Michaela Earnhart Mrs. Tieman English 12 C.P.

2/24/2014 Beowulf Analysis Paper Beowulf, an European epic, was written around the eighth century in England. During this time the English society was in the process of converting from Paganism to Christianity. Because of this both traditions of the religions were present throughout literature. Many of the influences dealt with what it going on in the world, when the piece is written. When Beowulf was written, St. Augustine had just come over to try and convert the Anglo-Saxon people to Christianity; although the conversion succeeded it was a shallow transformation, leaving some people following the Pagan ways. The fact that Christianity and Paganism are so closely combined in the epic explains the reasons for Beowulfs Christian influences; Weaved into Beowulf's triumphs against the three monsters. As you read the epic you can clearly notice the ties to Christianity; as it appeals to God, his creations, and more. In the first epic we catch the first glance of how the story of beowulf has ties to christianity. Like the bible, beowulf starts at the beginning. in only the seventh line it begins and says, The Almighty making the earth, shaping/ These beautiful plains marked off by oceans,/ Then proudly setting the sun and moon/ To glow across the land and light it;/ The corners of the earth were made lovely with trees/ And leaves, made quick with life, with each/

Of the nations who now move on its face. And then/ As now warriors sang of their pleasure: (1:7-14). This quote appeals to the bible's first chapter, Genesis, that talks about the creation of earth. The Bible speaks of how God created the earth in seven days: all of the light and dark; all

the sky, sea, and land; and all the life. Another thing that i found Earnhart 2 intriguing was the similarity in length; like how the story in the bible (how it took seven days to complete his world) it took seven lines of the epic to summarize the event of creation. On the flip side of the good of God they also mention the evil of the world. Lucifer, an archangel of the Lord, (along with his followers) were banished from the heavens for defying God. In beowulf there is also a mentioning of the banishment of demons. (1:21-27) Conceived by a pair of those monsters born/ Of Cain, murderous creatures banished/ By God, punished forever for the crime/ Of Abels death. The Almighty drove/ Those demons out, and their exile was bitter,/ Shut away from men; they split/ Into a thousand forms of evilspirits/ And fiends, goblins, monsters, giants,. The Bible speaks of demons as, say, fallen angels. In Revelation 12:9 it says, And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole worldhe was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. In pride, Lucifer, who was created as an angel, declared war upon God, and one-third of the angels joined his army to oppose God (Rev. 12). Judged by God for his sin, the Serpent and his servants were then cast down to the earth. Those fallen, sinful spirits are commonly referred to as demons. As such were the demons in the epic of Beowulf, said earlier for Abels death. According to the third chapter in the book of Genesis, Abel was the second son of Adam and Eve, brother to Cain. With the eternal battle of good versus bad the is always the say base, where no evil may preside: Holy (sacred) ground. In Beowulf the sacred ground is said to be the throne of the king within the Herot. In Herot, when the night hid him, he never/ Dared to touch the king Hrothgars glorious/ Throne, protected by God -- God,/ Whose love Grendel could not know. In the views of Christianity, the fallen, or demons, can not be on sacred ground. Like a magnet facing am identical pole it is repealed. Examples of holy ground is with that of Moses and that of Joshua. When Moses confronts the burning bush he is told to remove his shoes for he was stepping onto holy ground. Joshua was told the same thing by the Captain of the Lords host, prior to the attack on Jerico. Many real life sacred grounds are mainly temples, churches,

graveyards, along with some geographical locations: the Vatican

Earnhart 3 City and Ganges River.

Another appeal to christianity is how beowulf is similar to Jesus Christ. The first thing i noticed was that beowulf brought his remaining 12 men when he goes to fight the dragon but when the time came they fled; all but one, Wiglaf. And he suffered, wrapped around in swirling/ Flamesa king,

before, but now/ A beaten warrior. None of his comrades/ Came to him, helped him, his brave and noble/ Followers; they ran for their lives, fled/ Deep in a wood. And only one of them/ Remained, stood there, miserable, remembering,/ As a good man must, what kinship should mean. (6:744-751) This appeals to jesus because when jesus went to the garden of Gethsemane
with his own 12 disciples after the Last Supper. More proof to the matter would be that Christs

story and that Beowulf also

came to rid evil from the land. Christ was born to die, and his death would be the ultimate price of

repentance; in the bible it says that the wages of sin is death. Christ died to pay the fines of sin, to save mankind from the greatest evil of all. Beowulf came, and the guard even told him that no one so far has defeated the monster who has terrorized the land, just as no one could defeat sin. Beowulf came to refute the saying, Do you know who I am, in a sense, and Jesus did the same, knowing his power. Then Beowulf defeated the evil terrorizing the land, just as Jesus defeated sin.

The story of Beowulf was originally a pagan story but due to the time period, went it was finally written, it was infused with christian concepts that can be found throughout the Bible. Christianity developed out of Judaism in the 1st century C.E. It is founded on the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.Until the latter part of the 20th century, most adherents of Christianity were in the West, though it has spread to every continent and is now the largest religion in the world. Through the years christianity has stayed relatively the same, but there have also been religions that branch off of this commonly known belief. Religions such as Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant,and Anglican. As follows like much literature traditions there is often religious concepts weaved into written pieces today. It may be safe to say that many years from now there may be one dictatoring religion amongst literature. Though only fate shall decide.