Paganism In Beowulf

Beowulf, an Old English poem that was written between 975 and 1025, fuses together Pagan and Christian ideals. Around this time period, Christianity was beginning to make its way into society, however paganism was still highly practiced. Paganism of this time consisted of having a great amount of respect for something other than yourself, a system of ethics that was factually true, and to worship a God was important. Christianity consisted of believing in only one God, living for a finer life after death, and following the ten commandments to ensure that happening. During the mix of these two religious beliefs, people were expected to honor their Lord with respect and dignity. This was said to be a heroic age, where they were supposed to express …show more content…
As all three battles were explained above, Beowulf came out on top with a victory. Beowulf had many heroic attributes. He voluntarily sailed across sea and offered his help to defeat Grendel. After killing Grendel, he was awarded many gifts from Hrothgar at a feast that was organized in his honor. Later, his victory over Grendel’s mother came up and his name spread across the entire kingdom. Beowulf was still a young warrior at the time of these battles, but he was recognized for his bravery, loyalty, and pride. He was filled with an abundance amount of respect towards the middle of the story that he did not take the throne when originally offered. Instead, he supported Hygelac’s son in taking it. Beowulf would later take the throne and continued to be viewed as a wonderful leader and hero up until his battle with the dragon. This stroked some people as a selfish act because once he died, he would leave his people without a leader. Thus, leading to a possible result in attacks from other tribes. The death of Beowulf could also be linked to fate because Beowulf ultimately did not have a much of a choice other than to fight the …show more content…
As mentioned in the third paragraph, the idea of fate played a big role in the Pagan society. Throughout Beowulf, there is a series of fate happening. The author used the idea to bring about the battle with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. These ultimately concluded to the death of their beloved king. The Pagan and Christian society had a difficult turmoil within it. The conversion of the two religions led many to have Christian motives, but they acted in a way that would not be considered Christian like. Beowulf’s characters express this a lot because some were faced with challenges that led them to think in a positive way, but led them to have an un-Christian like reaction. Beowulf also does a great job of expressing the honor for heroes, such as the respect and gifts Beowulf received for his honorable work. In this society, the honor of a leader and/or a God was important to them. They valued people who had a higher ranking than them and treated them as they would want to be