Beowulf

            
             The Anglo-Saxon epic Beowulf is considered the most important piece of Old English literature. Written somewhat twelve hundred years ago, poet Geoffrey Chaucer uses Christian influences in Pagan characters to symbolize the elements of good and evil. Through the three battles fought between Beowulf and the representatives of evil, one is able to identify the biblical references made throughout the poem. Furthermore, one is able to recognize Beowulf as a messiah or Christ figure through his sacrificial endeavor.
             In Beowulf, the theme of Christianity is clearly evident throughout the poem's entirety. Many Chaucerian critics have spoken of the Christian allusions woven in the story including FR. Klaeber who wrote, .
             "The Christian elements are almost without exception so deeply engrained in the very fabric of the poem that they cannot be explained away as the work of a reviser or interpolator" (Klaeber 1). These engrained elements Klaeber speaks of are strongly found in the battles of Beowulf and the three antagonists of the poem, Grendel, his mother and the dragon, whereas each battle represents the struggle between good and evil.
             Early in the poem, Beowulf appears as if an agent of God to "calm the turmoil and terror" (282) caused by Grendel's evil among the Danes. Beowulf, who is referred to as the "prince of goodness" (676) is symbolic of all that is pure and innocent while Grendel is described by the poet as "a fiend out of hell [who] began to work his evil in the world" (100-101). Through the poet's description, one sees Grendel as an advocate of evil, a product of God's curse upon Cain. "Grendel was the name of this grim demon [ ] in misery among the banished monsters, Cain's clan, whom the Creator had outlawed and condemned as outcasts" (103-18). Klaeber describes Grendel as an "impersonation of evil and darkness, even an incarnation of the Christian devil" (Klaeber 1). Beowulf ultimately kills Grendel, the "captain of evil" (749).