Comparing 'Grendel And Christianity In Beowulf'

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Both the novel Grendel and the epic Beowulf touch on religious themes connected with Christianity. The epic tale Beowulf was created and told by the Anglo Saxons who at first were pagan, however converted to Christianity following their travel to Britain. This resulted in Christian themes and messages commonly appearing in epics. “The sky says nothing, predictably. I make a face, uplift a defiant middle finger, and give an obscene little kick. The sky ignores me, forever unimpressed. Him too I hate,” (Gardner 6). Gardner shows that Grendel does not have a good relationship with god, he is disconnected. Constantly Grendel feels that he is being judged and ignored. God looks down on his actions such as murder, however the beast can not change this about him, it is …show more content…

Grendel is exposed to the tale of Cain and Abel on one of his trips to Herot. The Shaper states that Grendel is a descendant of Cain, the first murderer. Grendel is immediately viewed in the eyes of the Danes as evil and an enemy of god. This further grows Grendel’s hatred for god as he is made an outsider to the Danes. When the Anglo-Saxon’s shared stories of heros, they were made to be followers of god. “The monster wrenched and wrestled with him but Beowulf was mindful of his mighty strength, the wondrous gifts God had showered on him: He relied for help on the Lord of All, on His care and favour. So he overcame the foe, brought down the hell-brute,” (1269-1274) Beowulf believes that he was victorious in this battle do to the will of god. Beowulf is able to put aside his boastful pride and praise his protector. God favors Beowulf because he is not only a protector of god’s people, but destroys god’s enemies. In the eyes of the Danes Beowulf is good because he is a man of god. Gardner makes it clear to the reader that god favors the good because the good does god’s work where the evil are considered outcasts by god due to their differences from god’s

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