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Fernando Mercado
Literatura Medieval

Beowulf

Christian or Pagan?

There are many points of contention among scholars on the nature of the Beowulf poem. I

personally see a story of pagan origin that has been christianized through the ages. Some

lines show pagan funerals in the first few verses:

Forth he fared that fated moment,

Sturdy Scyld to the shelter of God
Then they bore him over to oceanʼs billow,
Loving clansmen, as late he charged them,
While wielded swords the winsome Scyld,
The leader beloved who long had ruled.
In the roadstead rocked a ring dight vessel,
ice-flecked, outbound, athelingʼs barge:
There laid they down their darling lord
On the breast of the boat, the breaker-of-rings,
By the mast the mighty one. Many a treasure
Fetched from far was freighted with him.

This is almost certainly a depiction of a longboat or other type of vessel funeral. These

funerals were done by the nordic peoples: Vikings, Finns, Norwegians, Danes, etc. Further

more the mention of God, could be a mere christianization for Njörd, god of the sea, or

maybe Tyr, or even Odin or Thor, and these would make more sense in context than

Yaweh, considering that funeral rites in Christianity involved burials, and not funeral pyres/

ship burials.