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Beowulf and Goliath // Abigale Bell

 


What is a Christian hero in Beowulf? First, we must ask the question: What is a Christian hero? To go even further than that: What is a hero?

When discussing the role of hero in literature, we can usually offer three criterion that universally describe the protagonist or hero. 

1. Defeat an evil antagonist.

2. Meet rare and/or challenging obstacles.

3. Accomplish an impossible deed. Save the day! (Especially heroic when other great men have tried and failed to accomplish said deed). 

I'm sure most of you have these notes from class so I'm not really saying anything new. Except for a few cases, these characteristics can be applied to any story. Beowulf is no different. We see the main character, Beowulf, defeat Grendel and his mother. In the last portion of the story we see Beowulf battle a fire breathing dragon. He fights the monsters with inhuman strength; surviving the bare knuckles fight with Grendel, the underwater struggle with the monster's mother, and the firestorm of the dragon. Although Beowulf sustains deadly wounds from the dragon, he lives to defeat it. 

What, then, are the characteristics of a Christian hero? The story of David and Goliath in 1 Samuel has a striking resemblance to Beowulf and gives us an image of the Christian hero. 

Goliath, a pagan Philistine, "...comes out each day to defy Israel" (1 Sam. 17:24). In Beowulf, Grendel comes out each night to defy Hrothgar. David wants to defend the honor of the Lord and volunteers to kill Goliath. Again, similar to this story, Beowulf and a band of soldiers go to Hrothgar's mead hall to challenge the monster that plagues the Danes by night. Beowulf and David both acknowledge God as the source of their strength. They both know the outcomes of the battle is in God's hands. David straps on a suit of armor and then realizes he can't fight in the armor (Funny enough, this reminded me of the scene in the first part of Beowulf when he chooses to fight Grendel without weapons). He picks up a few stones instead and, armed with a sling, he faces the mighty Goliath. David fulfills every aspect of hero; facing a rare and challenging obstacle; facing Goliath when other soldiers have tried and failed; eventually, saving the day. There are so many other cool similarities between Beowulf and David and Goliath, but, to make a long post a little shorter, I'll move on.

The difference between the literary hero and Christian hero is the motivation behind their acts. David's motivation was to bring glory to God. When he faces Goliath he says, "Today the LORD will conquer you...and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!" (17:46). Beowulf, too, gives glory to God. He says this when he has defeated the dragon and knows he is dying: "To the everlasting Lord of All, to the King of Glory, I give thanks that I behold this treasure here in front of me..." (Beowulf, 2794-2802). 

The meaning behind these words is questionable coming from the character himself who is speaking from a pagan culture. But the author of Beowulf, at least, has attempted to bring this Christian element into the story; into the hero. 


Commented on Emmett's and Emma Kate's posts. 

Comments

  1. abbieheddenMarch 1, 2021 at 6:34 PM

    Hi Abigale! I gotta say, loved your post. You provided a really good outline of what a hero looks like and you convinced me that Beowulf is a Christian hero! Good job!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Emma Kate PattersonMarch 1, 2021 at 8:19 PM

    I love that you pointed out the connections between David and Goliath and Beowulf. I found it interesting and cool that you pointed out the difference between a literary hero and Christian hero and I found it very interesting.

    ReplyDelete

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