Religion In Beowulf Research Paper

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The roles of religion in the epic, Beowulf, are quite confusing. The Anglo-Saxons were already Christianized when this epic was written, yet some of the traditions are mixed in with Christian traditions. It is almost as if they were struggling with the transition of Anglo-Saxon to Christianity. As reading Beowulf, fate is the most important role of how things come to be. Everything is Gods doing and they believe if it was meant to happen, it will happen. Another thing they believe is that God gave Beowulf his super human strength, which is the reason why Beowulf is able to battle some of the most dangerous monsters out there. Although a lot of Beowulf’s actions tend to contradict the role of Christianity, he still believes that God is the true…show more content…
In the Anglo-Saxon culture, fate was known as wyrd. Wyrd is defined as, “The principle, power, or agency by which events are predetermined” (OED). The theme of fate is a big part in Beowulf, and it is conflicting in which it is part of the Anglo-Saxon culture as it is in Christianity. This theme is important because Beowulf believes if he is meant to live, he will live. And if he is meant to die, he will die. During his battle with the dragon, Beowulf before going into battle states, “What occurs on the wall between the two of us will turn out as fate, overseer of men, decides” (2525-2527). This means that Beowulf has no control over who wins, only God has control. If God wants Beowulf to die, that is how it is going to be. He knew he was about to meet his fate, as he knew the dragon was much mightier than he was. He takes on the dragon anyway, knowing that fate might be on his side again, allowing him to win. During the fight, as it is not going well, the narrator says, “That final day was the first time when Beowulf fought and fate denied him glory in battle” (2573-2575). God did not want Beowulf to win this fight, it was just his time to go; it was his time to
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