Invasion of Britian on Celts AD 449

Anglo-Saxon Invasion of Britian

Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and other Germanic tribes

Seafaring warriors

Vengeance and Bloodshed

Anglo-Saxon Settlement

of

Britian

• Christianity and Anglo-Saxon culture co-exist

The Spread of Christianity

• Christian monks settle in Britain

• British pagan religions replaced by Christianity

Around A.D. 400

By A.D. 699

The Danish Invasion

Due to rising population and limited farmland, many Scandinavians (the Norse and the Danes) took to the seas—the Vikings.

In 800, Danish raiders attacked Britain. The Norse settled in Northumbria, Scotland,

Wales, and Ireland. The Danes targeted eastern and southern

England.

Viking Raids

Sacked and plundered monasteries Stole sacred religious objects Burned entire communities Murdered villagers Halted the growth of learningBy the middle of the ninth century, most of

England had fallen. The Vikings called their territory Danelaw.

Restored Viking Vessels

King

Alfred

the

Great unifies Anglo-

Saxons against the Danes. A.D. 878

• William of Normandy crosses the English Channel

The Norman Invasion

The Norman Invasion, Bayeux Tapestry

• French replaces English as the language of the ruling class

1066

• William defeats Anglo-Saxon army

Living Quarters—Mead Halls

A reconstructed Anglo-Saxon home located in West Stow in Sussex, England

Mead Hall

• center of life

• sleeping quarters

• dining area

• meeting place

The Scops

The communal hall offered shelter and a place for council meetings.

The communal hall was also a place for storytellers or bards (scops) who shared (orally) the stories of the Anglo-Saxons and their gods and heroes.

The Anglo-Saxons valued storytelling as equal to fighting, hunting, and farming.

A line of Anglo-Saxon or Old English poetry is characterized by four main stresses and is divided in half by a pause (caesura [si-zhoor-uh]).

• Cemetery located in Woodbridge, Suffolk, England

• Discovered in 1939

• Burial ship of an Anglo-Saxon king

• Burial site contained 41 items of solid gold and 37 gold coins

Sutton Hoo

7th century helmet Reconstructed from

hundreds of corroded iron fragments

Characteristics of the Anglo-Saxons

Hard fighters and bold sea warriors Admired physical strength, bravery, loyalty,

fairness, and honesty Great love of personal freedom Boastful, reckless, cruel, and bloodthirsty Enjoyed conflict, swimming matches, horse

races, banqueting, drinking mead, singing songs, and storytelling

Also flyting, a conflict of wits between two warriors where each praises his own deeds and belittles the other’s

Anglo-Saxon Beliefs

Pagan, polytheistic Very pessimistic view of life (due to the

ever-present dangers of death by accident or warfare)

Human life in the hands of fate (wyrd) Did not believe in an afterlife Immortality only earned through heroic

actions Sharp contrast to the Christian belief in an

individual’s free will

Anglo-Saxon Beliefs (con’t)

The early Anglo-Saxons worshipped ancient Germanic or Norse gods:

Odin/Woden: chief of the gods, god of death, poetry, and magic

Fria: Woden’s wife and goddess of the home Tiu: the god of war and the sky Thunor/Thor: god of thunder and lightening Frijz/Frigga: queen of the heavens The names of these gods survive today in our words

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday The dragon: personification of evil and death and the

protector of treasure (the grave mound); also associated with the Vikings

Anglo-Saxon Manuscript

Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms

Map from C. Warren Hollister,The Making of England, p. 64

Video: English~A Living Language

& Anglo-Saxon Riddles

The Beowulf Legend

Beowulf is an epic, a long, heroic poem, about a great pagan warrior renowned for his courage, strength, and dignity.

Story isn’t about the English—it’s about the Danes and the Geats. So what’s it doing in England?

Beowulf is the national epic of England, because it is was the first such work composed in the English language.

The poem presents the values of a warrior society, dignity, bravery, and prowess in battle.

Characteristics of Invaders

\

Ancestral Tribes of Clans

Chieftain

Thane Thane Thane

Peasant Peasant PeasantPeasantPeasant

Serfs SerfsSerfs Serfs

Thane

Anglo-Saxon pendant probably made in the 7th century AD

found in garden soil at Sacriston, County Durham.

made of solid gold with a goldwire or filigree decoration.

Anglo-Saxon Brooch

Additional Anglo-Saxon Artifacts

King Offa’s Dyke

approximately 170 miles long running north and south

• continuous wall except for river crossings

• built in the late 8th century

Earth Embankment No fancy stonework No garrisoned posts 12 foot wide ditch on

Welsh side Height ranges from 10

to 60 feet

Construction

Monument to Power

Perhaps this dyke was a defense against raiders from Wales.

Perhaps it served as a permanent boundary between Mercia and Wales.

Perhaps it was a boundary monument to remind the Welsh of King Offa’s power and control.

Anglo-Saxon Cross Shaft Location: St. Peter Advincula

Church, Glebe Street, Stoke Re-erected on its modern

base in 1935, the fragment of 10th Century Anglo-Saxon stone cross shaft had been used as a door lintel in the church until its discovery by a gravedigger in 1876.

The square sectioned top of the cylindrical shaft has a different decorative motif on each face. However part of the side key pattern has been cut away, probably to allow its use as the church's door lintel.S

Acknowledgements Anglo-Saxon England. 27 June 2004

<http://www.gettysburg.edu/academics/english/britain/anglo-saxon/anglo_home.html>. Regia-Angloplum. “Arms and Armour-Part 8-Shields.” 27 June 2004

http://regia.org/shields.html. Map of Gradual Takeover of England by Anglo-Saxons. 27 June 2004

http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba/395/HELUnit2web/OE%20images/asconquer.jpg. Durnham County Council. 27 June 2004.

http://www.durham.gov.uk/durhamcc/usp.nsf/pws/archaeology2001+-+archaeology+Time+Line+Mediaeval+Period.

The British Museum: Education Department. 27 June 2004. http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/education/anglosaxons/weblinks.html

King Arthur and the Anglo-Saxon Wars. 27 June 2004. http://www.murphsplace.com/owen/arthur/wars.html.

The Arador Library. 28 June 2004. http://www.arador.com/gallery/et.html. The Potteries Museum: Art Gallery. 27 June 2004

http://www2002.stoke.gov.uk/museums/pmag/Nof_website1/local_history_static_exhibitions/sites_to_visit/pages/st_peters.htm.

Pfordresher, John, Gladys V. Veidemanis, and Helen McDonnell, eds. England in Literature. Glenview: Scott, Foresman, 1989.