By Armani Wilson In the early days of human society, the Anglo-Saxons allowed their religious views to meander its way into and conquer their lives. Their religious perspective greatly impacted many of the plots, themes and tones of many stories, poems, etc. Religious ideals, elements and dynamics are demonstrated throughout the epic poem Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel.
The epic poem, Beowulf shows a tremendous presence of religious influence. For example, when the narrator says “…Conceived by a pair of those monsters born/ of Cain, murderous creatures banished/ By God,”(20-23), this is interpreted as God had taken it upon himself to protect the masses of the early Anglo-Saxon society, and it also demonstrates how the people gave this religious ideal to help explain their mythology among other things.
This also explains the influence of the religious dynamic because the unknown author of the epic poem gave the biblical reference to Cain, the first-born child of Adam and Eve that committed a terrible act in the eyes of the lord (murder), simply because his sacrifice to the lord was rejected in contrast to his brother Abel’s.
This caused a somewhat metamorphosis towards the influence of literature to represent anything with a negative connotation with having the potential to be evil, in this case the subject of the negative connotation is Grendel. Also, in Beowulf, there is the instance in which the narrator says “In Herot, when night hid him, he never/ Dared to touch the king Hrothgar’s glorious/ Throne, protected by God-God,” (82-84).
The Essay on Beowulf The Epic Hero
An epic hero is someone who has superhuman qualities, who embodies the values of his society, and who is larger than life. This is also a good description of Beowulf. During his epic journey he displays many superhuman qualities. There is also examples of how he embodies the values of his society. He also I larger than life. Beowulf shows his superhuman strength when he battles Grendel. As Grendel ...
Grendel doesn’t attack or negatively act upon Hrothgar directly because he fears that Hrothgar is protected by a god or gods.
The presence of religion here is that society has collected this thought that There are those people in society that have been chosen by a higher power to be destined to be protected and to have a life of prosperity, This perception modifies itself later on during the metamorphosis of the Anglo-Saxon views of religious protection upon mortals. The Anglo-Saxons, throughout the plot of Beowulf have the notion that over everything else that transpires in their mortal life, they must do whatever possible to appease the god or gods.
When the narrator says “…And wondering what the bravest of warriors could do. / And sometimes they sacrificed to the old stone gods,” (89-90).
This basically defines the ideal that every single person in the Anglo-Saxon society thought that they had this responsibility and burden to do as much as they could to appease the gods, even if it meant you had to end the life of another innocent soul to give them a clear conscience.
The evolution of religion through the eyes of an Anglo-Saxon Civilian can be simply shown and interpreted by many people in many different ways, Whether that their views of evil are publicized or their judgments on divine intervention of many divine beings or just a single one. From sacrificial procedures to the distress of angering a higher power, The Anglo-Saxon ideals are presented and greatly influence the composition of The epic poem, Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel.
