eve that poison is part of the Christian religion, again emphasizing the paganism of the poem. Although all of these are important pagan symbols that lead us to believe that this poem is not Christian, probably the most significant pagan symbol is that of fate. The idea of fate ruled the lives of the pagans. Their belief was that you were born with a fate, and there was nothing that could change this destiny. This idea becomes apparent in Beowulf several times. As Beowulf is dying he refers to his leaving this earth as just part of his destiny when he says that "[m]y days have gone by as fate willed" (Norton 1604). The idea of fate is called on again when Beowulf asks Wiglaf to succeed him as king of the Geats. He tells Wiglaf that he would have given the honor to his son, if he had one, but fate did not allow it. We see a reference to fate a final time when Wiglaf speaks of Beowulf after his death. He offers that as much as Beowulf's people tried to convince him to leave well enough alone, to allow the monster to live on forever, there was no changing Beowulf's destiny. Beowulf's "[f]ate, and his will, [w]ere too strong" (Norton 1611). Fate is clearly a non-Christian idea, and its presence in the poem helps the case for Beowulf being a pagan story.A huge theme in Beowulf is the revenge ethic that all of the characters possess. During the time in which the story takes place, revenge is very common. If one king and his army kill a warrior from another kingdom, it is inevitable that the offended king will Wilder 3retaliate and the fighting will just go back and forth. The only way for this to end is if a man price is paid, and a truce called. This kind of conduct is definitely not Christian, so when we see examples of this behavior in Beowulf, we can infer that the story is non-Christian. Grendel's mother is a main character that seeks to revenge. The Beowulf poet tells us that "there's another one, a second hungry [f]ien...
