English Literature

The poem entitled Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon English epic poem narrating  heroic adventures of a warrior named Beowulf. Little is known on the historical background of this piece of literature. Different historians believed that this epic was written in the eight or the ninth century based on the  language used and on its style of writing. Some of the poems texts were lost after the original manuscript was burned. Different writers made their translations from the original manuscript left after the fire and soon published their works in different languages.

The story revolves on the life of a brave Geatish warrior, Beowulf who after hearing the news that an evil giant, Grendel was terrorizing the Kingdom of Danes, had the courage to travel across the sea to offer his aid to stop this villain. Fortunately, Beowulf successfully defeated the evil giant and was rewarded by the Danish king ruling the land he protected. The serenity was brought back to Danes until one day, Grendels mother attacked Danes to take revenge for his son. Beowulf again defeated the giant and once again brought peace and order to the land of Danes. After helping the Danish people, Beowulf returned to his land and fought in many battles. After the death of his king and his prince, he was crowned as the new  king of Geats. He was well-loved by his people and feared by the enemies as well. He reigned for fifty years until one day, a dragon attacked their land. Beowulf, together with his warriors tried to stop the dragon from destroying their beloved land. Beowulf was able to kill the dragon, however, he was badly injured after the fight which cause his gradual death. The warriors of Geats that were with him on their quest felt really guilty for abandoning their king during the fight. It was only Wiglaf, one of his trusted warriors who stood by him up to the last minute of his life.

Many critics argue about the real nature of the poem, whether it is a pagan form or a Christian form of literature. Others believe that the poem was originally made by a pagan writer and was then edited by a Christian writer who got a copy of the original manuscript and then added Christian concepts to the poem. Some of the practices performed by the characters in the poem reflected pagan beliefs and traditions. Such practices were as follows the burial performed by the characters (cremation and funeral ship), their worship to many gods (there is even a time when the Danish people lose hope already that they actually called for the help of devils),their consultations to the omens which was a kind of fortune-telling in the present day  and lastly, their great love for wealth and power up to the point that they even worship these luxuries in life.

Though many pagan practices were showed in the poem, others still believe that this could be considered as a Christian work since Christian values were also incorporated with the story of Beowulf. Some of these values were humility, sacrifice and generosity. Humility was manifested by Beowulf every time he won a battle. He always say that his courage, without Gods protection is not enough to win a battle. He also believes that things happen according to the will of the Lord. Sacrifice was made by Beowulf when he fought the dragon still even though he was already old that time and after his warriors abandoned him in the middle of the battle. He sacrificed his own life for the sake of his people. He chose to die for his people to live.
Generosity was shown by the Danish King when he built a hall where he could share his wealth to the people. Aside from the Christian values, biblical characters were also mentioned in the poem. It was said that Grendel, the evil giant who violently killed many Danish people in the story was as descendant of the Cain, a biblical character who was known for his bad reputation of killing his own brother, Abel. The family to which the giants in the poem came is also the group of people disowned by God in the Old Testament.

In my opinion, the poem is more of a Christian literature than a pagan literature. The practices mentioned in the story may have reflected the pagan culture in some aspects but the totality of the whole story is more on a Christian perspective. The concept of good and evil is well-emphasized in the story, that God does not allow evil to conquer the world which was mainly where the Christian doctrines revolve. It can also be noticed that the authors points of view on certain topics tackled in the poem were more on a Christian side.

The possible main reason why this poem may be mistaken as a pagan work is because of the settings as well as the pagan traditions included in the story. The author of this work may have used them just to give the readers a picture of the situation of the people before since it is known that paganism was practiced before Christianity came. The writer may have wanted to give his views on certain pagan tradition in a sort of even correcting some of which by using the doctrines of Christianity.

To wrap this up, one can say that the story of Beowulf, may be a pagan or a Christian literary piece is indeed an inspirational work where one can learn a lot of important things in life.