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Good And Evil In Beowulf

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Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon story about a hero who encounters many monsters. Given that the story originated from the Anglo-Saxons, there are morals and values pertaining to Anglo-Saxon history. The early Anglo-Saxons were infantile in knowledge and faith when it came to their Christian beliefs. After the Romans invaded England, the later Anglo-Saxons became more knowledgeable about Christianity. Because of Roman influence, the recorded version of Beowulf, which readers now see today, has more biblical imagery than its original, pagan, oral version. These biblical imageries help distinguish characters and settings, to good or evil. The concepts of good and evil are presented through imagery. The imagery provided reveal the Anglo-Saxons’ beliefs and morals.
The concepts of good and evil can be seen within Beowulf’s imageries. There is a way to distinguish the characters of Beowulf into the categories, good and evil. Imagery can help readers determine which characters and concepts are good and which are evil. In the scene when Beowulf gets into a quarrel with Grendel, the readers can find that Beowulf has something that Grendel does not. That is honor. The word, honor, when it is directed towards a person, means that the person’s “worth brings respect or fame” (Merriam-Webster). Grendel, unlike Beowulf, brings the opposite of honor. He results with humiliation and …show more content…

The author of Beowulf describes the setting by using visual imagery. The reader can distinguish whether the imagery pertains to good or evil, by recognizing certain visual cues which relate to biblical concepts. The battle with Grendel takes place in a heavenly place called Herot. Herot is described as a “gold shining hall” which was “built to withstand blows” (Raffel 11, 14). Although Christianity was new for the Anglo-Saxons, their history explains what Herot might actually

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