THE ANGLOSAXON PERIOD
449-1066AD
TIME PERIOD: ANGLOSAXON
• Key Ideas of Period
• Heroic qualities
• Community – Communal Hall &
Loyalty
• Poets (Scops) & Monks
• Religious aspects
• Christian vs. Pagan
• Wyrd=fate
• Aggressive society
IMPORTANT
DATES…
• 300s: Celts rule England
• c. 449: Angles, Saxons, and Jutes
invade Britain
• 597: King Ethelbert converted to
Christianity at Canterbury
• 793: Vikings come
• 1066: William the Conqueror
becomes English king
HEROIC QUALITIES
• The Britons were highly influenced by
the Celtic legends.
• Celtic legends valued bravery, loyalty,
dedication to the king/queen, &
fame/success in battle.
• Heroes have fabulous adventures that
are remembered and retold forever
(think King Arthur).
HEROIC QUALITIES
• Comitatus – heroic ideal - A code of loyalty
adopted by the warriors in a clan; loyalty,
honor & respect to their lord and to one
another.
• Blood vengeance – fight to the death;
avenge leader or die trying.
COMMUNITY – COMMUNAL
HALL & LOYALTY
• War with other clans
• Law and order kept a clan alive
• clan loyalty was valued above all else.
• The Leader (king, ruler, father-figure)
was responsible for everyone’s safety.
COMMUNITY – COMMUNAL
HALL & LOYALTY
• Success was measured by how
loyal a warrior was to his lord.
• communal hall –
shelter/protection
meetings
entertainment.
POETS/SCOPS (PRONOUNCED
SHOPS) & MONKS
• Poets or scops
• equal to warriors
• immortalized warriors and heroes in
their songs/poetry.
POETS/SCOPS (PRONOUNCED
SHOPS) & MONKS
• Monks
• preserved these stories
• recorded these stories in Old English
(the Germanic language of the Angles
& Saxons)
• preserved the original language of the
people.
RELIGIOUS ASPECTS –
PAGAN VS. CHRISTIAN
Dual Authorship
Beowulf
Paganism
Christianity
Absence of Christianity
God
Animism
Christ-like figure
Worship of Natural or
Spiritual
Fate/Wyrd
Biblical Stories
Presence of Hell
RELIGIOUS ASPECTS –
PAGAN VS. CHRISTIAN
• Animism – “Spirit”; original, celtic religion
• fatalistic (meaning no afterlife) view of the
world.
• “Wyrd” means fate. guided in all things.
• Christianity spread and unified the AngloSaxons.
AGGRESSIVE SOCIETY
• Absence of Roman control led to many
kings/lords all attempting to control Britain.
• Angles & Saxons from Germany, & Jutes
from Denmark come to Britain in hopes of
conquering for themselves.
• warriors and lords had to defend against
attacks and other clans to establish
dominance.
AGGRESSIVE SOCIETY
• King Alfred of Wessex led the Angles &
Saxons against the Jutes (Danes), unifying
those clans.
• “Angle-land” became England.
• In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy
invaded, and finally unified the country
under one king.
BEOWULF
Anglo-Saxon Literature
BEOWULF – LITERARY
DEVICES
1. Alliteration – repeated beginning sound in
2 or more words that are close together
 In Beowulf, this happens in almost every
line of the poem, & there is no consistent
pattern of rhyme.
BEOWULF – LITERARY
DEVICES
2. Kenning – type of metaphor that uses a
compound expression to name a person
or thing.
 Ex: “whale road” = _______________ ;
“life-lord” = ______________; “ring giver” =
______________
BEOWULF – LITERARY
DEVICES
3. Litotes – a figure of speech that uses the
positive of a statement to mean something
negative.
 Ex: Getting your wisdom teeth removed
with pliers would not be fun! = It would be
horrible!
 Ex: About the monster Grendel’s home, the
king Hrothgar says “Not a pleasant place” =
a horrific place!
THE POEM
1. Uncertain when, how, or who
created
2. Originally written in Old English
3. Developed out of various influences
(folk tales & traditions)
4. Performed by scops (“shops”)
• a. Traveling bard/poet
• b. Good ones made the most
effective use of the common
arsenals of oral storytelling formulas
• c. Borrowing images or phrases
was accepted and expected
5. May have changed as developed
RELIGIOUS RELATIONS
1. Primarily a pagan poem
2. Christian allusions are present
(developed as afterthought to make
story appealing to Christians?)
a. Omnipotent God figure
b. Symbolic rebirth
c. Christ’s 12 apostles (Beowulf’s12
associates)
EPICS
1. Typically emphasize heroic action as well as the
struggle between the hero’s own ethics &
mortality
2. 2. Heroic values = comitatus = Germanic honor
system that existed in Scandinavian countries in
the 5th & 6th centuries between a king & his
thanes (warriors).
a. Virtues of thanes = courage, loyalty, reputation
b. Lifelong devotion of thanes = protection, treasure,
& land from king
3. Classic epic
a. journey/quest
b. tests/trials
c. divine intervention
CHARACTERS & TERMS
• Mead hall (Herot) – communal hall;
beer/ale hall
• Scylfing – Swede
• Scylding – Dane
• Higlac/Hygelac – King of Geats / uncle to
Beowulf
• Higd/Hygd – Higlac’s queen
• Hrunting – sword given to Beowulf by
Unferth
• Naegling – Beowulf’s own sword
• Brecca – Beowulf’s friend & swimming
competitor
CHARACTERS & TERMS
• Beowulf- (A Geat from Sweden –Scylfing) –
Hero of the story; has superhuman
powers/strength; owes a debt to Hrothgar
(King of Danes)
• Grendel – Monster who is terrorizing the
Danes; cannot be hurt by human weapons
• Herot – Mead/Communal Hall of the Danes
• Hrothgar – (King of the Danes – “Scylding”)
Owed a debt from Beowulf for saving B’s
father’s life
CHARACTERS & TERMS
• Unferth – Warrior for the Danes; unable to
beat Grendel; jealous of Beowulf
• Welthow – Hrothgar’s wife, queen of the
Danes
• Wiglaf – Symbol of loyalty to Beowulf; B’s
cousin
3 TRIALS OF BEOWULF
1. Grendel
2. Grendel’s Mother
3. Dragon
FLOW CHART
BACKGROUND
Two Kings…
&
HROTHGAR
– King of the
Danes
Higlac –
King of the
Geats
FLOW CHART
BACKGROUND
HROTHGAR
– King of the
Danes
Saved life long ago
Higlac –
King of the
Geats
FLOW CHART
BACKGROUND
Grendel attacks
HROTHGAR
– King of the
Danes
Saved life long ago
Higlac –
King of the
Geats
Sends
nephew
Beowulf to
defeat
Grendel
FLOW CHART
BACKGROUND
Grendel attacks
HROTHGAR
– King of the
Danes
Saved life long ago
Debt is paid
Higlac –
King of the
Geats
Sends
nephew
Beowulf to
defeat
Grendel