Anglo-Saxon World View and Key Themes

What is World View? How a person/group of people feels about and interacts with the world, nature, and God Anglo-Saxon worldview- grim, negative- they lived harsh lives full of war and hard work Saw nature as the enemy; no concept of happy afterlife or loving God

WYRD Anglo-Saxon concept of FATE. They believed their lives were ruled by FATE (or wyrd).

LOF Because the Anglo-Saxons did not believe in an afterlife, they sought immortality through a concept called LOF (or FAME)

COMITATUS Again, because life was so harsh, they made life meaningful through relationships with one another and the king. Comitatus means COMPANIONSHIP- loyalty and love to your kinsmen, friends, and king

What made life worth living? LOF (FAME)- for the afterlife COMITATUS (COMPANIONSHIP)- for now MEAD HALL- the king lived in a great hall called the mead hall where warriors would gather and tell stories and drink mead

SCOPS Pronounced SHOPES Storytellers and poets Entertainers

Conversion St. Augustine and St. Patrick are two famous missionaries who brought Christianity to Great Britain. Christianity offered a happy afterlife, a loving God, and ideas like forgiveness and hope that their religion had not. Celtic Cross= Pagan Celtic Sundial+Christian Cross

Make a chart listing the differences in Pagan and Christian Values

Pagan vs. Christian Monsters and supernatural beings Lof (Fame) Warrior- Physical Strength Courage Pride (Heroic Boasts) Revenge (Weregild) Riches/Gold Loyalty Signs, Superstition, Wyrd (fate) Valhalla Sacrifice “The Almighty” Love Compassion Humility- “the meek shall inherit the earth” Forgiveness “love your enemies” Riches are in heaven, not on earth Sacrifice Heaven

Characteristics of Writing Kenning- a metaphorical two word compound Example: “whale-road”= the ocean “soul-house”= the body Video example of kennings: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYErtw_T0Ts Epithet- replacing a character’s name with a descriptive phrase Example: Grendel=“The Shadow of Death” Caesura- a pause in the middle of a line indicated by a comma, semi-colon, or period Alliteration- repetition of initial consonant sounds

Reasons for these Characteristics Euphony= pleasing to the ear; it sounds good!! Memory= rhythm and repetition help it make things easier to remember- the scops had to tell all of their stories from memory so caesura and alliteration helped

Epics: The Basics Definition: a long narrative poem that recounts the deeds of a hero and/or the story of a nation THEME: Good vs. Evil SETTING: Vast- over many years and different landscapes HEROIC BOAST- when the hero brags to achieve fame and gain “Lof” TONE: formal and serious