Beowulf - Christianity vs. Paganism

Written in the 8th century when society was in the process of converting from Paganism to Christianity, the Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is believed to be the “lone survivor of a genre of Old English long epics” (Norton 29). Although the author of Beowulf is unknown, “it is now widely believed that Beowulf is the work of a single poet who was a Christian and that his poem reflects well-established Christian tradition” (Norton 29). Some scholars also believed that epic was originally written as pagan folklore but “it eventually was expanded to include Christian elements” (Smith par.3). In the final battle between Beowulf and the dragon, as well as throughout the entire epic, there are various parallels between pagan beliefs, “drawing on pagan epic tradition for kings, heroes, and monsters while drawing on new Christian beliefs to present these characters as noble, in possession of the natural knowledge of God, willing to battle his enemies on earth, and therefore capable of...