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Katherine Corrigan
Ms. Bradley
AP English 12
2 November 2016

Beowulf Analysis
Beowulf was told from person to person orally until a Christian poet first wrote it down.
Because of this, analyzing Beowulf based on How to Read Literature like a Professor shows that
Beowulfs characters and story grew out of prior stories, especially Christian ones. Beowulf is
also deeply religious and political, especially the character of Beowulf. The monks certainly
inserted Christian symbolism that impacted the central theme and ideas of the story.
Many of the characters from Beowulf reflect characters from other stories. Beowulf was first
written down by a Christian poet, so many characters reflect religious figures. Beowulf himself
was a sort of Christ figure, as he comes to better an unworthy world, current-day Scandinavia.
The Danes needed Beowulf because they had stopped following the warrior code, a set of rules
that stood for morality and acceptable behavior, much like the Jews had stopped following the
Ten Commandments during the Exodus from Egypt. Beowulf reflects the character of Moses in
that sense. He also later had twelve disciples, the warriors who accompanied him to defeat the
dragon, who were not equally devoted to Beowulf or his cause. Beowulf, like Jesus, was also
unmarried and possibly celibate. Grendel, the monster that Beowulf slays, represents a Devil
figure.
The symbolism of Grendel is deeply religious. Grendel sneaks into Herot while men are
asleep, representing the Devil through temptation creeping into religious convictions and beliefs,
destroying them from the inside. Both Grendel and his mother were descendants of Cain, a

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biblical figure and the first murderer, and had certain magical abilities because of this. The
swamp that Grendel and his mother lived in also symbolize Hell, as living things refuse to touch
the water and the surrounding area was dark and forbidding.
The story is also very political. Scandinavian tribes were constantly protecting themselves
from other tribes. The kings of these tribes were expected to protect their tribes from being
invaded and conquered. If a reader of Beowulf were to step away from the Christian frame of
mind, Grendel could represent the danger of other tribes and the punishment for not following
the warrior code. The king of the Danes failed to protect his tribe and the tribe failed to follow
the warrior code, so Grendel represents a divine retribution. In the society in which Beowulf was
first told, the warrior code was the ultimate set of moral and behavioral rules. The failure to
follow these rules, as demonstrated by the Danes and later the Geats, results in discord,
punishment, and weakness.
Beowulf is deeply religious and political, and its characters reflect both Anglo-Saxon ideals
and Christian beliefs. While many characters are inspired by biblical figures, their symbolism
reflects Anglo-Saxon ideals.