Christianity V. Paganism In Beowulf

7 Pages 1714 Words

uence of Christianity on Beowulf, one can look at its other parallels with the Bible. Grendel is referred to as “the hostile-hearted creature, God’s enemy, guilty of murder” and it is said that he is a descendent of Cain, thus explaining his evil. Being loyal, living right and being a good leader, typical Christian values, are also all stressed throughout the epic, which is why Beowulf repeatedly acknowledges God as his protector. This is a far cry from the polytheistic doctrines of Homer’s time. The dichotomies in Beowulf require the reader to pry apart and compare the two ideologies that make up this teetering culture.
Since Beowulf was written about 300 years after the emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity, and had probably been being told by bards years before that, we see that paganism still had a strong foothold in this society; the new faith’s flame was only just beginning to catch fire. Unfortunately, most of their culture is built around upholding a heroic code rather th...