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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
The transition from Pagan to Christian beliefs
was not accomplished quickly nor was it always obvious. Major changes
in the social order such as that which accompanied Christianity were
seen in the social, political and economic realms as well as in the arts
before it was generally accepted. This 5 page paper argues that the
writing of Beowulf is one such example of how a newer social reality is
reflected in the cultural associations before it is widely accepted
within the social structure, hence both Christian and Pagan perspectives
may apply. Bibliography lists 11 sources.
Page Count:
5 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_KTchrbeo.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
and economic realms as well as in the arts before it was generally accepted. The writing of Beowulf is one such example of how a newer social reality is
reflected in the cultural associations before it is widely accepted within the social structure. "The ambiguity and vagueness of the Christian references in the poem merely contribute to the
general feeling that the poem is in some way Christian without any explicit mention of the tenets of the faith" (Cain 227). Frederick Klaeber, one of the foremost
experts on medieval writing and Beowulf in particular, proposed that the "general tone of the poem and its ethical viewpoint" are decidedly Christian (xlix). He bases his argument primarily
on the wording within the Olde English text and on the Christian actions of the characters. Larry Benson pointed out the fact that seeing the characters as both emphatically
pagan and exceptionally good seems self-contradictory, and is the weakest component of the poem, compelling many to credit the weakness of the text to either scribal tampering or to conclude
that the poet was in error (36). However, Chambers pointed out that if the Christian allusions were interpolated, "it was just as easy to rewrite them in a tone
emphatically Christian as in a tone mildly so" (125). John Niles has written that "Attempts to show a specific correlation between Beowulf and parts of Scripture tend to
break down in the face of the failure of the text to match its supposed source in other than commonplace ways. When Hrodgar praises Beowulf by saying that whoever
the woman was who bore him, the everlasting Lord was gracious to her in her child bearing (945-46a), the words have been thought to recall Luke 11:27, Blessed is the
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