Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxons

The Anglo-Saxon Period Stonehenge (c BC)

Anglo-Saxons The king's power. One of these customs was fighting everyone in sight. A king's power was not hereditary; it depended solely on his ability to win battles and so gain land, treasure, and slaves to give his supporters. He was obliged to fight and keep fighting. If not, he would find himself out of a job or deprived of his life, or both. Succession from father to son was never a forgone conclusion. Any relative of the old king who could muster enough support could make a bid for the throne. This helps to explain why the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms came and went so quickly. The power of any kingdom over its neighbors was only as solid as the strength of its king in battle.

You Think High School Cliques Are Bad! Society was divided into several social classes, which might vary from place to place. At the top was the king. He was essentially a war leader. He was expected to provide opportunities for plunder and glory for his followers. The king who did not provide land, slaves, or plunder might wake up dead one fine morning. Below the king there were two levels of freemen, the upper class thanes and the lower class ceorls (churls). The division between the two was strictly in terms of land owned. A man could only be a thane if he owned at least five hides of land (a hide was defined as the amount of land necessary to provide a living for one family). Below the thanes and ceorls were the slaves.

I’d Rather Be a Slave to Love… (or shoes!) How did one become a slave? You could have the bad luck to be born a slave, of course. Beyond that, war was the most frequent source of slaves. Many conquered Celtic Britons would have become slaves. People could also become slaves if they were unable to pay a fine. In some cases a family would sell a child into slavery in time of famine to ensure the child's survival. Slavery was not necessarily a lifetime sentence, however. A slave could be ransomed by his or her relatives or granted freedom in an owner's will. If a person became a slave because they were unable to pay a debt, they might be freed when the value of their labor reached the value of the original debt.

Got Slaves? Slavery was one of the biggest commercial enterprises during this period. Much depended on this involuntary labor, including building churches.

Life and Religion It is difficult to generalize about an era as lengthy as the Dark Ages, but we'll do it anyway. The Anglo-Saxons were pagans when they came to Britain. They worshipped gods of nature and held springs, wells, rocks, and trees in reverence. Religion was not a source of spiritual revelation, it was a means of ensuring success in material things. For example, you might pray to a particular goddess for a successful harvest, or for victory in battle. Religious observance consisted of invocations and charms to ensure the gods' help in securing a desired outcome in the material world, though the presence of grave goods indicates a belief in an afterlife.

The Coming of Christianity In 432, the whole of Celtic Ireland was converted by Patrick, a Romanized Briton. In 563, a group of Irish monks led by a soldier and abbot named Columba established a monastery on the island of Iona off the West coast of Scotland. Later, the Roman church began to send missionaries throughout Europe. In 597, Saint Augustine converted the King of England and establish a monastery at Canterbury. By 650, most of England was Christian in name, if not in fact.

Christianity and Literature The church brought education and written literature to England. Monks established churches, monasteries, and libraries. Monks recorded and duplicated illuminated manuscripts, at first only written in Latin. Oral literature was transcribed into written form. Monks preserved not only Latin and Greek classics but also popular literature (Beowulf).

This Dude Puts the “B” in Bravery Beowulf is both the first English literary masterpiece and one of the earliest European epics written in the vernacular, or native language, instead of literary Latin. The story survives in one fragile manuscript copied by two scribes near the end of the 10th or the first quarter of the 11th century. The Anglo-Saxon word-element Beo means "bright" or "noble," and the word-element wulf means (surprise!) "wolf." So Beowulf means "bright wolf" or "noble wolf" -- both of which apply to our hero.

What we don’t know:  who wrote it  when exactly it was written  how much, exactly, is based on historical truth

The 411  Beowulf is the oldest poem in the English language, so everything written since Beowulf stems from it in some way  There are many Christian references in the poem, but the characters and setting are Pagan which means a monk probably translated it.  The only copy of the manuscript was written sometime around the 11 th century A.D. (1000’s), but the poem had been around for hundreds of years before that.

The Poetry in Beowulf A few things to watch out for Alliteration=repetition of initial sounds of words (occurs in every line) A caesura, or pause, between beats two and four No rhyme

The Poetry in Beowulf A few things to watch out for 2. Kennings a. Compound metaphor (usually two words) b. Most were probably used over and over For instance: hronade literally means “whale- road,” but can be translated as “sea”

epic Beowulf is an epic poem. This means it has a larger- than life hero and the conflict is of universal importance. There’s a certain serious that accompanies most epics. Some terms you’ll want to know

Themes and Important Aspects Good vs. Evil Religion: Christian and Pagan influences The importance of wealth and treasure Loyalty and allegiance Fate Heroism and heroic deeds

And you think it is hard to communicate with your parents…. Beowulf is written in Old English. See if you can recognize any of the following words. adings/Beowulf.Readings.html

The End Go Vols!