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Victory of Christianity over paganism in Beowulf

            Christianity offered to the Anglo-Saxon world the new certainty, to the Anglo-Saxon awareness that man is absolutely mortal it offered the hope of rebirth through Christ. Instead of the world of constant fights, war and violence it offered peace and harmony. And of course it offered Paradise.
             The warrior heroes are now substituted with a new hero -Christ. And while the pagan would understand the death of Beowulf as a victory of WYRD, the Christianity treats this theme as the necessary sacrifice for the wealth of one" fellow men.
             In Beowulf monsters were created to challenge human power, to fight him and by being defeated to show the triumph of humanity. They were not created as evil fiends but as representatives of the natural forces. Their dwelling below waters points out to us that they were closely connected with chthonic powers, with mysteries of the universe and they mostly represented the destructive power of Nature-the one that we recognize as dangerous and frightening.
             Of course Christianity dealed differently with Nature - it denied it. And this denial was done through physical extinction - killing of the monsters but also the death of earthly heroes. At the downing of Christian era, the pagan world perished before the eyes of the Anglo-Saxon.
             The Triple Goddess is turned from Troll-wife to evil spirit - Lilith - the incarnation of true evil. The star of light was turned to Lucifer. Mother and son are cussed and tabooed forever this being the safest way to brake up with remains of the chthonic in our collective unconsciousness.
             The world is ordered by Dogma . A new order is brought to the Universe. The old rites have fallen into oblivion and are kept in dark corridors of our suppressed unconsciousness. The final gap between paganism and Christianity is created.
             Beowulf starts and ends with a funeral. The circle is closed.
             WYRD is finally changed to God and the old goddesses and monsters are no more.


Essays Related to Victory of Christianity over paganism in Beowulf

1. Religious Themes In The Poem Beowulf

... Beowulf's time had been mainly set in paganism for all aspects of their everyday lives. The heirs to Lord Shields must have slowly converted into Christianity. The beliefs of the people slowly but eventually changed from pagan religion to Christianity. By this time maybe not all but most people in the Geat rule believed in Christianity. And may the Divine Lord in His wisdom grant the glory of victory ... to whichever side He sees fit... Almighty God rules over mankind and always has. (ll.685-687, 701-702) In these lines Beowulf is proclaiming that whatever events take ... based on a Chri...

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2. BEOWULF

Beowulf-Christianity or Paganism Beowulf was written in England sometime in the 18th century. "This provides us with an idea of a poem that was written during a time when the society had converted from paganism to Christianity"(Cohen 138). "We know that paganism did exist alongside Christianity during the approximate era that Beowulf was composed"(Hall 61). "The Christian influences were combined with early folklore and heroic legends of dramatic tribes, early Beowulf ... elements in the epic poem Beowulf are evident in the characters superhuman personifications. Beowulf is depicted as a super...

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3. Beowulf and Christianity

... a Christian author, who was most likely a monk, which explains the poem's attempts to instill Christian morality in the reader. Everything happens in Beowulf can be credited to the grace of God, whether it is victory in battle, or the taking of booty after a victory. For example, after Beowulf and his men finished their journey to Denmark they, "thanked God for that easy crossing on a calm ... a grace on her" and that she brought forth a "flower of manhood," a further parallel between Jesus and Beowulf. There are also references to the great flood that took place in the Book of Genesis. ...

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