Damien Mackey quoted Josh Skinner as saying:
The Biblical allusions found throughout Beowulf have made many see the poem as awork of Christian art. The sheer volume of connections tempt many to look past the overwhelmingly pagan setting of the poem and argue for a Christian reading of the work.
I don't know exactly what the author of the quote means by "pagan setting" ... indeed, the protagonists are non-Christians and partly idolaters, it is stated early on that "they knew not their maker" ... that's it.
It is not a Christian poem about Christians.
But still less is it a Pagan poem about Pagans.
It is in fact (as Tolkien remarked) a Christian poem about Pagans.
Beowulf may have similarities to King David (though he did not die in a foolhardy attack bungled in ways calculated to increase his own glory, and others had to pay while he died). But his men on a certain occasion had a similarity of situation and a dissimilarity of attitude to the disciples of Christ.
Beowulf is down for an hour under the "mere" = lake? and probably both he and Grendel's mother were breathing in an air pocket accessible only via under the water. The Danes find Beowulf's men there, and basically ask "don't you realise he must be dead by now?" and the reply was:
Geats know how to wait, when wan is hope.
Wan being an adjective like the participle waned. While the moon is going from full to new, it is referred to as waning, but wan is like when it is already invisible.
I am very certain that some young clerk or monk in the audience said to himself "these men shall be Christians" ... he waited for a sign. Yes, Sigmund (sic!) the dragonkiller was mentioned, and even more, Beowulf himself dies as a dragonkiller. You see, the clerk was named for a dragon killer. His name was Sigfrid.
St. Sigfrid of Wexio, pray for us!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigfrid_of_Sweden
Wexio is a bit further inland than the land of the Geats, that being the area around Gothenburg, North and South. And as we speak of Beowulf, and as he was of superhuman strength (possibly much higher percentage of Neanderthal than the usual 3 %), how come Damien Mackey didn't make the connexion to Samson?
Happy Advent Season from Paris!/HGL
Credits: Beowulf like King David and Jesus Christ
Damien Mackey
https://www.academia.edu/110856033/Beowulf_like_King_David_and_Jesus_Christ
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