The modern reader might think it odd that the poem’s narrator interrupts his description of the glories of the hall to foreshadow (82–85) the hall’s eventual destruction by Hrothgar’s son-in-law, but such digressions are common in Beowulf. Throughout the epic are the reminders of the sometimes grim whims of fate and the mutability of human existence. The world of Beowulf is harsh, and joy is never permanent.
There is considerable scholarly discussion concerning the concept of Christianity in Beowulf. The epic makes no mention of Jesus, and references to one omnipotent God are more Old than New Testament. Harold Bloom (Bloom’s Reviews: Beowulf, 1999, p. 5) says that the epic is a Christian poem but “just barely.” Hrothgar and Beowulf sometimes refer to a single, all-powerful God; there are instances of symbolic rebirth in the epic. Grendel and his mother are described as descendants of Cain. The Beowulf poet may have been an educated Christian, and his audience in eighth-century England had been exposed to the religion. But the poem is more heroic than Christian. Sometimes it seems as if Christian terms have simply replaced heroic. For example, occasional mention of God’s determination regarding man’s fortune, throughout the poem, sounds very much like the Anglo-Saxon concept of fate (wyrd).
This heroic/Christian world is the context for Grendel who “grieved not at all / for his wicked deeds” (136–37) as well as the thanes who “were ignorant of God, / knew not how to worship our Protector above” (181–82). Grendel is too deeply engrossed in sin to consider repentance. He is beyond hope. The thanes are pagan and near despair themselves as Grendel decimates them. They offer sacrifices to heathen gods and speak old words designed to ward off evil. Some scholars argue that the warriors are Christian but “backsliding” to pagan ritual under stress. At any rate, nothing works. Hrothgar and his men abandon the glorious hall at night, and it becomes Grendel’s lair. Only the “gift-throne” (168), Hrothgar’s seat of power, cannot be touched by Grendel because it carries God’s blessing. Hrothgar has grown old and is helpless against Grendel. He needs “the strongest of all living men” (196) to rescue him.
