The heroic tale of Beowulf, a Geatish warrior, who travels to Denmark with the intention of aiding the land in ridding itself of the demons Grendel and its mother, portrays multiple traces of religious beliefs harbored by the characters. From the presence of the mentioned demons to that of the Anglo-Saxons’ belief in personal destiny and fate, a religious theme is evident throughout the work. To that end, Tietjen’s views in the writing of God, Fate, and the Hero of Beowulf stems from the notion of the original work being a “pagan poem” that later had “Christian elements” added to it by a different author (159).
Foremost, as Tietjen reckons, the men in Beowulf appear to be subject to the ideals of both the Christian religion and those of pagan worship; hence, the two concepts co-exist in the poem as the characters conform to the nature of each. Now, on one hand, the depiction of God as the divine omnipotent ruler is evident in the work, with a particular interest in the poet’s portrayal of Beowulf as a God-chosen warrior (II. 665-668). Evidently, God has control over future events as by choosing the protagonist the divine being ensures Beowulf would face the demon Grendel and later, the dragon. However, according to Tietjen, the functions of fate in the text show destiny as a concept that is devoid of God’s control; after all, God “cannot change decrees of fate” (163). Consequently, the plot of Beowulf defies Christian ideologies that understand God as the omnipotent ruler of all. On the other hand, Tietjen focuses on the poet’s introduction of the “wyrd”, otherwise known as the belief of one having the mark of fate. Apparently, fate is a greater power that determines men’s destinies, and the path set for each person is indefinite: “the mysterious, preordained, and irreversible” course of an individual’s life (Tietjen, 162). Hence, in accordance with the poet’s writing, the “wyrd” in Beowulf holds a greater power that even God, as mentioned before, cannot refute.
With the given facts in mind, pagan worship dominates most, if not all of the important events in Beowulf. For example, the protagonist lives the warrior life that God chose for him, but he ultimately dies in accordance with fate promptly leading Tietjen to term Beowulf’s victory over the dragon as “the will of God” and his death “a dictate of the wyrd” (166). Thus, it is possible that Beowulf was predominantly a pagan poem.
Works Cited
"Beowulf." The Norton Anthology of Western Literature. Ed. Sarah Lawall, Lee Patterson, Patricia Meyer Spacks, William G. Thalmann and Heather James. Trans. Seamus Heaney. 8th. Vol. I. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2014. 1180-1247. Print.
Tietjen, Mary C. Wilson. "God, Fate, and the Hero of "Beowulf"." The Journal of English and Germanic Philology 74.2 (1975): 159-171. JSTOR. Web. <http://www.jstor.org>.
