Poem ‘Beowulf’ helps to understand the Christianization of Europe – 05/29/2023 – Darwin and God
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Some time ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing for this Sheet the new Brazilian translation of the Old English epic poem “Beowulf”, made by historian Elton Medeiros. Although he addressed several aspects of this monumental work in the first text, one of them deserves to be treated separately here on the blog: the way in which the poem’s narrative deals with the fusion of pagan and Christian elements.
The legendary characters that appear in “Beowulf” are part of the distant past of the Germanic peoples of northern Europe, when these groups were still polytheistic and were far from converting to Christianity. However, the (anonymous) author of the poem is clearly writing in Christian England, before the Norman invasion of the year 1066. And what is interesting here is how he deals with the tension between this polytheistic past and the new faith of the Germanic peoples: placing the figure of Cain, the murderous and cursed son of Adam and Eve, in relief.
In addition to the divine figures of Germanic paganism, better known among us (by Marvel’s work and grace, lately) with their names of Odin, Thor, Loki etc., the beliefs of the ancient peoples of northern Europe were full of other supernatural creatures, such as the elves (“ylfe”, in Old English) and the giants (“eotenas”). The author of the poem “Beowulf” does not throw these figures out, but attributes a biblical pedigree to them, stating that they were the descendants of Cain.
It is possible that the idea was suggested by the fact that there are also mentions of ancient giants in the text of the Hebrew Bible itself. In any case, the connection with Cain also appears in the case of the monster Grendel and his terrible underwater mother, both defeated in combat (spoilers forgiven) by the title hero of the poem, the young Beowulf. Although Beowulf and the other nobles of the past come from a pagan period, the author of the work portrays them as “natural monotheists”, worshiping God in a way similar to that of the biblical patriarchs.
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