Beowulf:

The Beginning
of
English Literature
Norse Mythology
and the
English Epic
Mythological Background
1. In the world of Norse mythology, Asgard, the home of the gods, is a
grave and solemn place, over which hangs the threat of an
inevitable doom. The gods know that a day will come when they will
be destroyed.

2. It is out of this background of influence that the first English epic

emerges – the epic Beowulf
 Norse Beliefs
1. In Norse mythology, a brave death entitles them – at least the
heroes – to a seat in Valhalla, one of the halls in Asgard, but there
too they must look forward to final defeat and destruction.

2. In the last battle between good and evil they will fight on the side of
the gods and die with them.
 The Epic Warrior
1. Like the early Christians, the Norsemen measured their life by heroic
standards. The Christian, however, looked forward to a heaven of
eternal joy. The Norseman did not.

2. The poets of Norse mythology saw that victory was possible in death
and that courage was never defeated.

3. The only sustaining support possible for the human spirit, the one pure
unsullied good men can hope to attain, is heroism; and heroism
depends on lost causes. The hero can prove what he is only by dying.

4. The power of good is shown not by triumphantly conquering evil, but by

continuing to resist evil while facing certain defeat.
The Beowulf Connection
1. It is out of this Norse mythic and philosophical tradition that
the first “truly” English epic is born.

2. Beowulf, the heroic figure, embodies the essence of the Norse

warrior – the maintaining of the “code of society”:

- Revenge the deaths of kinsmen

- Defend members of the community

- Stand fast by those to whom they have sworn loyalty



3. Warriors like Beowulf “celebrated loyalty and deeds of great

strength and courage” (31).
 Beowulf’s History
1. Beowulf is the most famous work of early “English” literature,
even though it is Germanic in its form and content, set in the
mainland of Europe in the countries of modern Denmark and
Sweden.

2. The only surviving versions of the epic date back to the 8th
and 10th centuries A.D. – after Christianity has arrived in
Britain via Pope Gregory’s Christianization of the pagan
outposts of the Roman Empire.
Beowulf’s Philosophy
1. The combination of Christian and pagan elements in
considered a vivid reflection of Beowulf’s position in English
culture.

2. This “mix” of Christian/pagan elements – the words wyrd

(fate) and God used interchangeably – is evidence that
Christian conversion of the Anglo-Saxons was hardly
complete. Paganism and Christianity continued to alternately
clash and merge, much as African tribal beliefs interacted
with Catholicism to produce Voodoo in Haiti.