1. Ancient English History: a series of invasions! Anglo-Saxon background 1

2. The Celts 600 BC Tribal Society Religion: animism, Druids, and Stonehenge 2

3. Stonehenge 3 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/ancient/hidden- chapels-ritual-shrines-discovered-surrounding- stonehenge/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=pbsofficial &utm_campaign=nova_next

4. Romans Julius Caesar (55 BC) Claudius Contributions: castras, roads, Hadrian’s Wall Fall of Rome in 410AD 4

5. The Germanic Invasion Angles and Saxons from Germany Jutes from Denmark 449 AD 5

6. The Anglo-Saxon warrior society Their tribal organization, values, and beliefs all reflect this Every family or tribe had a warrior chief, who served a royal warlord. Each warlord and his warriors formed a comitatus 6

7. Loyal dependency Grew from the need for protection Warlords rewarded the bravest of their warriors with treasures. Warriors responded with absolute loyalty “On the field of battle it is a disgrace to a chief to be surpassed in courage by his followers, and to the followers not to equal the courage of their chief. To leave a battle alive after their chief had fallen meant life-long shame.” 7

8. Wyrd (fate) Life in Anglo-Saxon England was brutal and short. Believed that fate or Wyrd controlled human destiny One’s ultimate fate was death. Because Germanic religious beliefs held no promise of an afterlife, the warrior’s primary goal was to achieve fame in this life and to face death with courage. 8

9. Anglo-Saxon society and culture Social Classes 1) Thanes 2) Warrior 3) Scop 4) Churl 5) Women The Mead Hall Wergild—early law Bretwalda 9

10. “He who earns praise, has under heaven the greatest glory” The Christianizing of England Pope Gregory I sent Saint Augustine to convert the Anglo-Saxons (597) By the year 650, most of England was Christian in name, but many still maintained pagan beliefs. 10

11. The Benefits of Christianity for the Anglo-Saxon The promise of eternal life was appealing to a warrior culture. Unification and peace Scribes copied manuscripts by hand and preserved the oral tales Monks composed scholarly literature 11

12. Anglo-Saxon heroic (pagan) poetry The epic—viewed as records of their peoples’ histories Epics are found in cultures around the world, demonstrating the timeless and universal human desire to transmit legends from one generation to another. Oral “histories” shared in mead halls by scops. 4 characteristics 12

13. Major themes of heroic/pagan poetry Courage of Brevity of Mystery and cruelty of 13

14. Beowulf and the Beowulf poet One of Europe’s first literary works to be composed in the vernacular (language of the people) and not in Latin (language of the church). Story takes place in Scandinavia and is set in the 6 th century Involves the Geats, a tribe from southern Sweden, and the Danes, a tribe in Denmark. Brought to England and told by scops for generations until an Anglo-Saxon poet or monk actually wrote down the tales. The Beowulf poet was clearly Christian, but the poem retains some of its pagan roots. 14

15. Anglo-Saxon Literature: Christian prose Utilitarian in nature Translations of Histories of Stories of Example: Bede’s History 15