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

Pagan/Heathen Elements in Beowulf In Beowulf the infidel element, which coexists alongside the Christian, sometimes in a seemingly antonymous fashion, is many faceted. Certainly the hedonist element seems to be too profoundly interwoven in the text of Beowulf for us to suppose that it is due to additions make by scribes. While the poets reflections and characters statements are mostly Christian, the customs and ceremonies, on the other hand, are almost entirely heathen/pagan. This fact seems to consign to a heathen work which has undergone revision by Christian minstrels. The poets heroic age is exuberant of men both emphatically pagan and exceptionally good, men who believe in a God whom they thank at every imaginable opportunity. Yet they perform all the pagan rites kn consume 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 seduction of Grendel, a gleeman sings the Finnsburh Episode, the story of a Danish peaceweaver who lost husband, brother and parole 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, given full fire-burial. Beside them both the noblewoman wept, mourned with songs. The warrior rose up the mighty death-fire spiraled to heaven, thundered before the mound. Their heads melted, their gashes expand open, the blood shot out of the bodys f... ...ons, change by Harold Bloom. invigorated York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge History of English and American Literature. modernistic York G.P. Putnams Sons, 190721 New York Bartleby.com, 2000 The poet mentions pagan error, briefly and in dismission (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 Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Robinson, Fred C.. Apposed Word Meanings and Religious Perspectives. In Modern Critical Interpretations Beowulf, edited by Harold Bloom. New York Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.