by Jazzmine Bankston

Created on: April 01, 2010

Beowulf’s Hidden Secrets

    Many of us have heard the famous story Beowulf, a story about a Geat warrior who ultimately defeats three antagonists: Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and a fire-breathing dragon.  It is an Old English epic poem that dates back to the earlier centuries of the Anglo-Saxons.  Despite the age of the poem, it happens to be one of the most important pieces of Old English literature and is still entertaining to us to this day.  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in the “North American Review” speaks of Beowulf as a “piece of ancient armor; rusty and battered, and yet strong” (224).  One of the most fascinating things about Beowulf is its unknown authorship.  In Burton Raffel’s “Study Guide for Beowulf,” he says that the anonymous author “supposedly lived in what is now England” (14).  Since Anglo-Saxons lacked the ability to read or write, the story was passed down in oral tradition.  The only people that had literacy skills were monks.

     Beowulf has been transcribed numerous times.  The first people that are believed to have transcribed Beowulf from its original manuscript are two monks.  During their process of transcribing, Christian references were added.  Despite the influence of Christianity that England had bore upon them, the Anglo-Saxons stayed pagan.  This tells us that Beowulf was originally supposed to reflect the views of their religion instead of Christianity.  “The most striking evidence...is the fact that the poem, clearly pagain in origin, has been mixed up with Christian myths and concepts throughout” (Gumaelius 139).  Christian symbolism revolves around almost every inch of Beowulf.

    There are similar characteristics between a few of the characters in Beowulf and the characters in the Bible.  Beowulf, the protagonist of the story, is introduced by Hrothgar, King of the Danes.  Near the beginning of Beowulf, translated by John McNamara, King Hrothgar states, “The holy God has sent [Beowulf] to help our people of the West-Danes, so we may have hope against the dread of Grendel” (McNamara 381-384).  Beowulf is the strongest of the Geat warriors and is called upon to help rid Hrothgar’s kingdom of the monster Grendel.  Hrothgar’s statement portrays Beowulf as a savior sent down by a “holy God”

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>