Beowulf presents an interesting and early portrayal of two religious traditions: the old pagan beliefs of the Scandinavians and the newer beliefs found in Christianity. The 700 A.D. Old English work tells the tale of the hero Beowulf and his encounter with three monsters. The work describes the first monster - Grendel - as being related to Cain of the Biblical story (Cain slew his brother Abel and was forced to live the life of a wanderer). Grendel is thus a wicked force of nature yet comes from Biblical source.
This type of blending of the older Pagan traditions with the newer religion is in an attempt by the anonymous author to justify Christianity still in its early stages in England.
Pagan Beliefs Ineffective
Beowulf visits the Danes in an effort to destroy Grendel - and the early Danes are described as having Pagan beliefs in the poem. These beliefs are seemingly not as helpful as they might be because despite the offerings given to various shrines and sites, trouble still roams over the land because of Grendel’s destruction:
“Sometimes at pagan shrines they vowed / offerings to idols, swore oaths that the killer of souls /
Might come to their aid / and save the people. That was their way, / their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts / they remembered hell. The Almighty Judge / of good deeds and bad, the Lord God, / Head of Heavens and High King of the World, / was unknown to them.”
Thus, for the Danes, there is no knowledge of the Christian deity; rather, there is only a tribute to “the killer of souls.” The lack of knowledge of God also brought along with it a strong sense of hell. The Heathen Grendel is described as going to hell after he is defeated by Beowulf.
The Christian Elements Pave the Path to Glory
The poem is punctuated with frequent reminders of the importance of the Christian deity. At several points come statements like: “The truth is clear: / Almighty God rules over mankind / and always has.” Also: “he who wields power / over time and tide, he is the true Lord.” The arguments are still being made as to which God (or gods) are the most successful and valuable to be worshipped.
Fate and Human Action Play a Role
According to the poem, there may be other factors which have a hand in the unfolding of events. When Beowulf is struggling to defeat Grendel’s mother, he wavers and then is victorious. The poem reads: “It was easy for the Lord, the Ruler of Heaven, to redress the balance / once Beowulf got back on his feet.” The line as translated from the Old English by Seamus Heaney seems to indicate that there was some room for difficulty on the lord’s part to intervene if Beowulf had not done his part.
Finally, there is a strong notion of fate that is coupled with the power of God. The word ‘wyrd’ - now the Modern English word weird - is translated as fate or event in the modern English version of the poem. After defeating the dragon, his last words to his comrade who helped him slay the dragon are:
“You are the last of us, the only one left / of the Waegmundings. Fate swept us away, / sent my whole brave high-born clan / to their final doom.” Wiglaf means “war survivor” and he and the other Geats see to the great funeral pyre that consumes his corpse and Beowulf’s final resting place, “a mound on a headland, high and imposing,” his barrow.
