Theme Of Fate In Beowulf

In the poem, Beowulf, the theme of fate and God appears continually throughout the book. These two aspects represent both paganism and spirituality and played large roles in Beowulf’s life. They controlled the course of his life, his actions, and his death. Fate is in control of everything, but God is also in control. In Anglo-Saxon culture, wryd, or fate, controls the circumstances of a person’s death, while God controls a person’s actions before death. The author successfully combines these two vastly different ideas. Although these concepts contradict each other sometimes, they compliment at other times.
Two perspectives, paganism and Christianity, coexist in the poem. This story was originally told during the Anglo-Saxon period, and the
The Anglo-Saxon's beliefs were pagan ("An Analysis of the Epic Poem, Beowulf - Fame, Kingship, Fate and God in Beowulf”). They did not believe in a higher being, god, and believed there was nothing after death. They believe that fate controls their destiny, not themselves. Heaney makes many references to an impersonal fate that control the men’s destinies. “Fate goes ever as fate must” (Heaney 455). Fate does whatever it pleases and goes however it wants. Anglo-Saxons believe that people are powerless against fate. If it is their fate to be devoured by monsters, then there is nothing they can do that will change that. No one can stop fate. It controls everything. Anglo-Saxons believe fate saves lives. When Beowulf recounts his swimming episode to Unferth and tells of his battles against sea monsters, he says, “Fate spares the man it has not already marked” (572-573). He does not give credit to God and say that God spares the man. In addition, Ongetho had been stabbed in the head and should have died right then. However, fate had other plans for him and let him recover and live on (2975-2977). In Beowulf, the scop described fate as a person or a thing. "Fate has swept our race away, taken warriors in their strength and led them to death that was waiting" (2184-2816). He spoke of fate as a noun and says that fate is responsible for death. Fate determines people's future as well as the circumstances of their deaths. The workings of fate are behind the onslaughts of Grendel. Fate is the bringer of misfortune and death, and its dictates are unrelated to the merit of those who are subject to them