Beowulf and David (continued)

I thought I would expand on the comparison of the characters Beowulf, and the David of the Bible.  As I researched this idea of Beowulf and David being similar, I discovered many interesting things.  I think Beowulf may be largely based on the biblical story of David.  The biblical book of 1^st Samuel was written around 10^th century B.C. and the first printed copy of Beowulf was in 1815 (although it was passed down as oral tradition for many years before that).  I can’t help but wonder if Beowulf is somehow a spinoff of the biblical story of David.

I mentioned in my earlier post that David fought Goliath, and that was similar to Beowulf fighting the monsters.  But as I was thinking about this post I was reminded that David also killed a lion and a bear before he fought and killed Goliath.  Would these three victories from the story of David correspond to Beowulf’s three victories over Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon?

Both Beowulf and David also accomplished feats seemingly impossible to common man.  They both seemed to possess an almost supernatural force that they used to defeat the enemies of their people.  In fact David actually claimed that his power came from God when he said, talking to Goliath, “I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defiled.  This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand.” (1 Samuel 17:45-46)  This amazing amount of power that these two men possessed continues to show the similarities between these them.  Beowulf ripped Grendel’s arm off with his bare hands, and David “caught him [the lion] by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.” (1 Samuel 17:35)  I think with these incredible parallels it would not be far-fetched to say that Beowulf was based on, or at least influenced by, the story of David in the Bible.