Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Now British, once Picts, Celts, Angles, Jutes, and Frisians . . . .
What has your preliminary research revealed about ancient Anglo-Saxon England? What surprised you? How might these cultural, political, scientific factoids manifest themselves in the literature of the period? (E.g., What would you expect to see as a result of this Anglo-Saxon mindset?)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I agree! Test one.
ReplyDeleteWhen researching the Anglo-Saxon history in England, I was surprised by many of their cultural customs, such as their not so reliable judicial system based on divine intervention. I also found it strange that despite their famed craftsmanship, they had very little architectural preference and lived simplistically. Since the Anglo-Saxons were originally Germanic pagans by faith, I think that the literature of the period, Beowulf in particular, is probably laden with many supernatural creatures as opposed to one powerful antagonist or aid as a reflection of their cultural beliefs. I also think that since it was shown that Anglo-Saxons were considered expert craftsmen, that ancient English literature will frequently have mystical substances, trinkets, and other items that have meaning to the main character of the story as a reflection of Anglo-Saxon cultural values.
ReplyDeleteI was also surprised by their unreliable judicial system, and the violence that came along with it. Trial by ordeal was commonplace in ancient Britain, with the divine intervention determining if one was guilty. In addition to their barbaric practices of human trial, animals were also put on trial and put to death for their "crimes." I was also surprised by their lack of architecture, but I think their infrastructure was somewhat impressive. After all, they did get a road built 6000 years ago. I agree with what you said about literature, but I also feel there would be a lot of violence, as seen in Beowulf, because that was simply the lifestyle lived at that time.
DeleteI was really surprised by their judicial system, too. It was impractical and unjust but at the time, that was the only way that made sense to them. It's strange for us to think of a system like that but during that time period where a majority of knowledge came from religious practices, it was what they saw appropriate. The animals being tried, however, I still don't understand. It doesn't seem like a practical or logical use of time to try and convict a cow. And based off of their barbaric ways, it makes sense that they were a very violent society especially with the diseases that ran rampant. It was kind of a "fend for yourself" era where if you fell ill, chances were you weren't going to make it out alive. I think that also had a significant contribution to the violence of that time period.
DeleteThrough research on the Anglo-Saxon history of England, one particular factoid that I was surprised by was that during this time period, there was a complete lack of knowledge, and thus complete disregard of ocean tides. Ships in the harbors of Anglo-Saxon England were taken out to sea and those living during the time period had no idea as to what caused such phenomenon. It was the Greeks in 270 BC who have first made mention of tides. Prior to the tides being discovered, harbors were continuously built too close to the shore and ships were pulled out to sea. It is surprising how it took many years before harbors were finally built high enough on shore for boats not to be pulled away from land. In the literature of the period, due to a combination of Pagan beliefs and the land area being surrounded by ocean, I believe that there would be a heavy cultural emphasis on the sea's power. According to the Anglo-Saxons, there was no justifiable, scientific reason for ships disappearing. This left faith to explain why ships were "taken". Before the development of modern science, faith and religion, and the will of god were used to explain occurrences that were either routine or out of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteI completly agree. The Anglo-Saxons did have a lack of knowledge in some areas which lead artists, poets, writers, etc. to try an explain the "inexplainable" to people. The pagan religion simply did not hold all the answers to what people were wondering about and they did not yet have the knowledge to figure things out scientifically. That is why stories like Beowulf are the birthplace of many fictional characters and beliefs. Also, I found your factoid about drifting ships interesting because it reminded me of when Beowulf lands in Denmark and the guardsman offers to watch Beowulf's boat. This may be a subtle reference to the factoid you are talking about, because the author makes a point that the guardsman stays to watch the ship, even though it is anchored. Also, the guardsman gets paid handsomely when Beowulf returns.
DeleteWhile knowledge was limited during this period, it is unfair to describe artists as being simple story-tellers who created tales to explain things. Surely the lack of knowledge led to a great deal of superstition; this is something that persisted throughout Europe for centuries. As a result, stories may have included things like Robert's "emphasis on the sea's power". However, works from this period must not be unappreciated or undervalued. Beowulf is, most obviously, a complex and beautiful story with profound themes. Certainly crafted by a sharper mind than a superstitious dullard trying to "explain the inexplicable". This reminds me of something Mr. Bowyer said during our discussion of the facts about medieval England: since there were less distractions during this time, people had more time to reflect. As a result, the people had much stronger personal philosophies than we may have today. They had a greater understanding of life philosophies than people have today. This is something that manifested itself in literature of the day, as in the messages about character and power in Beowulf.
DeleteResearch and class discussions have proven that ancient England was a radical phase. Several facts I found about this Anglo-Saxon era were extreme and strange forms of punishment, including trial by ordeal, throwing convicts into quagmires, and even trying animals of crime. I have to agree with Harry; the society was not as developed as I imagined. With the phrase “I walk on higher ground than you” coming from sewage issues, it is safe to assume that ancient Britain was not as industrialized as I anticipated. I can only imagine how these issues were portrayed in the literary works of this period. If I were to guess, I would say the works of literature, as well as music and art are just as strange as the society’s rules. As science was not yet trusted at this time, many members of society followed what everybody else was doing, and usually that included what the church said was right. This ancient, chaotic period could only produce literary works similar to society’s beliefs.
ReplyDeleteIn ancient England, like all ancient Europe, the masses were uneducated. With this, people of high authority would take advantage of the uneducated people. This is why Tess says that the society was not as developed as she imagined. An example of them taking advantage would be trial by ordeal, and they would go through with these cruel punishments because the people did not know how to fight back. Tess says that the literature and arts embody the strange times ancient English people lived in. I would agree and also add that they wrote about what they knew, which is why ancient English writing can be studied for the history within the literature. Religion played a role in ancient England also. That impacted the literature because people wanted to translate the bible into their given vernacular.
DeleteAs many people before me have already said, I thought the most interesting thing that I found was the division between the church and scientific knowledge. At this point in time, there was rarely any new scientific advancements, so most of what the English could not understand was instead attributed to God. Judiciary decisions rested mainly in the hands of "fate", which was based on the ideology that if God wanted you to live, you would survive the cruel and unusual punishment put on you. The words of the church were always interpreted as true, which made the idea that God's sovereignty included a plan for each individual an accepted belief. We can see this in literary works of this time as they mention multiple times the power of God and the comparison of self-determination vs. fate. Beowulf, for example, is portrayed as a mighty hero destined to save Hrothgar and his hall from the demonic antagonist Grendel.
ReplyDeleteThis shocked me as well. The fact that at the time, the belief was that if God wanted you to live, he would "save" you from punishment blows my mind. Between disease, the corrupt judicial system, and war, it's a miracle anyone lived past the age of 20.
DeleteI enjoyed getting a glimpse into what a culture would be like with absoute faith in their relgion. It's weird to think about how all these pepole had complete trust and devotion to whatever the church said and did. I did find it interesting how whenever something was unexplained or unknowable, it was explained in a religious way. I guess people really didn't begin to question any of these situations until they became more educated and more enlightened.
To that point, look at the text in Beowulf! The contrast between modern Christianity and the Christianity of this story is insane! While in today's world religions (mostly) preach nonviolence and peace, how often does Beowulf pray that God give him the strength to rip someones arm off? Or all the times a specific leader was blessed, and that's the reason why they could so easily pillage mead halls and collect bounty from the whale road. In a way it does make sense. The world they lived in was going to be violent, brutish and short no matter how they acted, so why not make it at least satisfying for those who did make past twenty? Sure you killed your brother and that's the reason you survived this long, don't worry, its all divine blessing. Very cool idea indeed.
DeleteI agree with Markos that the contrast between modern Christianity and Christianity in Beowulf is crazy. In Beowulf, Christianity was used to explain punishment for people who were “evil” or worshiped pagan gods. In comparison, Christianity today is mostly focused on forgiveness. It makes sense that religious and moral codes would shift to meet the needs of the given era. It is interesting to think of how our ancestors will view us thousands of years from now. Hopefully we we’ll be perceived through a more accurate and complete medium than we’re viewing the Anglo-Saxons now.
DeleteA fact I found interesting revolved around the role of women in society and how they enjoyed greater freedoms than one would imagine in a such a warlike society. They were entitled to property rights and to equal compensation of wergild. There were very strict laws about adultery, some of which include physical mutilation as punishment, but on the whole, women were respected well. One of the more interesting pieces of information I also discovered was the idea of compensation that a killer must provide to the family of the one he has slain. This was called wergild which literally meant "man price" and it differed based on the social class of the person that had been slain. In such a society where war is seen as honorable, we can expect literary works to depict war as a favorable act. We can also expect the role that women will be playing in these works to be of high regards.
ReplyDeleteWhat I think was most interesting to learn about the Anglo-Saxon Language development was that there were still ties to the Latin that became the foundation for all the romance languages (French, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, etc). In England, the only Latin that had every set foot was just the rough and concise soldier's Latin. It wasn't the Ciceronian or Ovidian latin that most of the western world had come to cherish - the emphasis on grammar and syntax being unapparent in the British Isles. This also laid the foundation for the rough 1500 years to come in which England would have difficult (to say the least) relations with the pope and the catholic church in Rome.
ReplyDeleteMy preliminary research on ancient Anglo-Saxon England revealed that throughout England's early history, the isles were repeatedly conquered and raided by a wide variety of foreign peoples (from the Romans, to the Vikings, to the Danes, and even the French). Since this was the period of time during which English was just beginning to be established as an official world language and "English" works of literature were just starting to be widely written and circulated, many elements from the Latin, Danish, Norwegian, and French languages soon found themselves incorporated into the English language along with elements from the basic Germanic languages from which English initially developed. This linguistic diversity allowed for even ancient English literary works such as Beowulf to contain as many as 40,000 unique words (a surprising fact for such an ancient work of literature). However, in addition to contributing many new words to the English language, the Romans, Danes, Vikings, and French also contributed to the literary culture of England, not only through their many wars with the English which served as the basis for many ancient English stories, but also by infusing their own respective literary cultures into that of the English when they occupied the land (for example, the Romans brought the message of Christianity to the isles and this message would later be present in a great deal of English literature). All in all, it can best be said that the great poetic diversity of the linguistic elements that constitute the English language is the direct and astounding result of the centuries of turmoil over which the language was developed.
ReplyDeleteProper is synonymous with England but it was not always that way. The Anglo-Saxons were just as barbaric as any other group at the time and derived themselves from Germanic tribes. They had a very crude justice system and used ordeals to settle some disputes. They were a war based group with very little scientific advancements. Information was also very slow to diffuse during this era so many people turned toward pagan gods and the supernatural to explain their surroundings. This is evident in Beowulf which had obvious pagan ties. There are many references to God but those appear to be imposed by a writer in the future. Not many people could read or write during this time so Beowulf is meant to be told orally. The structure of the story reveals this with a lot of repetition.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised to find that England was always under constant attack and feuds with other groups. They were truly stuck in time, meaning that they did not advance much from where they were technologically. They were always at war or being taken over which changed the language many times giving us words in our society today. I also found that many men were craftsmen at the time which was shown in the text of Beowulf. There were many instances where shields, swords, rings, jewels, and goblets were described in great detail and the people held them to high importance because it was crafted all by hand at the time. I thought this was the most interesting thing.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteWhen researching I found that the Anglo-Saxons had been conquered many times by many different groups of people. From this, I expected their culture to be very "pieced together"; a collaboration of many nations cultures. Additionally, I found that during the early 9th century the Anglo-Saxons were primarily Pagan but then converted later in the period to Christianity. I thought this to be interesting because from it we can make an educated assumption as to when Beowulf was originally written. In the story, both religions are present. The idea of gift-giving(as shown between Hrothgar and Beowulf and then Beowulf and Hygelac) is very Pagan. However pagans were polytheistic and throughout the story, Beowulf makes reference to a singular god which points to Christianity. Of course those are not all of the examples present in the text but from those we can see that Beowulf contained both Pagan and Christian elements. And from this we can assume that Beowulf was written in the mid-9th century when the Anglo-Saxons were still making their religious transition.
ReplyDeleteMy preliminary research mainly shows how primitive of a culture the anglo-saxons had. Because Christianity was not widespread until the end of the first millenium, the idolization of war and pillaging. I think that those exact ideas will be represented in the text of Beowulf. There is a lot of glorified violence as opposed to glorified peace. I expect strong men with dull wits who brag of their conquests without any regard to their victims.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Peter because much of my research showed the primitive and almost brutal aspects of society of the time, sprinkled with myth and legend. This research will most likely show itself in Beowulf in the story line itself. Strong, noble men fight beasts and seek glory. This plot is expected after researching the time.
DeleteI was very surprised by their judicial system. In my research, I found that it was not uncommon for animals to be put on trial for crimes. I also found that many animals were actually sentenced to death which is absolutely ridiculous. Also, I found in my research that by the seventh century, powerful families and individuals began to emerge, calling themselves kings and collecting tribute from surrounding lands. Now having read Beowulf and part of Grendel, it makes sense because you can see that type of society set up in the story.
ReplyDeleteAnglo-Saxons were known for being an intense warring community of people, focusing their energies on expanding the land they controlled and attacking other tribes to obtain that land. An incredibly fierce mindset, the judicial system followed this attitude by punishing the accused in irrational, malicious manners. Anglo-Saxon warriors were taught a warrior code that they had to abide by, which included the act of fighting to the death for a leader. Beowulf, being that I already read this novel, is much more understandable because the actions and behaviors the characters performed in this novel can be directly related to my prior research of the Anglo-Saxon world.
ReplyDeleteMy initial impressions of cultures like Anglo-Saxons and Jutes, would be that these are warring, barbaric peoples, who would be unrelatable to todays peaceful society. I was suprised to learn through evidence in the poem "Beowulf" that cultures like the Anglo-Saxons also had aspects of great storytelling, and teaching of life lessons. This completely transformed my image of these "Barbaric" peoples into one of respect and appreciation of their cultures.
ReplyDeleteThe pastiche of Anglo Saxon society was shaped by historical factors, notably the ongoing invasions by European rulers. The coexistence of evil and moral values is also a commentary on the evolution of this society from paganism to a rudimentary form of Christianity speaks of barbarism, as reflected in monstrous characters in Beowulf, to characters with moral judgement,all existing simultaneously. The overarching idea of all unattributable phenomenon being understood as some form divine justice, was both a demonstration of faith and survival of the fittest.Anglo Saxon society was beset with contradictions, manifesting themselves in literature of that time. The coexistence of good and evil, of divine retribution and an archaic judicial system, superstitions tempered with reality were all characteristic of Anglo-Saxon literature.
ReplyDeleteIt amazed me how much of a warring society it was as now it doesn't seem to be much like this.
ReplyDeleteI also found it interesting the way many of our words were adapted from many different classes of people rather than just one common language, it came from the adaptation of many different bits of others. In this idea it also is interesting to me how much the society lacked of structure as it now seems to be such a high class and organized enviornment.
I was really surprised by how the English language has developed. Ignorantly, I had always thought that somehow our language was just created. I never knew how it actually came about. I found out that initially the British Isles were invaded by the Romans(who introduced them to Latin), Vikings, the Anglo-Norman French, and Germanic tribes (which introduced what we now refer to as Old English). This could manifest itself in many ways throughout literature. The British Isles seemed to be a little bit of a hodgepodge of various cultures, which could have a great impact one's outlook and opinions. Thus, their writing would be impacted, as well. Also, various cultures have a rich literary history and have passed down their fables, anecdotes, tall tales, and legends for generations. This could also have a great impact on the literature of the time period. Some of these little anecdotes might be interwoven throughout the tale, or the story could possibly even be based solely on an anecdote or cultural tale.
ReplyDeleteAlong with many of the others, I also was intrigued by the judicial system in those days. The fact that it was controlled by the people themselves greatly contrasts our judicial system in modern times. I can't fathom that there was a price on a life and that if you didn't pay up then there could be retribution. Furthermore, I was surprised just how much war played a role in the peoples' lives. The feudal system constantly was changing. The best part, though, was seeing these ideas play out in the story of Beowulf. Revenge and retribution is a constant theme that is entwined in the poem. Not only that, the war-like nature that was described in my research can be seen through the importance of the heroic code that dictates the actions of Beowulf.
ReplyDeleteAs many others were, I was surprised by the weak judicial system that the Anglo-Saxons had in place. It was interesting to see how much emphasizes was put into the faith of the Anglo-Saxons. One of the articles that I had read about how the governmental system and religion were connected stated that a divine providence would be asked to indicate the manner in which cases would be decided. There was also a large amount of violence when dealing with the Anglo-Saxons system of government. The punishments that Anglo-Saxons conducted ranged from capital punishment to slavery. There was also restitution involved in cases of murder.
ReplyDeleteI was intrigued by the role of divine intervention in punishment and guilt. The burden of the verdict truly lies on the prophet, allowing great amounts of bias to play a role in punishment. This raises a moral issue for subjects, forcing people of the day to act for their country and for their belief system. I am excited to see which will guide Beowulf and comrades.
ReplyDeleteThe austerity of life also impressed me. It will be interesting to see how the importance of living simply will intertwine with Shield Sheafson's ideals on generosity and giving freely. By this, I mean to ask, what is the importance of generosity if life is meant to be simple?