| Keywords [eng] |
Beowulf, Christianity, Arianism, Geats, Goths, Gothic Christianity, Beovulfas, Krikščionybė, Arijonizmas, Geatai, Gotai, Gotų krikščionybė |
| Abstract [eng] |
The epic poem Beowulf is an important writing in the Anglo-Saxon literature studies. In the poem, we read that some characters retell stories from the Bible, and utilize a language which implies that their religion is Christianity. However, there is a lack of a very important figure from Christianity: Jesus Christ. Beowulf, the protagonist, is a Geat who were a people linked to the Germanic Goths. Considering the Goths adopted the Christian doctrine of Arianism, which also places Jesus Christ in the background, when they migrated south, the paper proposes this hypothesis: As there is a consistency between Arianism and the depiction Christianity in Beowulf, and between the Arian Goths and the Geats, the Christianity depicted in the poem can be of the doctrine of Arianism. To find out the answer to this hypothesis, the paper creates markers of Arianism through the analysis of documents and writings on the doctrine, explains how the Goths came to accept Arianism, and points out the connections between the Goths and the Geats. Utilizing the markers of Arianism created, the paper analyses closely the passages to do with Christianity within the poem, and compares the findings to the markers. The analysis concludes that indeed, the depiction of Christianity aligns with the markers of Arianism. However, it also points out that because of a lack of documents regarding a more detailed application of Arianism in the lives of its believers, and a lack of documentation about the mysterious "Beowulf Poet", the paper cannot declare the Christianity depicted to be absolutely Arianism. Even without an absolute answer, the paper provides a positive conclusion to the hypothesis proposed and can play the steppingstone on other research in the area, such any future comparisons between other doctrines of Christianity and the poem's depiction of the faith. |
