Beowulf Christian Influence
The story of Beowulf is full of religious references and symbolism, but is it truly a Christian story? According to the narrative, Beowulf is an instrument of God, an instrument of righteousness called by God to perform His will for the Danes. In stark contrast to his good, is the enemy, Grendel, the incarnation of pure evil. These two characters appear to represent the forces of good versus the forces of evil. It would be easy enough to leave the story that way, but it appears that Beowulf is written intentionally to make the main characters appear more important by adding Biblical references to the narrative. By creating characters of a Biblical stature, the story as a whole has an added importance. This gruesome creature was called Grendel, notorious prowler of the borderland, ranger of the moors, the fen and the fastness; this cursed creature lived in a monster's lair for a time after the Creator had condemned him as one of the seed of Cain - the Everlasting Lord no satisfaction from that feud, but the Creator sent him into exile, far from mankind because of his crime. He could no longe
We can liken Beowulf to a religious man. Simply put, the story's content had changed to reflect the beliefs of the people at the time. There is another likely reason that religion was chosen as a means to heighten the significance of the story. God was even concerned enough to curse Grendel for his atrocities. Adding Christian references to what has been considered by most literary scholars a pagan tale, adds significance to the story in our Christian society, and most certainly added significance to the story in their society. We could, but that would not lend to the telling of an epic story. If it had, it was a good idea, because this "modernized" version of Beowulf has certainly stood the test of time. " Instead of saying that Grendel was just a real bad guy, through these descriptions, he has taken on a supernatural or mystical quality. Whoever wrote this down in its final form could have changed the content to reflect his religious beliefs. Old English also had a similar religious influence. The pagan religions were passing away and being replaced by new traditions and a new religion. He seems to be a man ordained to carry out God's righteousness. It is possible that the men who wrote this down were in fact Christian. He is a man that truly has a supernatural strength and bravery, someone chosen by God.
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