Christian Elements In Beowulf

Beowulf is the stepping stone for the creation of many stories of good vs. evil, ending with the hero receiving unending praise and adoration. With that many of the people who read of the epic poem now relate to it on many levels, my belief is that the Christian elements throughout this poem make it more intriguing to the modern day peruser. The author of the poem is unknown but based on the style of wording used and the Paganistic elements it is believed to have originally been scribed by Christian monks. Beowulf is a 'story' that has been passed down for generations being used as entertainment by the Anglo-Saxons in 10th century England. The biblical jewels hidden throughout this story not only help a reader to relate to the author’s work
preserves its social stability and its cultural ideals.” (Goldsmith). The stories being passed down by speech would ensure that they wouldn’t be ruined, burned, or even lost, thus maintaining the values and traditions that they have always held. Margaret E. Goldsmith states, “But upon their conversion to Christianity, they did not discard their inherited poetry.” (Goldsmith). Meaning that although the ideals may change and the way of life is different they remained true to the traditions they had always had, “... traditional dictions serves both the old and the new ideals… it has to accommodate the paradoxes of Christianity…” (Goldsmith) Thus, even though the story of the astonishing hero may have been changed over the centuries, the feelings and emotions that backed the story were elevated after the Christian elements were added to the story making it all more
Likewise the protagonist fought three adversaries, Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon. In literature numerical references are, “... used to express divinity or godlike attributes...” (Hulya). The author uses the number three in this specific instance to give Beowulf these specific attributes. “ That shepherd of evil, guardian of crime,...”(Raffel). The phrase “guardian of crime” sounds as though he is a super hero, the type of person that people look up to and idolize. The fact that the protagonist fought in three separate battles makes his life seem almost