Contradictory Christian elements in BeowulfIn Beowulf the Christian element, which coexists alongside the pagan or pagan one, sometimes in an apparently contradictory way, has many facets. Certainly the Christian element seems to be too deeply intertwined in the text to suppose that it was due to additions made by the scribes when the poem was ready to be written. The Christian element must have been inserted by the original poet or by the minstrels who recited it in later times. The extent to which the Christian element is present varies in different parts of the poem. In the last part (2200–3183) the number of lines affected amounts to less than 4%, while in the section dealing with Beowulf's return (1904–2199) it is negligible. In the previous portions, however, the percentage rises to around ten percent (Ward v1,cap3,s3,n16). The Christian element is more or less equally distributed between the speeches and the narrative. While the poet's reflections and the characters' statements are mostly Christian, the customs and ceremonies, on the other hand, are almost entirely pagan/pagan. This fact seems to indicate a pagan work that was subjected to revision by Christian minstrels. In the case of cremation mentioned in reference to Hildeburh's family in The Finnsburh Episode and in relation to Beowulf at the end of the poem, which is the prevalent form of funeral rite found in the poem, this practice had probably fallen out of use by the time the poem was beginning to be Christianized, so such passages could not arouse repugnance among Christian listeners in the audience. Beowulf's Christianity is of an undefined and non-doctrinal type. The minstrels......middle of paper......dictorial fashion; It is a multi-faceted topic to study. BIBLIOGRAPHY Alessandro, Michele, translator. Early English Poems. New York: Penguin Books, 1991. Bloom, Harold. "Introduction." In Modern Critical Interpretations: Beowulf, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.Chickering, Howell D.. Beowulf A bilingual edition. New York: Anchor Books, 1977. Frank, Roberta. "The Poet Beowulf's Sense of History." In Beowulf – Modern Critical Interpretations, edited by Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. The Holy Bible, edited by Dom Bernard Orchard. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1966.Ward & Trent, et al. The Cambridge history of English and American literature. New York: Sons of G. P. Putnam, 1907–21; New York: Bartleby.com, 2000