What Is Meant By Anglo Saxon Beliefs

The Native American and the modern Anglo Saxon people have a long history together; when President Jefferson began to move the Natives onto the reservation land west of Mississippi, Anglos were content with the decision. As Anglos began to spread west into reservation territory, Natives got pushed farther off their land. When America entered the industrial era, Natives had been forced onto small reservation lands with other tribes. Anglos believed that it was possible to ‘fix’ the Natives by sending them to boarding schools off the reservation. The schools were off the reservation so that the children would be immersed in American culture and industry. The Industrial era led to a deep oppression of the Native American people by forcing them onto reservations, but also opened up an opportunity for America to reform Native American life and culture.

Some may find it profound to relate something so significant such as the Bible to an old English poem, however, in Beowulf, translated by Burton Raffel, many of the characters and scenarios described in the poem are similar to many Christian elements and stories told in the Bible. Grendel’s home, Herot, Beowulf, Grendel, and Grendel’s lineage paint the perfect picture on how important components from before BC and during AD are outlined throughout the poem.

One of the first pieces of British literature recorded is the epic poem Beowulf. The poem concentrates on the life of the adventurous Geat warrior, Beowulf. Beowulf faces several challenges throughout the poem that depict him as a man who would go to extreme lengths to accumulate fame. While creating a legend for himself, Beowulf and other characters within the poem reveal several values of the Anglo-Saxons. These values include their belief in boasting, revenge, and loyalty.

First, references to the bible are one way that Anglo-Saxons followed Christianity, while they had a hard time letting go of the Pagan beliefs. One of the first Christian aspects in the story is referring to how God created the earth. Furthermore, "The Almighty created the earth, creating all the beautiful landscapes that is marked off by the waters, and lighted by the moon and sun"(The Monster Grendel from Beowulf Translated by Burton Raffel the Monster Grendel 1). Furthermore, in this quote the author portrays how the Almighty created the earth and how he gave life to everything in the world. This quote is reminding us of the religious aspect of the poem because it is a Christian viewpoint, only about Pagans. In

Religions play various different roles throughout literature, the most common one I think of is Christianity. We will discuss what the role of Religion is in Beowulf translated by Seamus Heaney and the role in the movie The 13th Warrior. Christianity, Islam, and Anglo-Saxon Paganism are the various Religions’ that are expressed in both the literature and the movie. Since both works are similar, but written in a different point of view because of different beliefs we will discuss the difference between Beowulf and The 13th warrior throughout the paper. Another thing we will be discussing is how the authors use religion in a unique way in both works to portray their story in their own way. Before we begin our comparison we will begin with some information on Anglo-Saxon Paganism and Islam.

The characteristics of a hero are simultaneously interwoven throughout the text in form of adjectives which include “strong,” “stouthearted,” and “bold.” When employed, these words trigger the formation of a mental visual that encompasses the components of a romanticized warrior or what some perceive to be a hero’s prime attributes. Additionally, specifically describing the gallows as “high” dramatizes the martyrdom enhancing in this way the image of a person who approached the site of his inevitable death dauntlessly. The capitalization of terms including “Hero” and the explicitly stated “Warrior” suggests that these are not mere words that are applied only to describe an honorable person but are also additional titles that can be used to refer to Jesus. Just as the “Father” the “Son” and “Holy Spirit” are thought to be titles pertaining to God, “Hero” and “Warrior” are titles that in this case are given to Jesus. Capitalizing both terms is also used to draw a parallel between them which suggests that the two are complementary to each other and as a result can be used interchangeably. Lastly, the capitalization of these two terms in particular is implicative of how much value placed on warriors who in turn were perceived as heroic during the Middle Ages which is when the poem is thought to have been composed.

Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic that was transmitted verbally for hundreds of years before it was written down. Around the time of its composition, Christianity was beginning to gain prominence in England and was quickly replacing the animistic religion of the Celts. As a result of the dueling religions of the time, the poem includes influences from both Christianity and paganism, leaving its readers to wonder which religion had the most sway over the poet. Beowulf is a fundamentally more Christian epic on account of Beowulf’s resemblances of Jesus Christ, its allusions to the Bible, and its intimation of a supreme, monotheistic religion.

What are values? Values are things which are important to one, and will determine one’s priorities. During the Anglo-Saxon era, there were values which remain the same till this day. Loyalty and courage play a big -roll in today’s values, as much as it did during the Anglo – Saxon time.

As European civilizations began to develop, humans created polytheistic belief systems. These belief systems allowed humanity to define, worship, and comprehend both the natural and supernatural worlds that surrounded them. However, as perceptions of religious beliefs changed, polytheistic belief systems transformed into a monotheistic belief system. Originally governed by the Celtic faith, Britain’s belief structure experienced a significant transformation with the conquest of the Anglo-Saxons and their Germanic paganism. Society was struggling to establish its identity within a new belief structure. To ease this integration Christian ideas were founded on the existing pagan ideology. This transition produced a gradual conversion to Christianity. The epic poem “Beowulf”, written circa 1000 AD, reflects the unification of Anglo-Saxon pagan concepts with Christian beliefs. ……. The poem, “Beowulf”, demonstrates the fusion between these two divergent religious systems in the characterization Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon by utilizing principles from both Christianity and Paganism.

Dickinson’s poem 1545 contains multiple meanings and interpretations. It is a criticism of Christianity, however, she criticizes in a rather witty way. Throughout this piece of literature, she uses words that have many meanings to dig at the bible and people’s narrow-minded beliefs within the sacred text. Dickenson also uses repetition to draw attention to certain words. Perhaps the ultimate gibe is that she takes seemingly long, complicated, and popular biblical stories and shortens them to four words or less. By doing this she gives off the impression that the “faded men” who wrote the bible are not as clever as they think; but rather they’re stories are simple and transparent.

The stories of Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales are two that have been compared for centuries. Based in two different time periods, both novels describe religion, loyalty, and distinguish social classes through characters. In the novel Beowulf, the character Beowulf is known as the “hero of all heroes,” strong, courageous, and a warrior who is willing to risk his life for his ideals. In The Canterbury Tales, there are twenty-four tales describing characters from a knight to a monk’s tale. As the stories are written in two different time periods with different themes and voices, they can be compared in many ways. Both novels describe religion through their warriors, Beowulf and the Knight from The Canterbury Tales.

Compare the ways in which Shakespeare’s Hamlet and Blake’s Song of Innocence poems have explored the theme of religion.

Anglo-Saxon literature often offers a dichotomous view of the world. The mixture of old Germanic traditions with Christian ideology influences most pieces and colours the analysis of said pieces as a result. James Doubleday writes that their culture is one that “thought of the universe and human experience in dichotomies” (Doubleday, p.8). Those dichotomies include the portrayal of gender as well as the interpretations of this portrayal. For most scholars, the Judith of the Old English poem is often either praised as a feminist hero, a woman acting as a male warrior, or she is denied heroism and claimed to be a wise woman whose violent deeds are no match for real Anglo-Saxon heroes.

Beowulf is an epic dense with imagery derived from Anglo-Saxon Pagan culture and Christianity because it is was written in England during the 8th century, a period of Christian migration, growth, and conversion. From the sea where he loses a fight but fends off evil sea-monsters, the forests, and specific animals such as the raven, Beowulf blends nature, mysticism, and reality seamlessly. The descriptions of nature are general and vague which makes it hard to tell exact locations and lets the reader form their own, personalized visualization of the area; likewise, the role of nature in the lives of the Anglo-Saxon culture and Pagan religion remain unclear at best. Provided with many images of nature in Beowulf, this analysis will extract a deeper understanding of how the Anglo-Saxons used their Paganistic view of nature to help shape Beowulf.

The epic story of Beowulf is bursting at the seams with examples of paganism and Christianity, the presence of religion in Beowulf is extended throughout the epic, it can be seen through kennings, characters, symbolism, and events. During the time of the Anglo Saxons, when Beowulf was written, Christianity and paganism coexisted while Christianity was changing thoughts throughout Europe. The Europe of the past maybe distant in time but not by morals, Both present-day Europe and the Europe of the past are Christian based societies with pagan tendencies. The unknown author was most likely a Christian monk recording a primarily pagan story, in which a beautiful blend of religions was created that come together to forge an epic poem. From the late 6th century towards the end of the Anglo Saxon period, through monasteries and missionaries, Christianity spread north and westward. By the time Beowulf was written down, the religion was well-established in England. Nevertheless, Beowulf himself embodies characteristics of both, occasionally his actions say he is one more so than the other. Religion can be seen throughout this piece making itself present through the actions of characters, diction chosen by the author, and symbolism between Christ and main characters such as Beowulf and Grendel, as well as the soldier's religious beliefs.