Sense of Doom in Beowulf
Beowulf is an epic poem filled with violence, vengeance, and death. The context of the poem is filled with a strong sense of doom, targeted at the fate of the characters' lives. Beowulf centers on the Pagan belief of predestination and also on the Christian belief that God protects the good, and not the evil. These beliefs play a role in the ultimate fate of the characters.The story begins as Grendel was terrorizing Herot. Hrothgar, the king of the Danes, "Wept, fearing the beginning might not be the end" (48-49) of Grendel's wrath. Grendel was eating the Danes and their doom was forever present as long as Grendel was still alive. Beowulf was chosen to defeat Grendel. As Beowulf was regaling about his heroic deeds he said "Grendel and I are called together and I've come...God must decide who will be given to death's cold grip" (269-270). The Christian and Pagan belief are intertwined in his statement that reveals one of the two will die.Beowulf always had the thought in the back of his mind that he will not always win his battles. He expressed this feeling more than once as he said "and I think, if my time will come, there'll be nothing to mourn over..." (274-75). He believes that if he dies he will have failed and d
After the battle with the dragon, Beowulf was mortally wounded and died soon after. Both of them were ready, each set on slaughter" (676-77). There is the potentiality of sudden death or a swift change, which makes the strong sense of doom omnipresent in Beowulf.
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