I need help writing an essay for the following assignment: The pagan Germans, Greeks, and other ancient peoples believed that fame and glory...

Here, you may want to distinguish between the ancient Greek notion of reputation (kleos) which is the only thing that survives after the death of a person, other than a pale and miserable shade in Hades, and the more complex model of Beowulf, which blends pagan and Christian themes. At times Beowulfdoes invoke a Christian notion of Heaven and Hell, but at other points, the poem seems to reflect a notion...

Here, you may want to distinguish between the ancient Greek notion of reputation (kleos) which is the only thing that survives after the death of a person, other than a pale and miserable shade in Hades, and the more complex model of Beowulf, which blends pagan and Christian themes. At times Beowulf does invoke a Christian notion of Heaven and Hell, but at other points, the poem seems to reflect a notion of fame derived from the tradition of heroic epic. 

Perhaps one of the more striking literary ways the poem emphasizes fame is through its use of boasting. Both when introduced to new people and situations, the heroes boast about their deeds and ancestry and before fights boast about how they will overcome their opponents. The verbal contest between Unferth and Beowulf before Beowulf's fight with Grendel is an example of this sort of aggression in establishing and defending reputation. The boasting is not superfluous, as it functions as a form of reputation management, as important to the eventual goal of winning fame as the fights themselves. 

A second major example of the importance of fame occurs in lines 485-495 in which Beowulf is described as motivated to fight through pain by his desire for fame. His acts are described as of the sort that make men famous and he is thinking of fame in this part of his battle with Grendel's mother.