Beowulf

Beowulf 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 text of Beowulf clearly shows that at some point in time Biblical allusions were added to it, and suggests that someone learned in Christianity helped shape the story. The initial depiction of Grendel beowulf, christian, think, poem, pagan, story, values, people, writer, religious, ideas, wealth, time, fame, beowulf’s, because, about, way, religion, important, culture, christianity, written, text, reader, question, probably, narrator, good, creator, characters, boasting, biblical, author, unferth, treasure, thought, themes, teaches, suggests, society, shows, read, pride, out, one, noble, meant, makes, make, interesting