Student Question
In Beowulf, what pagan practices are described and how do characters perceive their relationship with God?
Quick answer:
The author of Beowulf certainly implies that there is a relationship between the pagan practices and beliefs of the Anglo-Saxons and their lack of knowledge about Christianity. However, he seems to feel the need to apologise for this situation as he sees it as being one in which they have no real choice but to accept these pagan practices as they cannot cope with their problems any other way. In other words, it was not out of choice that they found themselves turning towards such activities, rather it was their only option open to them at this time in history.
In addition to the excellent answer above, the Anglo-Saxons practiced pagan revenge and believed in pagan concepts ofwergild (man-price) and the wyrd (fate, destiny). Also, the poem mentions that there is no afterlife.
These pagan concepts go against Christian doctrine ("love your enemies" and "turn the other cheek"), but the monks had to leave them in because they are so prevalent throughout the poem. These pagan concepts relate to the brevity of human life, the inability to control one's destiny, and the cyclical nature of revenge and violence.
Example of Wyrd are in lines:
To Hygelac send, if Hild should take me,
best of war-weeds, warding my breast,
armor excellent, heirloom of Hrethel
and work of Wayland. Fares Wyrd as she must."
AND for Wergild:
Heorogar was dead,
my elder brother, had breathed his last,
Healfdene's bairn: he was better than I!
Straightway the feud with fee I settled,
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I settled,
to the Wylfings sent, o'er watery ridges,
treasures olden: oaths he swore me.
(this "fee" is the money paid to settle the fued. It is the wergild, or man-price)
AND
For Revenge:
THE fall of his lord he was fain to requite
in after days; and to Eadgils he proved
friend to the friendless, and forces sent
over the sea to the son of Ohtere,
weapons and warriors: well repaid he
those care-paths cold when the king he slew.
For No Afterlife:
...all of us with souls, earth-dwellers/and children of men, must make our way/to a destination already ordained/where the body, after the banqueting/sleeps on its death bed
Beowulf was transcribed by Christian monks. The Anglo Saxon legends were passed down through oral tradition, not written down, so by the time the monks got around to transcribing these legends, they interspersed their own Christian values into the pagan poem. This is why the poem seems to combine these two opposing elements.
First of all, the culture of Beowulf values heroes, not a single deity, as in Christianity, so this is a pagan practice. Further, making vows of sacrifices at idol fanes, paying attention to omens and burning the dead are all practices that were frowned upon by the monks. The Anglo Saxon practice of decking out a corpse in all its finery, with rich "earthly treasures" is also contrary to Christianity and very similar to what the Egyptians did with their mummies.
Beowulf, on the other hand, acknowledges God throughout the poem. He thanks God for guiding and protecting him, and states that in his battle with Grendel, he would have been destroyed if God had not guided him. Elsewhere in the poem, he also acknowledges that all earthly blessings come from God. Other characters in the poem also acknowledge that power comes from God - Hrothgar in particular when he talks with Beowulf about selfish kings who do not give thanks to God for their blessings.
Read about the poem right here on eNotes. You can also read the text online.
There is a very clear reference to pagan beliefs and activity that comes in the author's description of the heathen Anglo-Saxons as they encounter difficult times from which they struggle to see any escape. Note the following reference:
Sometimes at pagan shrines they vowed
offerings to idols, swore oaths
that the killer of souls might come to their aid
and save the people. That was their way,
their heathenish hope; deep in their hearts
they remembered hell.
The author thus describes how they used "pagan shrines" and worshipped idols and swore oaths to "the killer of souls," who can be assumed to be Satan. It is interesting that the author seems to feel the need to apologise for this activity and behaviour. He goes on to explain it away in terms of being the way that these people coped with situations of difficulty, as they only had "heathenish hope" to cling on to because of their lack of knowledge about Christianity. Pagan activity in this text therefore seems to centre on idol worship and the use of pagan shrines. This of course does raise the interesting relationship between the Christian context of the author and the pagain background of the Anglo-Saxons, which does seem to create some conflict in this case.