Beowulf, Ireland and the Natural Good

Abstract

While the older theory that in Beowulf we have the work of a pagan poet edited and patched with scraps of Christian doctrine by later hands has been generally abandoned, there is still considerable difference of opinion on the I problem of Christianity's place in the poem. The question at issue is no longer whether the poet was a Christian but rather what his Christianity was like and to what extent it affected his handling of Germanic material. Here, the influence of the older theory is still felt. The poet, indeed, was a Christian, but pagan in spirit; or his Christianity was genuine and strong, but not strong enough to cope with the pagan character of his material. The older dualism of pagan author and Christian redactor has been turned into a struggle within the poet. The poem in the last analysis is still felt to lack complete integrity of tone.

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