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The Armor of Beowulf—Lily Caswell

In Section 2 of Beowulf, there’s a whole paragraph dedicated to detailing Beowulf’s armor. And to be completely honest, it reminded me of Ephesians 6 where it talks about Christians donning the armor of God. Ephesians 6:12 says that “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of the dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (NIV) Beowulf put on a glittering helmet that was of beaten gold and “adorned with boar-shapes; since then it had resisted every sword.” (Beowulf, line 1453-1454) It then describes the sword with “its ill-boding patterns had been tempered in blood. It had never failed the hand of anyone who hefted it in battle, anyone who had fought and faced the worst in the gap of danger.” (lines 1460-1463) The helmet and sword really reminded me of Ephesians 6:17 which says “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” (NIV) I’m not sure how much of Beowulf is an analogy but if no other part than this is, I’m alright with that. Did anyone make this connection or was it just me?

I commented on Jamie’s and Kaitlyn’s blog posts.

Comments

  1. Addison ZandaFebruary 22, 2021 at 11:10 PM

    I like the analogy used describe the Armor of God to the armor of Beowulf. Beowulf had the armor to know that he had someone on his side to help fight his battles.

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  2. IsabelleFebruary 23, 2021 at 7:58 AM

    I like the connection! It's interesting that both instances describe the helmet and the sword in succession of one another. In my experience, the most emphasis is put on Beowulf's chain-mail armor protecting him against Grendel's mother. I like that you described the lesser emphasized pieces of his armor.

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