Becca Lang

Mrs. Bradley
AP English 12
October 17 2016
How to Read Beowulf Like a Professor
Action. Adventure. Thinly veiled sex scenes. Beowulf, the famous tale of an epic
hero, contains all these things and much more. But how does Beowulf compare to other
literature? From Christ figures to sexual subtext, Beowulf is full of classic literary
devices and techniques.
Throughout the story, our hero Beowulf is often portrayed as a Jesus Christ
figure. Beowulf is an honorable leader as well as a fierce warrior, and claims to be
fighting Grendel to not only help the Danes but to nobly pay off his fathers debt.
Beowulf is also able to defeat Grendel, who represents evil, and Grendels mother, who
represents temptation. By creating Christ-like traits for Beowulf, the author is using a
popular pattern that shows up in many other literary works such as in The Old Man and
the Sea. Many other biblical patterns show up in Beowulf as well. For example,
Grendels mother is a descendent of Cain, one of Gods creatures, which would explain
why she is evil. Beowulf later discovers that Grendel and his mother cannot be killed
with weapons because they are Gods creatures, a theme that is shown in biblical
passages. The author of Beowulf pulls several themes and stories from the Bible, such
as the story of Cain, creating a story with many Christian themes and values.
While Christian values play a large role in the epic, the story also contains many
aspects of the warrior code. When Beowulf decides to fight the dragon, he does not
make this decision because he is still the strongest soldier and has a great chance at
defeating it. He does this because according to the warrior code, dying a peaceful death
is dishonorable and one will not be able to go to heaven unless they die in battle.

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Beowulf leads the battle with the dragon so that he can die while fighting in order to
follow not only his, but his societys moral code. Also, Beowulf practically begs Hrothgar
to fight Grendel so that he can pay off his fathers debt. This shows that patriarchal lines
and repaying family debt was an important part of their moral code. This isnt so much
of a political commentary as it is a societal observation about the values shared during
this time. The warrior code was deeply embedded throughout Anglo-Saxon culture,
showing up in their literature and their religion. The code then becomes a motif in the
story, describing the characters and giving a historical background.
Although we all enjoy a good fight scene, the battle between Beowulf and
Grendels mother was a little more intimate than some aggressive wrestling. Beowulf
begins the battle by entering Grendels mothers underwater cave. Grendels mother
then pins Beowulf down and naws at his helmet. The rest of the scene is described in
more of sexual way, creating the image of a sex scene. By doing this, the author gets
the point across that this battle is about overcoming temptation, which is another
Christian theme that is represented in this story. Grendels mother is an attractive
seductress that represents said temptation. Beowulf, our already established Christ
figure, has to stray away from temptation in order to defeat Grendels mother, and
succeeds in doing so. This method tacitly creates a sexual situation during a time
where people were generally sexually oppressed while bringing in larger themes such
as evil and seduction.
Beowulf is a story that describes Anglo-Saxon culture between 500 CE and 1000
CE. So does that mean that this story is not applicable to todays world? Beowulf
contains traditional Christian and warrior values, and many of our modern American

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morals share similar beliefs. We still believe that family origins are important, as well as
that good will always overcome temptation and evil. Modern day novels such as Harry
Potter reflect this. Because Beowulf includes such broad themes, it can be studied
hundreds of years after it was written, while still being relevant and worth the read.
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