Before we started reading Beowulf, I thought the story would
be more or less a Nordic/Anglo-Saxon version of a Greek epic poem, like the
Odyssey. It would center on Beowulf, an epic hero who fights a monster named
Grendel and probably does other things. There might be mythical creatures
other than Grendel (and his mother, whom I heard shows up at some point later).
There might be polytheistic gods. Would they be Norse? Celtic? Otherwise?
Very otherwise. Pagan gods get a few mentions—not by name,
but as if gesturing vaguely to a category—but the god Beowulf worships is one god. The Christian god, who hereafter will be
capitalized for clarity’s sake.
If God is to be involved in this epic poem, will He take the
role that other gods have in other epics, or that He has in Bible stories? Yes
and no. Let’s examine two passages. The first is in lines 175-181, at the end
of chapter II:
“At times they offered honor to idols
at pagan temples, prayed aloud
that the soul-slayer might offer assistance
in the country’s distress. Such was their custom,
the hope of heathens—they remembered hell
in their minds, they did not know the Maker,
the Judge of deeds, they did not know the Lord God”
(175-181).
If this were a tale in the Old Testament, this would be the
part when God would pick one human to tell all the other humans that God is
furious at them for worshipping other gods, that they are a bunch of idolatrous
whores, that He refuses to hear them, and that He is abandoning them forever .
. . for real this time! (He would then be back by the next book, if not the
very next chapter. He always comes back.)
In Beowulf, however, God does not take the role of
intervening deity. What follows this passage and concludes the chapter is a
sermon on the importance of seeking the Lord. Uh, okay. Was this small dose of
evangelism to remind the original audiences of their new Christian faith?
Perhaps.
The second passage concerns specifically the faith of the
story’s hero. Beowulf chooses to fight Grendel—a giant, human-eating fiend of a
monster—barehanded because Grendel “does not care for weapons” (434). Also, Beowulf
says of his upcoming fight, “Let him put his faith / in the Lord’s judgment,
whom death takes” (440-441). Among our hero’s qualities, then, is his faith.
His own mortal strength can take him only so far; God takes him farther. This
indirect divine influence reminded me of a specific Bible story: David and
Goliath. Goliath, like Grendel, is a giant who attacks a human community until
a hero defeats him. David and Beowulf are noticeably different: David is
“little more than a boy” ( 1 Sam 17:42), has no previous combat experience, and
overall looks neither formidable nor intimidating. Beowulf, on the other hand,
is recognizably an adult. He is a seafarer, a warrior, and a leader. He already
has a reputation in the surrounding communities. What’s the connection, then?
The heroes’ faith. “David said to [Goliath], ‘You come against me with sword
and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty.
. . . This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands’” (1 Sam 17:45-46). Both David and Beowulf, regardless of their
natural abilities and resources, ensure victory by their faith in God. Since
Beowulf’s original audiences would have held the hero in high esteem, his faith
would be a model for them to follow.
Given the hero's Christian faith and a brief sermon within the text, perhaps the poem functioned in part as a reminder to a community new to the religion.
I pledge that I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment.
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