Where Did the Christianity in Beowulf Come From?
The Christian influences in Beowulf ultimately came from the Christian/Catholic Church of Rome which converted Romans, and thereby the Roman legions and thereby the occupied provinces. Also the Christian/Catholic Bishop of Rome sent missionary priests and monks to the British Isles to proselytze the population. There are additional considerations too.
First of all, let us be clear about the fact that the conversion of Britain to Christianity began quite early. The Catholic priest Venerable Bede, born in Bernicia, Northumbria, around 673, states in Bk 1, Ch 4 of his Ecclesiastical History of the English People that while Eleutherius was Bishop of Rome (175-189AD), a king of Britain named Lucius requested of the Pope that the king be baptized a Catholic by papal decree:
In the year of our Lord 156 Marcus Antoninus Verus was made emperor together with his brother Aurelius Commodus. He was the fourteenth after Augustus. In their time, while a holy man called Eleutherius was bishop of the church at Rome, Lucius, a king of Britain, sent him a letter praying him that he might be made a Christian by a rescript from him. His pious request was quickly granted and the Britons preserved the faith which they had received, inviolate and entire, in peace and quiet, until the time of the Emperor Diocletian.
Bede’s last sentence in the passage implies that Christianity had already been established in Britain for some time prior to Eleutherius occupying Peter’s chair from 175-189. This seems reasonable according to what is written by the historian Eusebius Pamphilus, bishop of Caesarea, in His Ecclesiastical History written in the 300’s. The Ecclesiastical His...
... middle of paper ...
...McClure, Judith, editors. Bede: The Ecclesiastical History of the English People; The Greater Chronicle; Bede’s Letter to Egbert. New York: Oxford University Press, 1969.
Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History, translated by C.F. Cruse. Peabody, MS: Hendrickson Publishers, 2000.
Magoun, Frances P. “Oral-Formulaic Character of Anglo-Saxon Narrative Poetry.” In TheBeowulf Poet, edited by Donald K. Fry. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968.
“Nero.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. www.bartleby.com/65/.
“St. Patrick.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000. www.bartleby.com/65/.
Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000
Gamble T. K., & Gamble, M. W. (1998). Contacts: Communicating Interpersonally. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.
Beowulf is an anonymous poem that takes place in Denmark and Geatland, the modern day Sweden. It tells the tale of a kingdom in Denmark, ruled by King Hrothgar, which is in peril and how a hero comes to save it. Beowulf was estimated to be written in the 8th to 11th century during the Anglo-Norman period making it the oldest surviving epic poem in historians’ possession. Though parts of the original manuscript were destroyed in a fire, around 1731, the work has still proven useful to scholars and researchers today. It was first translated in 1818 by Icelandic scholar Grímur Jónsson Thorkelin, J. M. Kemble wrote the first modern English translation in 1837. It has been a great influence to modern writers, like J. R. R. Tolkien (Snell).
In the Middle Ages, Christianity dominated the lives of the nobility and peasants. The Church became prosperous and very influential. King Alfred made a substantial contribution to Old English language and culture by overseeing the transcription of the only oral form of the epic poem Beowulf. Beowulf is a nobleman that lived in a pagan world that Christianity had not yet dominated. The Scandinavian society composed of three parts: warriors, clerical, and farming classes. Within the poem of Beowulf, the primary focus is the warrior class. The man Beowulf would have been of Norse religion while the poem deviates towards the Christian God. In The Canterbury Tales, the author is Geoffrey Chaucer, and he is the considered the father of English literature. Although the poem does not give the impression of being political, during the period, there was political and religious instability. The corruption of the Catholic Church was so abundant that it eventually leads to the Protestant Reformation. Chaucer primary focus is the middle class. An extremely relevant aspect in both poems forced integration of religion.
“Men are from Mars; women are from Venus.” Many argue this phrase was first made popular in 1992, when John Gray titled his book, a guide to relationships by enhancing communication, with the phrase. Whether the phrase is credited to Gray or not, it does bring to light the great contrasts between men and women. Perhaps the greatest difference among genders, apart from anatomy, is the way in which they communicate. Men and women communicate differently through communication patterns, nonverbal cues, and emotional content.
Evolving communications technology has changed the way business personnel communicate within an organization. The use of technology allows companies to be more dynamic and adaptive to changes by allowing instantaneous communications via interconnected computer networks. This dependency on information and communications technology has evolved these emerging technologies as crucial tools for providing operational support to business communications tasks (Wilkinson, 2006). Remaining competitive is a primary goal of organizations and effective communications help companies achieve this goal. Competency in communications is considered the root of success for many activities including planning, organizing, team work, and leadership (Waldeck, Durante, Helmuth, & Marcia, 2012).
Communication is also suggested by others to be avoided, as it might alert competitors or cause employees to leave an organization rather than endure painful changes (Buono & Bowditch, 1989). It can also threaten management’s ability to respond flexibly to changes during a merger or acquisition process (Eisenberg and Witten, 1987).
In Beowulf the Christian influence is revealed through approximately 70 passages in which the form of expression or the thought suggests Christian usage or doctrine (Blackburn 3); The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki is in its own way infused with Christian values even though it preserves remnants of the cult of Odin.
Communication is an important aspect of processing and transferring information in our society. The important entities needed for a successful communication includes; a sender, receiver, message and feedback. First, the sender is a person or entity that is sending information to the receiver. After receiving the message, the receiver will attempt to decode the message and prepares a proper response (feedback). Communication is an essential part of our daily interactions; it can be seen used in businesses, for pleasure, sports, education and many more activities.
In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication.
The typical IT person is computer literate and usually very intelligent. They have incredible deductive reasoning and superior computational abilities. Most of them are very introverted and have little or no social graces, not to mention any ability to communicate.
... Chapter 2: Small Group Communication Theory.Communicating in small groups: principles and practices (9th ed., pp. 42-44). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Engleberg, I., Wynn, D., & Schuttler, R., (2003). Working in Groups: Communication Principles and Strategies (3rd ed.) Boston: Houghton- Mifflin. pp. 146- 170.
During the maturation of the group, lots of effective features were present; however communication and the purpose of the group stand out more. An effective communication is when the group members are open to each other ideas and feelings are encourage (Kozier et a...
The first chapter of “Working in Groups” focuses on group communication, the first aspect being the key elements of group communication (Engleberg and
Successful Communication is the conveying and understanding of a message from one person to another. For communication to be effective, the meaning must be easily understood. An individual 's communicative success relies on factors that include speaking, reading, listening, and reasoning skills. Forms of communication include verbal and non-verbal, as well as, one way and two ways.