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Religious influence on western civilization
Beowulf christian theme analysis
The role of religion in beowulf
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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.
The religious theme is one thing that both Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales have in common. In Beowulf, religion can be an issue because the poem is Christianized. The period would have been medieval Scandinavia, which would have been pagan. The narrator compromises by referring to God in wide-ranging terms. There is no way to change the fact that Beowulf would have been pagan. In Beowulf, there is a reference from the Old Testament in the Bible about the descendants of Cain. The Canterbury Tales references the New Testament of the Bible often. For Chaucer, it is a way for him to attack the bigotry of Christianity. Both poems are experiencing religious revolutions and upheaval of what they believe.
The theology which appears in the Christian allusions in Beowulf is very vague and indefinete: there is no mention of Christ, the saints, miracles, Mary His Mother, specific doctrines of the church, martyrs of the church, the New Tes...
Beowulf is steeped in a pagan tradition that depicts nature as hostile and forces of death as uncontrollable. Blind fate picks random victims; man is never reconciled with the world. Beowulf ends a failure. There is some truth in this conclusion, but for the most part, someone who didn’t have a well-lived life has most likely portrayed it.
Beowulf, an epic poem, written by unknown and translated by Seamus Heaney, is an artifact of the Anglo-Saxon era because it is a piece of literature that was documented once. During the time it was written, writing was not common. The poem reveals a lot of the Anglo-Saxon practices and beliefs, but it also is compared to Christianity because was written down by a christian monk.
The significance of religious beliefs in the tales of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, portrayed diverse roles in each story. Although it was clear that God was highly-favored and worshipped in each of these tales, the abundance of praising Him was greatly differed. Both Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the green knight are written to be believers of God and his mighty works and miracles. In this passage, the significance of religious beliefs in these tales are explained by presenting how Beowulf and the characters of his time praised the Lord for all of his works, even those that pertained to evil doings, Sir Gawain praised the Lord for blessings and strength instead of his unfortunate times, and how each character was destined to become more like Christ, living their lives being heroes and God-like.
It is common opinion that Beowulf was written by a Christian poet. This was probably true because at the time when it was written, most of the few people who knew how to read and write were in the clergy. There are various references within the poem to elements of the Christian religion. However, the story is about Pagan people and certain aspects of their culture are even glorified. The ambiguity of Beowulf’s religious content has caused confusion as to what significance religion had in inspiring the author and in what manner the author meant to inspire or influence his audience. I do not think that Beowulf is a Christian allegory because Beowulf had very little in common with the Biblical figure of Jesus Christ. I think that religion was not the primary thematic concern of the writer. Although there are discrepancies between the two styles of thinking, Beowulf seems to praise values which were considered moral and good among all humanity, both Christian and Pagan.
The poem Beowulf is a renowned story that displays many different surroundings and religious beliefs. Some may believe the story of Beowulf portrays pagan beliefs or customs and others believe that the poem is more in agreement with Christian ethnicity. The author of Beowulf uses both Christian and pagan elements in the poem to define the heroic warrior, Beowulf, and the evil dragons. After reading Beowulf the author clearly shows how Beowulf is a man who is filled with Christian customs and is willing to die and defend the world against evil using the help of God.
The epic poem, Beowulf, a work of fiction, offers more insight into Ancient Anglo-Saxon English culture than the work of Bede, who wrote, A History of the English Church and People. The epic poem Beowulf gives an enhanced illustration and clearer understanding of the culture of the Ancient Anglo-Saxon’s. The epic poem gives the audience a picture of what the Ancient Anglo-Saxon English valued; seafaring, warriors, heroes, and paganism.
For years, religion has played a role in the lives of many, after all, there are hundreds of religions being practiced around the world. From the celebrations of special birthdays by the Jewish or Hispanic cultures or the celebration of holidays by Christians and many other religions. There is a great amount of differences when it comes to religion, whether it be beliefs or religious traditions, but contemporary society has become more aware the impact that religion can have on numerous different things. Additionally, religion has been a vast role when it comes to literature. In countless stories, readers will find the topic of religion being influential aspect. For example, in Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales there were influences from the
One of the first literary work studied by our class was “Beowulf,” the longest and greatest surviving Anglo-Saxon poem. The poem is packed full of Christian and Pagan elements that are constantly fighting for the dominant position. In order to understand these thematic elements portrayed throughout “Beowulf,” we must first discover
Beowulf was written in the time when the society was in the process of converting from Paganism to Christianity. In this epic poem, these two religions come through the actions of its characters. The acceptance of feuds and the courage of war are just a few examples of the Pagan tradition, while the Christian mortalities refrain from the two.
In Beowulf, there are many different allusions and examples of the Christian Anglo-Saxon culture in addition to their society. The author alludes to the characters comparison to Christianity, the idea of wyrd, and important biblical events in history. The author uses many biblical references to support the ideology that the Anglo-Saxons were of the Christian decent.
For centuries, children stories have been a valuable tool in teaching lessons and morals. Like most stories that one was read as a child, there lies a life lesson that the author is trying to portray. Whether it was told orally like the story Beowulf or written by an author like Chaucer who wrote The Canterbury Tales, there are life lessons that are being taught through the characters and their challenges that they endure.
In history, evil men have reigned supreme across many cultures. Some people say that being evil is inherent in every human. If this is true, then writing may be the ultimate way of releasing hatred of the world without hurting anyone. In Beowulf, all of society's evil men can be personified within the demons of Cain. The main demon presented in Beowulf is Grendel. Grendel personifies the exact opposite of what the Anglo-Saxons held dear. Beowulf, the story's hero, is the embodiment of what every Anglo-Saxon strove to become in their lifetime. Grendel is constantly angry, afraid and unsure of himself; while Beowulf is fearless and loyal to his king.
Beowulf has been estimated to have been written over twelve hundred years ago. According to The Norton Anthology Of English Literature, “It is now widely believed that Beowulf is the work of a single poet who was a Christian and that his poem reflects a well-established Christian tradition,” (37). This conclusion was likely drawn by accounting for the time at which Beowulf was written and factoring in most people in the area of where it was believed to be written had already been converted to Christianity. In a way, this provides the best explanation for why Beowulf contains a high level of Christian influences for the story to have taken place when it did. Dr. J. Michael Stitt of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas says that, “Much of this epic poem is dedicated to conveying and exemplifying the heroic code which values such attributes as strength, courage and honor. Conflicting with this ideology are other factors such as Christianity, and these tensions affect the lives and decisions of the narrative's characters.” If the one of the main focuses in Beowulf is the heroic code and the heroic code convicts with the authors beliefs than why did he write it? This is not to say that authors do not write about things that they ...
The Canterbury Tales is a great contemplation of stories, that display humorous and ironic examples of medieval life, which imitate moral and ethical problems in history and even those presented today. Chaucer owed a great deal to the authors who produced these works before his time. Chaucer tweaked their materials, gave them new meanings and revealed unscathed truths, thus providing fresh ideas to his readers. Chaucer's main goal for these tales was to create settings in which people can relate, to portray lessons and the irony of human existence.