Beowulf - Its Roots in Christianity and Paganism

Beowulf was written in England sometime in the 8th century. This provides us with an idea that the poem that was written during a time when the society was in the process of converting from paganism to Christianity. When cultures are converting to a new lifestyle, such as Christianity, there are always people who resist the change. This causes the culture to never fully abandon their former faith. The Anglo-Saxons were no different. The Christian influences were combined with early folklore and heroic legends of German tribes. We now try to look at whether or not Christian and biblical influences were added later to originally pagan poem or not. The fact that Christianity and Paganism are so closely intertwined in the poem is the reason Beowulf has both Christian and pagan influences.…