England – The Anglo-

Saxon society
The decline of the Romans – the rise
of the Anglo-Saxons
 By the 5th c. AD all of the last Roman legions
had left the British Isles
 The Celts were subdued by the new invaders –
the Anglo-Saxons
 They arrived from the continent in several
waves (mixture of people from north
Germany, Denmark and northern Holland)
After a century long series of wars,
they established their kingdoms:
 Who were they?
 Little is known about their society and beliefs
 Most of the historical data date back to the 8 th
and 9th c., all written down by Christian monks
 They are described as savage wild warrior
tribes
 They followed the code of bravery and loyalty
 Society
Overlord/Thane
High lords
Lords
Warriors
 Beliefs

 Shared beliefs with their Scandinavian cousins

– the Norse tribes and the Vikings
 In contrast to the Vikings` belief system, they
believed in female deities rather than male
 Nerthus – the supreme goddess, the Earth
Mother
 The second face of Nerthus is Freya (Frea,
Frija) – the goddess of love, lust, friendship
 She was the wife of Woden (Odin) – magic,
hunting
 Other important gods/goddesses:
- Eostre – spring, new life, beginnings (hare,
eggs)
- Thir – Ancestor of trolls
- Thunor (Thor) – God of Thunder
Sacred animals, spirits and monsters
 The hare
 The boar
 Elves
 Ettins (trolls)
 Valkyries
 Customs
and festivals
 The `Wild Hunt` - the travel to Valhalla
 Wild boar sacrifice – New Year resolution
 Geola festival – midwinter festival in
November, the `blood month`
 Modranect – the mother`s night, today`s
Christmas
 Festivals cont., priests, holy places
 Eostre – in April
 Halig monap – September, harvest month
 Holy places: not built (opp. to the Celts), but:
ponds, woods, rivers, glades etc.
 Priests existed, but we know nothing about
them. Only certain is the fact that they were
forbidden to carry arms, weapons
 Establishment of the kingdoms

 By the end of the 6th c. there were firmly

established kingdoms with firm borders
 The strongest kingdom had the title of the
thane
 By 686 AD Christianity was established in all
kingdoms, in a modified semi-pagan manner
 INTERESTING FACTS
 Without Roman soldiers to defend them, the Britons
were in danger from raids, so some British leaders
paid Anglo-Saxons to fight for them against the Picts.
 Roman sailors wore blue uniforms and Roman navy
ships guarding Britain had blue sails. So they would
not be mistaken for 'barbarians'.
 Anglo-Saxons died, their bodies were either cremated
or buried in a grave. The objects buried with them tell
us about their jobs (hunting, fighting and farming,
making clothes).
 Favourite Passtimes
 Feasts, with singing, storytelling, often fights
Their favourite story was the Beowulf (a heroic prince,
kills the fierce man-eating monster Grendel, and
Grendel's equally horrid mother)
 Telling riddles, some of which were written down.

Here's one riddle.

I appear on the ground like a blanket,
and melt in the midday sun.
 Their letters were called runes. w/ magical powers

 Men enjoyed rough pastimes, such as wrestling,

weight-lifting (using heavy rocks) and horse-racing,

watergames, and games like hockey and cricket.
 Drinking horn

 Lyre

Part of
Beowulf
 A grave stone

 Silver penny
 An Anglo-Saxon
house

 Woman weaving,
making thread
 Pots

 Leather shoes