Skip to main content

A Conviction and A Contradiction// Haylee Lynd

     


    Beowulf, like many stories, makes numerous Biblical references. It may sound dumb but I do geek out a little bit over the fact that Grendel is a descendant of Cain and is not just this random banished ugly creature but is banished as punishment for Cain's killing of Abel. 

    One of my favorite references and quotes is "...The Almighty Judge / of good deeds and bad, the Lord God, / Head of the Heavens and 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...(Beowulf 15). The Danes aimlessly sacrificed, built shrines, and prayed to pagan gods. Because they did not know the real God, they had no real source of hope. I think it is important reminder of why it is so important that we as believers share the good news of Christ. We are so blessed with the knowledge and understanding of Christ's death on the cross. We are selfish not to share that knowledge and understanding I once heard someone say that you must truly have to hate someone to not share the gospel with them and send them to Hell. This quote in Beowulf reminded me of that. It convicted me...not what I expected from an old epic poem.

    On a different note, I continued reading the book and got a little confused. The book seems to contradict itself unless only the rich and powerful Danes knew the God.  Later, it says that the noble warrior who led Beowulf and his crew to the King Hrothgar says, "May the Almighty Father keep you and in His kindness watch over your exploits..." (Beowulf 23). In addition, Hrothgar references the "Holy God"(Beowulf 27). Are they just hoping there is one true and good god or are they confident in their knowledge of the Almighty Father? If they are, why do the common people not know of God? Why do they worship pagan idols? Anybody else notice this strange contradiction?


P.S. I commented on Caroline's and Abigayle's posts.

Comments

  1. Caroline TuckerFebruary 15, 2021 at 10:17 PM

    I was confused as well! I remember reading that they did not know God but then later they referenced God. Upon thinking about it, I can think of many possible reasons why it says they did not know Him and then mention God. The first is that it might be similar to the alter to the Unknown God that Paul encounters in Acts 17. The second is that they all knew of God but did not KNOW God. I could be completely wrong and not even close in my guesses but I find it very interesting.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emma Kate PattersonFebruary 15, 2021 at 11:59 PM

    I love that you related the quote from the book to our call as Christians to spread the Word of God. I completely agree that it would be selfish of us not to spread the Word of God. As Christians we are called to share the Gospel.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Abigale BellFebruary 16, 2021 at 11:20 AM

    Hi Haylee! Great post! I think it is interesting that numerous references are made to God. In a world where people worshiped so many other gods, it's amazing that they seem to refer to one as higher than the rest. Maybe this speaks to their humanity; an idea that there is one higher power? This reminds me of references to God in Plato's writings. There are times when he refers to God, but other times when he refers to the gods of his culture. I am perplexed by the contradictions.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousFebruary 16, 2021 at 12:51 PM

    Great post. Although I do need to disagree with you when you said, "send them to Hell." I do not believe we, as humans, have the power to send someone to Hell if we do not encourage them about the Gospel. Other than that, I loved your post and also got very excited when Biblical references were pointed out.

    Madalyn Dillard~

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Word Painting in Vesta—Lily Caswell

  Word painting in Weelkes’s As Vesta Was from Latmos Hill Descending is quite interesting. And because that is a really long title, I’m calling it Vesta from now on. Word painting is basically when the melody matches up with the lyrics. So in Vesta, when it says “ascending” and “descending”, there are obviously scales going up and down. The madrigal was written for six voices to sing unaccompanied, so when they start to come together, it matches with the lyrics; so if the lyric says “two by two”, there are only two voices; “three by three” there is another voice added, and so forth. All the parts combine in exclamation before Vesta before it is left “all alone” to the highest soprano. All the way to the end of the piece, word painting continues when shouts of “Long live fair Oriana” with the bass sustaining long notes. Word painting in and of itself is a highly interesting topic because a musician takes the words of a poem or a sonnet and writes a melody line that pertains to cer...
4 comments
Read more

Honor and Gain; Which Do You Seek?

 Pericles.... thanks? I can only imagine that's what the family and friends were thinking after they heard his historic funeral speech honoring the departed. What do I mean? Well, Pericles briefly mentions the men who have fallen at the beginning of his speech, but then goes on to discuss how great Athens is, and how the contributions the city has made to the world are unmatched.. why? I understand that he is also commending the citizens of Athens and empowering them to continue to make their city greater, but I thought this was supposed to be a funeral speech about dead war heroes, not about Athens. Another thing I found interesting is what Pericles said on page five about honor: "For it is only the love of honour that never grows old; and honour it is, not gain, as some would have it, that rejoices the heart of age and helplessness" (Thucydides, page 5). Have you ever watched a show or movie, or read a book, about a duel between two men? There is always an unspoken agre...
Post a Comment
Read more

Aristotle Might Not Like Me...Or Jesus//Haylee Lynd

      Aristotle says that the man who does not get angry at the things he should be angry at "is thought unlikely to defend himself; and to endure being insulted and put up with insult to one's friends is slavish" (Aristotle 41). While he states that passivity is preferred to excessive anger, he still gives great criticism to it.  In contrast to Aristotle, the man who Christians believe to be the most just is Jesus who states in Matthew 5:39-40, "...do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well." Essentially, arguing that one is not to respond in anger when insulted or hurt, to not defend one's self. Most individual's are unable to achieve this. Our natural instinct is to defend ourselves, especially in physical cases. However, Christians strive to be like Jesus in this way. I would also argue that it is a very admirable wa...
2 comments
Read more