beow (Beowulf) Scyld’s son. It is often supposed by critics like Late Sir Hector Monro Chadwick that the poem Beowulf “has come down from heathen times and acquired its Christian character gradually and piecemeal from a succession of interpolations which transformed it form a pagan work into one superficially Christian” (Brodeur, 182). Different changes were incorporated in the original version successively in order to bring a superficially Christian modification out of the pagan work represented by the nobility of the historic pagans (Fry, 32). Other experts like Bradley and Klaeber also trace certain Christian elements in the poem. Klaeber suggests that the Christian components are deeply ingrained into the poem and hence cannot be taken as later incorporations. His views have been strongly supported by later interpreters like Brandl and Chambers. Hence from their contributions one may say that the conventional version of the story was essentially pagan but the composer of the epic poem, which is largely read, was a Christian. Not only does the poem reflect the author’s mindset and belief, it also reveals the illustration of a time when the qualities of the heathen ‘Heroic Age’ were dampened by the kindness of the latest idea, an age aggressive, yet Christian; committed, yet charitable (Brodeur, 183). Views have been held that the hero of the epic poem has certain Christian characteristics embedded within him along with the heroic principles of Germanic paganism as well as Christendom of the Anglo-Saxan era (Brodeur, 183). On one hand he is a soldier of German origin with heroic traits, which are moderated and further refined by Christian spirit, reinforce by the poet. Being written at a time when England did not undergo any threat from paganism, the poet freely incorporated and fused the elements of both pagan history and the modern Christianity (Gould). The virtues endowed upon the hero would be praiseworthy irrespective of time and changes in the social and political arena. Some of the remarkable characteristics revealed by the Anglo-Saxan hero are devotion to relatives and to state, meticulous execution of one’s declaration, unfaltering resilience in an situation, keenness to risk one’s life in a fine cause, confidence in God and surrender to His will (Brodeur, 185). While most of these are worshipped in a hero of any age and kind, the quality of submission to the will of God is attributable to Christian theme entailing that an individual encountering death should trust the judgment of God – “The judgment of God would rule the actions of every man, as he still does”. (Swanton, 171) Tolkien and Klaeber perceive that the hero has been credited with the characteristics of the Savior of Christians while the monster he fights symbolizes the power of the evil and therefore the foe of God himself (Brodeur, 183). Hrothgar sees the hero as a representative of God sent to save them. He therefore imparts cosmic implication in the event. Beowulf does not claim that he is an agent of God but he always attributes his success to Him. Grendel may be represented as Cain who is set to destroy God’s creation and things He loves (Mitchell, Robinson and Webster, 21). Tolkien observes that the fight depicts the fight of the monsters against God helped by a human hero. This is similar to the myth of Ragnarok, which comprise the fight of the old gods against the allies including Midgard Serpent, Fenris-Wolf and Surt and Loki. Thus the pagan elements have been embedded by the poet who sets the background against the pagan history combined with Christian principles of the modern day (Tolkien, 2). According to Fulk, “the Beowulf-poet has gone out of his way to exclude all the old pagan gods from an active lace in his poem. The god referred to throughout by Hrothgar and Beowulf alike is the one, providential God of the Christians, the Creator and Lord… and Final Judge of man as well” (Fulk, 89). God is referred as the Lord and the Judge several times in the poem and the oncoming judgement is frequently mentioned. Idolatry and devil worship are criticized and supposed to be hateful attitude towards God – “they tool vows of idol-worship a heathen shrines….they turned their minds towards hell; they were ignorant of Providence, the Judge of deeds… not did they know how to worship the Protector of Heaven, the Ruler of Glory” (Swanton, 43). While gauging the impact of Christianity on the poem it is important to red it from the viewpoint where the beginning and end of man are described (Swanton, 101). According to professor Gilson paganism does not provide a clear concept about the beginning of life and the judgement day after death. According to Christian idea, human beings can live only with the protection and help from the Gods. The king’s possession should be handled with humility and all material goods should be shared amongst all. He blesses the human race with all earthly possessions while man is supposed to cultivate modesty and selflessness. Though the heroic pride in the hero Beowulf generates from his ability to defeat the monsters and other achievement derived from uncompleted physical strength and skills of a warrior, the Christian values softens this with humility, and sacrifice as against pride and selfishness respectively. In fact the themes are made distinct through the characteristics of a noble warrior (Bloomfield, 396). Beowulf recognizes God as his protector and himself portrays a metaphor of Christ the Savior with the virtues of humbleness and charity demonstrated by the hero similar to what Christ himself had taught (Fulk, 92). A similarity is found here with the traits of a pagan hero who victoriously dies in the battlefield and is not scared of death. For a pagan hero a man’s life is valuable when he happily accepts death at the battlefield at the time of victory (Fromm, 116). Beowulf does not completely represent in this context an ideal pagan hero as he bravely fights the battle with the dragon although he dies in the end. Victory does not come to him at last when he dies and hence loses the battle. Therefore under pagan definition it will be hard to recall him as a hero. Clemeos observes that the recurrent Christian allusions in the poem are well tuned with the context of the same (Clemeos, 7). There are several Christian references and Clemeos counts them to amount to 178 in number. He also notes that the passage referring to idol worship itself contains several Christian suggestions. However it is not necessarily the hero of the poem who reflects mostly Christian personality because as the Clemeos estimates whereas Hrothgar’s speeches involve only 8 % of the work, his words include almost 17 % of the sacred allusions. Beowulf’s speeches comprise 18 % of the epic poem despite making 13 % of Christian references (Clemeos, 9). Therefore in every set of sixteen lines the poet includes one reference to Christianity. Again, while Hrothgar uses Christian reference once is every eight lines, Beowulf uses the same once in every set of twenty-four lines. Thus a devoted character is found in Hrothgar. The rest of the characters comprise of 12 percent of the lines but make only 5 percent references to Christianity (Clemeos, 9). Hence, from these statistics Clemeos infers that the poet was unquestionably Christian. In conclusion, therefore the unknown author of Beowulf is supposedly a Christian monk since the elements in the poem are marked more by the Christian spirit than paganism. Apart from Christian undertone the character of the king and the hero reveals idealism and nobility. A ruler who dumps his primary duties of defense is criticized. Here the ruler is idealistic in his approach as he leaves everything else and focuses on the duty of protection towards his people (Halverson, 594). The poem brings up the mention of the one God notion as he is referred as the Lord and the Protector without mentioning any particular name. Faith in God and His supremacy over all human actions is revealed here unlike the pagan traits, which calls for personal responsibility for everything that happens or are experienced by a person. Hence everything is not served on a dish but what a pagan eats is decided by the very individual. (Higginbotham & Higginbotham, 5) This perspective deviates form what is evident in the poem. Here the hero attributes all success and even loss (as punishment for violation of His law) towards the God and this is more of a Christian trait. Therefore Beowulf might be referred more as a Christian text than pagan though it incorporates both elements. Works Cited Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist. The Art of Beowulf. University of California Press, 1971 Bloomfield, Joan. “The Style and Structure of Beowulf.” DISCovering Authors. Online Ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center – College Edition Expanded. Gale. West Virginia Northern Com Coll Library. 1 Oct. 2010. Crossley-Holland, Kevin. Beowulf: A New Translation. New York, NY: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1968 Clemeos, Peter. Anglo-Saxon England. Cambridge University Press, 2007 Fulk, Robert Dennis. Interpretations of Beowulf: a critical anthology. Indiana University Press, 1991 Fromm, Erich. To Have or To be?. Continuum International Publishing Group, 2005 Fry, Donald K. The Beowulf Poet. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Gould, George C. “Paganism and Evil Linked in Early Poem.” Religion in Beowulf. 15 Dec. 2007. Web. 4 Oct. 2010. Halverson, John, The World of Beowulf, ELH, 36.4 (Dec., 1969), pp. 593-608 Hieatt, Constance B. Beowulf and Other Old English Poems. New York, NY: Bantam Press, 1988. Higginbotham, Joyce and River Higginbotham. Paganism. Llewellyn Worldwide, 2002 Maslov, “The Theme of Identity in Beowulf”. Associated Content, 2008. 29 October 2010: Mitchell, Bruce, Robinson, Fred C. and Leslie Webster. Beowulf: an edition with relevant shorter texts. Wiley-Blackwell, 1998 Routh, James. “Our Earliest Masterpiece.” DISCovering Authors. Online Ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center – College Edition Expanded. Gale. West Virginia Northern Com Coll Library. 2 Oct. 2010. Swanton, Michael. Beowulf. Manchester University Press ND, 1978 Tolkien, John Ronald Reul. “Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics.” DISCovering Authors. Online Ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. Student Resource Center – College Edition Expanded. Gale. West Virginia Northern Com Coll Library. 1 Oct. 2010. Read More