Beowulf Religion Quotes

The Almighty Judge
of good deeds and bad, the Lord God,
Head of the Heavens and High King of the World,
was unknown to them. Oh, cursed is he
who in time of trouble has to thrust his soul
in the fire’s embrace, forfeiting help;
he has nowhere to turn. But blessed is he
who after death can approach the Lord
and find friendship in the Father’s embrace.

– Beowulf, Seamus Heaney (trans.)

Lines 180-188: The poet feels sorry for the pagan ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons, as they didn’t have the chance to turn to a Christian God for comfort.

These were hard times, heart-breaking
the prince of the Shieldings; powerful counsellors,
the highest in the land, would lend advice,
plotting how best the bold defenders
might resist and beat off sudden attacks.
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.

– Beowulf, Seamus Heaney (trans.)

Lines 170-180: The poet admits, with some distaste, that the medieval Danes engage in pagan practices.

Grendel was the name of this grim demon
Haunting the marches, marauding round the heath
And the desolate fens; he had dwelt for a time
In misery among the banished monsters,
Cain’s clan, whom the creator had outlawed
And condemned as outcasts. For the killing of Abel
The Eternal Lord exacted a price:
Cain got no good from committing that murder
Because the Almighty made him anathema
And out of the curse of his exile there sprang
Ogres and elves and evil phantoms
And the giants too, who strove with God
Time and again until He gave them their reward.

– Beowulf, Seamus Heaney (trans.)

Lines 102-114: The demon Grendel, who represents the ultimate evil in medieval Scandanavian culture, is the descendant of Cain, the man who killed his brother.

Then down the brave man lay with his bolster
under his head and his whole company
of sea-rovers at rest beside him.
None of them expected he would ever see
his homeland again or get back
to his native place and the people who reared him.
They knew too well the way it was before,
how often the Danes had fallen prey
to death in the mead-hall. But the Lord was weaving
a victory on His war-loom for the Weather-Geats.
Through the strength of one they all prevailed;
they would crush their enemy and come through
in triumph and gladness. The truth is clear:
Almighty God rules over mankind
and always has.

– Beowulf, Seamus Heaney (trans.)

Lines 688-702: This passage shows that Beowulf is an epic hero, and suggests he is guided by fate or some higher being – God.

Hrothgar spoke; he examined the hilt,
that relic of old times. It was engraved all over
and showed how war first came into the world
and the flood destroyed the tribe of giants.
They suffered a terrible severance from the Lord;
the Almighty made the waters rise,
drowned them in the deluge for retribution.

– Beowulf, Seamus Heaney (trans.)

Lines 1687-1693: The engraved hilt of the sword that Beowulf used to kill Grendel’s mother. Depicted on the hilt is the story of the Christian God punishing evil forces in the world.
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