Beowulf Religion Quotes Page 2
Citations follow this format: (Line). We used Seamus Heaney's Beowulf: A New Verse Translation, published in 2000 by Farrar, Straus, and Giroux.
| Quote #4 These were hard times, heart-breaking |
The narrator of the poem admits, with some discomfort and distaste, that the 5th or 6th century Danes engage in pagan religious practices. It's one of the only times when we really notice the disconnect between the Christian Anglo-Saxons who are telling the story and the pagan characters in the story.
| Quote #5 The Almighty Judge |
The narrator admits that he feels sorry for the pagan ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons, who didn't have the opportunity to turn to a Christian God for help. There's some condescension in this admission, of course, but also a genuine sorrow.
| Quote #6 But the Lord was weaving |
In this image, the poet unites the Christian God with pagan imagery – the loom of fate, on which men's lives are woven. Weaving, spinning, and threads were common metaphors for life and fate in Scandinavian culture. By adopting these traditional pagan images, but using them in a Christian context, the poet tries to negotiate between the two religious perspectives.
