Comparing Mercia And Wessex

Alfred the great was the most famous ruler of all the Anglo-Saxons. He was the tenacious ruler of the West Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons were fighting the Vikings. Alfreds four brothers sadly died so the crown was passed to him. Legend tells us, when he was fleeing from the Vikings he found a village and a woman asked him to watch her cakes while she rushed to feed her animals. He was so consentrated on planning an attack on the Vikings that the cakes burned. Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings and made peace with them which caused the Viking king to convert to Christianity. He established schools to educate his people. Alfred was a really prominent ruler.

However, Alfred was not content with being on the defensive. He also attacked the Danish-held City of London in an attempt to diminish the lands ruled under Dane law (Bruce 4). No Anglo-Saxon king was ever strong enough to coerce a recalcitrant peasantry. Except Alfred who decided to allow half the men liable for service to remain at home while the other half was out against the Danes (Stenton 261).

Anglo-Saxon culture consisted of receiving fame, glory, and wealth through acts of vengeance and courage. “Beowulf” portrays these parts in great detail and shows how destabilizing it can be. Through acts of vengeance, a never ending war occurs.

Asser looked up to Einhard and had a copy of Einhard’s, The Life of Charlemagne. He used it to help inspire him on how to be successful in writing The Life of King Alfred. Opposed to Einhard, Asser wrote his book about Alfred when Alfred was alive. Alfred was King of Wessex reigning from 871-899. Alfred endured many obstacles dealing with the war, however, he never gave up. Alfred became King in the middle of war. He defeated the Vikings in April of 878. Vikings were Scandinavian people who left homes to raid, pillage, trade, settle or all of the above. Many nations were paying tribute to the Vikings so that they could stop their attacks. Gunthrum, in charge of half of the Great Army led a surprise attack on Wessex, Alfred’s men were repulsed. Alfred secured his loyalty of his men by defeating the Vikings. Alfred was also a religious King, he prayed every night; certain psalms; and he learnt the daily course. He was not wasteful in which he gave money to the church. Unlike Charlemagne, Alfred the Great was a very literate person. He was big on education. He created education reforms, educated his sons and his royal court, tried to learn how to translate Latin into old English was always wanting to learn more. Alfred was deemed pious because he took care of the poor. Alfred was an active

King Alfred was known as the best Anglo-Saxon rulers. "Alfred was someone who has had greatness thrust upon him." Alfred was the only surviving Anglo-Saxon province. Almost being apart of the Vikings, he had stayed strong and won a decisive victory in The Battle of Edington. "Alfred promoted himself as the defender of all Christian Anglo-Saxons against the pagan Viking threats. "As his reputation "as a learned and merciful man of a gracious and levelheaded nature who encouraged education and improved his kingdom's legal systems, military structure and his people's quality of life" he was known as the greatest Anglo-Saxons to ever

Anglos Saxon and Beowulf’s qualities and characteristics go hand in hand. Vitality, deadly instincts and nationalistic pride alleviate natural pains encountered naturally, mythically and psychologically in a variety of forms and entities. Beowulf himself displays these traits through regal and personal exploits enveloped within such a story. Beowulf’s standard premise of morally just vs morally unjust starts with a neighboring country’s plea to take down a threat of a demon, Grendel. With this happening, he uses this information to bolster his already righteous status of a hero, as well as his noble position in society, in which then would make his domestic wise men look like angelic saviors for Danes. Organizations of these characteristics

Beowulf Today The Anglo Saxons were a group of Germanic people who were the origins of Great Britain, back in the early 5th century, lasting until the 11th century, until they evolved into a different peoples giving a foundation for Britain that is seen later on in the following hundreds of years. These people were incredibly proud, and held very strong beliefs relating to their religion, camaraderie, and strength. Anglo Saxons were pagans, meaning that they had practiced a non-Christian religion; usually some form of polytheism, and this gave them a basis for their beliefs. They also had a very strong sense of camaraderie, moreso seen in the idea of comitatus, which is a strong sense of loyalty between a lady/lord and their subjects.

Life in the Middle Ages revolved around religion. Religion in the Middle Ages first appeared in the late seven hundreds when King Charlemagne began to rule in northern Europe. Under King Charlemagne’s rule, Christianity was spread among the people via schools, church leadership, and social events. During the Middle Ages, it was common for people to attend church and also pray numerous times a day. Christianity was the main religion during the Middle Ages; it highly influenced the government, and also caused conflict between many countries in Europe.

As the Anglo-Saxon’s settled in, the Jutes and the Frisians from Denmark were also settling in the British Isles, but the Anglo-Saxon settlers set their rules and became their own masters in a new land. Throughout the period the Anglo-Saxon’s broke off into seven known kingdoms: Kent, Mercia, Northumbria, East Anglia, Essex, Sussex, and

Loyalty emerges as another one of the defining traits of the Anglo-Saxons, especially through Beowulf and his army. When Beowulf goes off and fights, his army talks about how they should go help because of all the things Beowulf did for them

Some of the major events that happened in Beowulf had a significant comparison to the Anglo-Saxon lifestyle. Some of the main traits that the Anglo-Saxons stood for were bravery, which we see when Beowulf goes to fight Grendel’s mother. The Anglo-Saxons stood for hospitality, which we also see when Beowulf was “adopted” by King Hrothgar after his battle with Grendel’s mother. And the last major trait that we see with the Anglo-Saxons is portrayed as strength. Beowulf showed strength when he ran out to fight the monster by himself.

Converted to Christianity in the early 6th century, the men of Strathclyde, in alliance with the Cumbrians, later in the century waged war against the still-pagan Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Bernicia (later part of the larger kingdom of Northumbria). The 5th-century king Coroticus, against whose depredations St. Patrick wrote, may have been a forerunner of its rulers; the earliest reliably

Beowulf enters into the culture of the Anglo-Saxons. A warrior, whose strength is admired by many, Beowulf becomes the nation’s hero. The culture honored men who where courageous, strong and loyal. Beowulf chose to prove his skills by traveling to a land that was not his to beat a monster that the countries feared. This young warrior decided to risk his life, to save soldiers of a neighboring man for strange motivations.

This is another underneath the text reference, but can be clearly seen when analyzing the account of “(the) way of confirming kingship and dominion (in Ulster)” (Gerald of Wales 110). While the words clearly convey demeaning attitude toward the Irish in Ulster, confirmation of kingship establishes that the Irish have a ritualistic-type religion in the area. This implied lack of religion furthers the idea for the Cambro-Normans to conquer the people for their own religious well-being and “bring” them into Christianity. (Ironically, the Irish had had a longer-standing Christian/Catholic influence then the people of

Beowulf was guessed to be written between 975 and 1025. During this time, Alfred the Great was the ruler of England after he had defended his kingdom against the Vikings attacks. Around the time Beowulf was written, Anglo-Saxon culture was at its peak. Some people speculate that the battles that happen in Beowulf are connected with the events that happened to Alfred the Great during his rule. Guthrum was the King of Danes during the time Alfred was in charge of Wessex and was at war with him. Then in 878, Guthrum’s army surprised attacked Alfred and his court when they were having a feast. This event could be related to the surprised attack in the beginning of Beowulf when Grendel attacks the hall out of nowhere after the retainers or Hrogather’s army had a feast. Alfred had to go through so much during the attacks he has been encountering with Guthrum. It is mirrored in Beowulf