fyr on flode. // No þæs frod leofað

gumena bearna, // þæt þone grund wite;

ðeah þe hæðstapa // hundum geswenced,

heorot hornum trum, // holtwudu sece,

Throughout the story of Beowulf repeatedly acknowledges God as his protector. When Beowulf relates his battle with Grendel's mother. There is a sense of mystical power protecting all of Beowulf's actions. However, there is also a strong sense that God's protection must be earned. A warrior must first be true to his values, courage, honesty, and pride and only then will he earn God's protection. 

Cain is the biblical son of Adam of Eve, the first people on the earth. Cain was jealous of his brother Abel, so Cain killed him. When God discovered this, Cain was then cursed. The belief is that the descendants of Cain are monsters and ''ill-favored creatures.''

The waters rising refers to the biblical story of the flood. This occurs when the people on the earth were wicked. God decided to punish them by sending a flood to cover the entire Earth and only saves Noah and his family.

Beowulf was written in England in the late 1st millennium. During this period, Anglo-Saxons were Christians, but they hadn't been for very long. Prior to converting to Christianity, they had been pagans. This conversion from paganism to Christianity mixed a lot of the elements. Many Anglo-Saxons still held onto their pagan beliefs, but simply tried to mix these beliefs with Christianity.

Beowulf represents the good in the world, as he protects the helpless Danes against Grendel. Grendel represents the evil side of the battle. Grendel draws character traits from Cain, in the biblical story and traits from Satan. In their battle, the theme can be seen, as in Good vs. Evil battles, the good often is victorious.

The theme of devout loyalty can be seen in Beowulf. Beowulf’s followers constantly support him. In the instance of the battle with Grendel’s mother, Beowulf is presumed dead by the Danes when blood surfaces to the water.The Danes lose hope and leave, but Beowulf’s followers stay and remain hopeful for his return to the surface of the water.

Reputation proves to be a very present theme in Beowulf. In the story, Warriors constantly boast and brag about their achievements. In many cases, Beowulf’s motivation for going to battle a creature is to maintain his reputation. Beowulf also performs dangerous feats to maintain his reputation of being the strongest warrior, including battling Grendel without using weaponry.