Christianity Gioia
An important point in the evolution of history and the development of English culture and its
manuscript is the conversion of the tribes to Christianity. The tribes that migrated to Britain were
all pagan, outnumbered by the native Britons. In fact, with the arrival of the Germans, the island
plunged back into paganism. The Britons had been conquered by Rome, Latinized and
Christianized, but all this heritage was dispersed, because a part of the Britons gladly accepted
the arrival of the Germans and mingled with them, while another part fled and retired to the lands
of Wales and Cornwall, still others left the island and went to the mainland and there they
founded the region that is still called Brittany today. Christianity therefore had to be brought back
to the island and there was a need, for this, of a mission that took place in 597 AD, sent from
Rome. The conversion of the Anglo-Saxon peoples, however, was of double origin: in fact the
official one is due to the monk Augustine who arrived in 597 AD, but in reality it was not the only
conversion movement that reached England. We must remember the missionaries of Irish origin,
coming from the north and led by the monk Aidan, founder of the Iona monastery. We know that
Ireland converted with St. Patrick precisely by the monk Augustine.
The transcription of the manuscript is the work of two scribe monks, each of whom copied about
half of the poem. The author is anonymous and a cultured man practicing the art of poetry, he
spoke old English and was probably Christian.
Christian symbols in Beowulf Simone
The epic poem of Beowulf inspired dozens of generations of writers. The plot of it is, though,
similar to lots of the other sagas of different nations: it is a story about the hero, his childhood,
coming of age, his incredible feats and the pinnacle of his life – fighting and defeating the
monstrous Grendel.
We see the overall tone of the poem is predominately Pagan but there are lots of major plot turns
that accurately reflect the Christian beliefs about fighting the evil, because the author of Beowulf
was probably Christian and spoke old English.
The most prominent change is the image of Grendel. In the original version he was only an
average, though extremely big and strong, Scandinavian troll, a mythical being that was
considered just a natural creature living in the real world. The rewriters of the story filled his
character with the deep Christian symbolism, turning him into the Devil.
They blatantly state that he is born from Cain’s legacy, bounding Grendel to the Biblical story,
and promptly adding that Cain’s descendants are all the ugly and distorted beings that are not
humans.
Grendel's cave is another example of Christian allegory: before it was just a metaphor of the
Scandinavian underworld and generally a scary place. Now Grendel’s cave is turned into
allegorical Hell with all its horrifying attributes. Moreover, the epithets that are used for Grendel
are clearly used for Devil: such as “The enemy of mankind”, “God’s adversary” and “Hell’s slave”.
Federica The final foe for Beowulf is a wyrm (a dragon). Despite wyrms being also common, but
extremely tough enemies in Norse mythology, this one is specially remade to fit the Christian
beliefs. What does the dragon symbolize in Christianity? The Devil himself. The dragon is even
made more snake-like to resemble the Biblical story about the snake seducing Eve into tasting
the forbidden fruit.
No wonder that the battle of Beowulf and the dragon becomes one of the most prominent
examples of Christian allegory: Beowulf is battling the Devil and even though he can’t defeat him
(because only God can), he stands against the greatest evil bravely. So, even though he dies
soon thereafter, he dies as a virtuous man loved by God and can be remembered and praised.
