An Ideal Pagan

In the Beowulf article we were given to respond to Martin Camargo is credited with classifing Beolwulf as " an exemplary pagan" and further states that Beowulf "falls as far short of the Christian ideal as Grendel falls short of Beowulf." This could not be any more true. The only reason Beowulf preforms his heroic deeds is so that his name will live on because it is the only thing that will live on after him. This belief directly contrasts one of the core values of Christianity, the belief in heaven and hell. If Beowulf believed he in this then he would have spent his time doing good works and being charitable not seeking vengenance and boasting, two other aspects of his character that make him fall short of the Christian ideal. Another core value of Christianity is that no one other than God has the power and right to judge and punish evil. This is based on the belief that no one is completely sinless except for God. From the begining of the poem Beowulf does the exact opposite of what this value says. He kills and therefore judges Grendel as vengence for Grendel's murders of men in the meadhall. An ideal Christian would not have taken revenge because they would have seen it as God's place to punish the wicked, not theirs. Beowulf defies the same value again when he kills Grendel's mother to avenge the men she murdered while avenging her son's death.
Beowulf's pride is another sin that an ideal Christian would have committed. He is constatly boasting of his past feats, like his fights with the whales before Grendel, to anyone who will listen. This pride is frowned upon in Christianity because pride leads to a feeling of complete self-sufficency, needing no one - not even God- to accomplish goals. Pride does lead to Beowulf's downfall at the end of the poem. He is reflecting on how he had and needed no help to defeat Grendel and his mother when he is about to fight the dragon. These thoughts lead him to think that he can defeat the dragon alone and when he realizes his prideful flaw it is too late, the dragon had already fatally wounded him and his troops were terrified, so he dies. It was a heroic death according to the pagan customs, his name would live on forever as the one who defeated a dragon alone, but as a Christian ideal this type of death is a failure.
Beowulf's prideful and vengeful tendancies led him to be just as, if not more evil and sinful as Grendel from a Christian perspective. After all, Grendel murdered for food, not to avenge. Grendel also never boasted about his kills, in fact he didn't even attack in daylight so no one saw his "great feats."