Early British Literature: Christianity in Beowulf

In the Old English poem, Beowulf, the emergence of Christianity is evident throughout the story and displayed by the deeds and actions of the poem's characters, even though there was no Christian beliefs in the society at the time in which the characters would have been living in. Beowulf was written in the Anglo-Saxon period in Britain at a time when a drastic change was about to take place in the religious lifestyle that the people of the time were so accustomed to. The coming of Christianity brought about a new way of thinking to the ancient people. The Germanic Tribes of elder times possessed Pagan beliefs in several different gods, each ruling over certain aspects of life. However, the idea of a single supreme deity became widespread and affected the daily lives of the Anglo-Saxon people. Christianity instilled a ferocious sense of morality, duty, and honor in people that was not seen in the past.

The Beowulf that is read today by fans and scholars alike is most definitely different from the Beowulf that the Anglo-Saxons heard in taverns in their own time. Beowulf would have been an auditory poem where people sat around and listened to the poem, rather than read it on paper. As with the tradition of passing information down orally, many things will get changed and edited from what was originally meant. For example, the poet of Beowulf makes a conscious effort to infect Christian thought and actions to the characters in the story who, at most times, behave the opposite from how one would expect a Christian to behave. In research done by Heany, he has noted that the characters in Beowulf would have been living in a time before Christianity spread to Britain and northern Europe (Heany), yet clearly the characters make mention of the Christian God throughout the poem which is demonstrated so casually in the following lines:

' "They thanked God for that easy crossing on a calm sea." ' (Beowulf, lines 227- 228)

The way that God is thanked for allowing a calm sea passage clearly shows how the poet is trying to make the readers revel in the powers of God and that He was to thank for many of the good things that happen to a person in life. There is a strong belief that this was done as an effort to have readers and listeners eventually dispose of their Pagan gods and make a change to Christianity.

Many people have studied the influence of God in Beowulf, and they come to the same conclusion that Christianity was not part of the early Anglo-Saxon life, but rather it is the poet of Beowulf who is attempting to correlate the Pagan and Christian beliefs as a means of influencing people to make the move to Christianity. The Pagan beliefs are also in the poem and the researcher Storm attempts to make the importance of Pagan beliefs noted to the people who read Beowulf:

" On the other hand pagan elements stand out strongly. At the beginning we have the description of the ship burial of Scyld and at the end we have the clearly non-Christian funeral of Beowulf. I wish to call special attention to two verses, lines 3146 and 3150. The meaning of 'windblond gelag' (3146) is not realized by most commentators. 'The tumult of the wind subsided' is very important in its context. It means that the smoke of the funeral pile could rise straight to heaven and that the dead man was favorably received in heaven by his god Woden, who is also the god of the Wind." (Storm)

Storm wants the readers to recognize that for the characters in the story to have burial services such as the two mentioned, that there is no chance that Christianity is as important in the characters lives as the poet would have most readers believe (Storm).

There are, however, many instances in the poem that the poet of Beowulf creates a hybrid of beliefs and mixes both Pagan and Christian beliefs together. In research done by Cain, he also believes that the Pagan concept of fate is constantly referred and at other times it is God's fate that will grant a victory over any obstacle. Although Beowulf believes God must be with him in order to be victorious in battle, he also says that it is his fate to defeat his enemies (Cain). This is evident in the scene where Beowulf is about to fight Grendel:

' "And many the Divine Lord in His wisdom grant the glory of victory to whichever side He sees fit." ' (Beowulf, lines 685-687)

In the same sentence, it seems evident that Beowulf is both invoking the Christian God to come to his aid in the battle, but also it is Beowulf's Pagan belief that it is fate should he lose the battle with Grendel. These conflicting thoughts of Beowulf exemplify the conflicting beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons of the time when Beowulf was being recorded. It seems that when the poem was written, the poet was to afraid to completely eliminate all of the Pagan beliefs for the fear that God might be rejected utterly if the readers and listeners were not allowed to keep their traditions that were dear to them, thus the society might have a complete rejection of Christianity and Britain may have never become a Christian land as early as it did. The poet was very wise to incorporate God in this manner because it allowed the people to believe in a God who was similar yet different to their many Pagan Gods.

The final and most religious comparison of Beowulf, can be made with the similarities between Beowulf and Christ. In order to sway people into choosing Christianity over their old beliefs, there is no better icon to follow then Christ because of the nature that he would love and honor his fellow man so much that he would die for them. The character Beowulf acts in the same fashion where he values the lives of his people more than his own, much in the same aspect of Christ dying for all mankind to save them. By paralleling Christ to a reveled warrior, Beowulf, the poet has been able to achieve utter devotion in the Anglo-Saxons because of their strong belief in honor, loyalty, and courage under pressure that Christ has exemplified so utterly by sacrificing his own life for the lives of others. In addition, Beowulf's death parallels Christ's in that upon his death, Beowulf is forsaken and left to face his death alone by all but one of his followers before giving his life for his people, much in the same way that Christ was left to die.

After studying the text and elements of Christianity in Beowulf, it seems evident that the poem was written by a monk or some other religious figure in the church as a means of promoting the beliefs of Christianity to the Pagan Anglo-Saxons. Though the poem is probably many decades older than the written version, the work was probably changed from the oral version that people would sit and listen to in their own mead-halls. The story itself most likely did not change much from oral to written version, but most likely it experienced a change in what gods were thanked, praised, and worshiped as a very efficient means of slowly changing a Pagan society into a Christian society.

Works Cited

1. Cain, Christopher M. "Beowulf Christian Science Monitor; 4/13/2000, Vol. 92 Issue 99, p15, the Old Testament, and the Regula fidei."

2. Heany, Seamus. Beowulf. The Norton Anthology of English Literature. 7^th Edition M.H. Abrams

3. Heany, Seamus. "From Beowulf." American Poetry Review; Jan/Feb2000, Vol. 29 Issue1, p21

4. Storms, G. "How did the Dene and the Geatas get into Beowulf?" English Studies Feb99 Vol. 80 Issue 1. p46