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Christian Allegory in Beowulf
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Scholars, such as McNamee and Hamilton, interpret Beowulf as a pagan legend which contains a Christian allegory for salvation. The “poet provides us with a unique insight into a pagan world that has passed away by the time he was writing” (Beowulf 1057). The Beowulf poet writes with a Christian perspective towards religious practices, creation, and final judgment while condemning the paganism practiced by the Germanic tribes in the poem. The poet also forebodes Christian ideals through religious references to a single God, biblical allusions, and characters who symbolize and manifest Christian ideals. Beowulf foreshadows Christian ideology and embodies biblical allusions while focusing on the rectification of evil through divine intervention and the sacrifice of a hero.
The Beowulf poet writes with a didactic tone towards paganism when recasting his heathen tale. Scholars consider the poet a Christian who goes out of his way to exclude the old pagan gods from having an active place in the poem (McNamee 332). ... The poet reveals the “wickedness of worshipping idols and the awful consequences of the worshipper” when describing the Danes as “heathens” by making “sacrifices at the tabernacles of idols” (Beowulf 1065). Within Christian teachings, idolatry and especially
Loudenburg 2
devil worship are looked upon as aberrations hateful to the one true God and subject to divine punishment by a final judgment. ... God also controls “the deeds of every man” and protects mankind from an eternal life filled with evil (Beowulf 1099). ... However, in the end there will be a final judgment and “man may seek the Lord and find peace in the embrace of the Father” (Beowulf 1065). Even more important than the idea of creation and final judgment is the Christian ideal of a Redeemer sent by God to save man from the consequences of his own sins. Beowulf symbolizes this Christian principle. Through biblical allusions, Grendel represents the Devil and Beowulf represents Christ by offering himself to save others from evil just as Christ redeemed man through self-sacrifice. ... After his death, “hell receives his heathen soul” and he remains there for eternity just as Satan was bound to an eternity in hell by God (Beowulf 1073).
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Paper Information
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Title: Christian Allegory in Beowulf
Words: 1724
Rating: None
Pages: 6.9
submitted by: trixie5640
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