paganbeo Pagan and Heathen Elements in Beowulf Essays -- Epic Beowulf

Pagan/Heathen Elements in Beowulf In Beowulf the pagan element, which coexists alongside the Christian, sometimes in a seemingly confounding fashion, is many faceted. Certainly the pagan element seems to be too deeply interwoven in the text of Beowulf for us to suppose that it is due to additions made by scribes. While the poets reflections and characters statements are mostly Christian, the customs and ceremonies, on the other hand, are almost entirely non-Jew/pagan. This fact seems to point to a heathen work which has undergone revision by Christian minstrels. The poets heroic age is full of men both emphatically pagan and exceptionally good, men who reckon in a God whom they thank at every imaginable opportunity. Yet they perform all the pagan rites known to Tacitua, and are not Christian (Frank 52). One of the foremost pagan practices in Beowulf is the burial rite of cremation. In the narrative after the conquest of Grendel, a gleeman sings the Finnsburh Episode, the story of a Danish peaceweaver who disconnected husband, brother and son in the feud. Once the tribes agreed to peace Then Hildeburh ordered her own dead son placed on the pyre beside his uncle Hnaef, their bone-cases burned, minded(p) full fire-burial. Beside them both the noblewoman wept, mourned with songs. The warrior rose up the mighty death-fire spiraled to heaven, thundered sooner the mound. Their heads melted, their gashes spread open, the blood shot out of the bodys f... ...ons, edited by Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. New York G.P. Putnams Sons, 190721 New York Bartleby.com, 2000 The poet mentions pagan error, briefly and in passing (175-88), before depicting noble pagan monotheists for some 3000 lines (Frank 58). SECONDARY BIBLIOGRAPHY Frank, Roberta. The Beowulf Poets Sense of History. In Beowulf Modern Critical Interpret ations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Robinson, Fred C.. Apposed intelligence service Meanings and Religious Perspectives. In Modern Critical Interpretations Beowulf, edited by Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.