MODULE I

ANGLO-SAXON AGE: AN INTRODUCTION

In this chapter you will learn:

A brief outline of the political history of early England and the Celtic civilization
The coming of the Anglo-Saxons and the subsequent changes in the politics, economics
and the social institutions
The advent of Christianity and its effect of the Anglo-Saxon society
How the English identity and nation is made

Preface

It is a common practice to confuse past with history. One may protest and say that history deals with
the past and it dwells in the past, it depicts the incidents that has happened long time ago. True, but
this is far from being the whole picture. History is a process: it collects, edits, changes, writes, re-
writes and interprets all the events that have happened long before we were born. It is a growing
organism, a living being. Think of it in this way: we have no way of learning about the past without
the help of history; our idea of the pastwhich may include vital questions like who we were, where
we come from, what were our ancestors likeis shaped by history itself. Thus, history is a powerful
tool and when used by the powerful people it may change the course of the society.

In the present section our attempt would be to look at the beginnings of the Anglo-Saxon period and
relate it to the growth of the indigenous literature of this area. We shall not merely be looking at some
important dates and events, and learn the names of kings and queens, but shall try to understand the
ethos of the agethink what those people thought and felt, and make an estimate of their culture and
philosophy. There are a few impediments to this endeavour: first, at such an early state, it is difficult
to distinguish between history and myth; secondly, many old texts are lost and missing. The first
problem stems from the fact that the need for recording events of historical importance was felt much
later. The earlier men were content with composing songs and lays about their heroes and battles.
Such songs were sung by the wandering minstrels or troubadours in the feasts or gatherings. Such
compositions coloured the historical truth with the imagination of the chauvinistic minds. Moreover,
when these songs were transmitted from generation to generation through the oral medium more
changes were made, making it more suitable to the contemporary age. This is true not only about the
songs but also about the oral epics which were later written down by the educated men, who would
once again change them according to their own taste. Thus, scholars have pointed out the Christian
interpolations in pagan literature because the early writers were all men from religious background.
Remember, the use of the term men is not an instance of generic simplification but a historical fact,
for education of women was a distant dream in those days.

Module I, Unit I, p 1
The second problem that we shall encounter is the loss of texts. It may have many reasons behind it.
As we have already seen, written documentation happens much later, thus many texts were already
lost by the time they were written. In many cases, the books were burned or lost due to loot and
plunder. In those days, book writing was a time consuming and costly matter. There was no printing
press, thus, once written the manuscript would be copied by the learned men or scribes, and several
manuscripts would be preserved in various abbeys, which
also worked as the libraries. Some rich men had the
privilege of a personal library but that is a much later The art historians use the term insular
development, because in the Anglo-Saxon nobility was to characterise British art of this
period. Insular art, or art of the
mostly composed of the warrior class who did not have the islands, is distinctive, but of mixed
origins: Celtic, Germanic and
luxury of learning. Mass education was not thought of, and
Mediterranean. This speaks of the
thus the readership was very limited and selective. confluence of different cultures in the
post-migratory phase, and is well
However, the manuscripts would have various designs in reflected in the Anglo-Saxon culture
the margins, for the scribes would be deft artists. These as a whole which can be related to
Anglo-Celtic-Roman origins.
designs can also be seen as historical data, for instance, the
gospel books that appeared in England around 700 BCE
(Lindisfarne Gospels), used motifs that were used to
decorate the weapons and jewellery of the warrior elite, whereas, the same books that were produced
in other parts of Europe used Romano-Christian symbols as margin designs. This shows the
preponderance of the heroic culture in the Anglo-Saxon society even when they were Christianized
a historical reality that has a long-standing impact in the making of the English nation. To go back to
our previous argument, one might suggest that loss of texts would definitely be a hurdle in realising
the whole picture of Anglo-Saxon literature, and we have to leave much to our imagination and
understanding, but if we look at the reasons behind these losses new historical insight might be drawn.

Manuscripts preserved in various abbeys

At the very beginning of this section, it has been told that history is a living mechanism, a continuous
process. How shall we then read the Anglo-Saxon history? Patrick Wormald writes in his essay titled,
Anglo-Saxon Society and its Literature that England is the worlds oldest continuously functioning
state, and English is now its most widely spoken language. (P 19) Taking the cue from him, we shall
see how both of these two incidents came into being, i.e., how the English nation was made and how

Module I, Unit I, p 2
English was established as its language. You may wonder what is so significant about England being
the land of the English-speaking people. History would tell you that the English nation is a melting
pot of various tribes and cultures, like Angle, Saxon, Jute, Franks, Gauls, Picts, Scot, Celts, some of
whom who were the original inhabitants of the land
and others who came from the other side of the
ocean for colonising the land at various stages.
Celts: Celtic, once widely diffused over
Every tribe carried its own cultural baggage, but by Europe, can be divided into three groups:
Gaulish, Britannic and Gaelic. Gaulish was
the end of the 11th century a common English spoken in France and northern Italy in the
time of Roman Republic, and was spread
identity was clearly etched out with an efficient abroad by Celtic military expeditions to
Central Europe as far as Asia Minor. It died
political and economic system, and also a well- out during early centuries of Christian era.
formed vernacular literature, which could help the Britannic was the branch of Celtic spoken in
most of Britain before the Anglo-Saxon
language and its people survive the onslaughts of invasions. It survived into modern times in
three languages: Cornish, which is known in
French invasion. So first, let us take a look at the texts from fifteenth century and died out in
eighteenth century; Welsh, which has literary
historical facts that supported this process of nation texts going back to eleventh century; and
Breton, which has literary texts from the
building. fourteenth century. Breton was taken across
to Brittany by refugees from Britain during the
time of Anglos-Saxon conquests.

A Short Survey of the Political History of the Anglo-Saxons in England

Celts and the advent of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes

The coming of the Anglo-Saxons to the British island can be seen as a watershed mark in British
history. In the earliest time the island was inhabited by people who belonged to the Celtic group, akin
to the Gauls. These people cultivated their lands, and were skilled in weaving, metal works and in
making ornaments. Since they did not write their history and depended on bards to memorize and
recount their stories, many of their stories cannot be accessed. Historians call them Britons and their

Module I, Unit I, p 3
language British which is the parent language of the modern day Welsh. At around 55-54 BCE Julius
Caesar sent his troops to colonise the land but this attempt was not met with much success. Almost
hundred years later emperor Claudius sent another troop of 50,000 men and after much fight the Celts
were defeated. (See Map I) The important figures of Celtic defence were Caratacus, who led his tribe
for more than six years against the Romans in the mountains of Wales, which was the centre of
Druidism, and a tribal queen called Boadicea who destroyed and burned three centres of Roman
power: Colchester, St. Albans and London. The Romans could not occupy the northern part of the
island (i.e., the modern-day Scotland) as well, which was occupied by Caledonian and Pictish tribes.
Around 142 CE the wall of Antoninus and in 180 CE the wall of Hadrain was constructed to
demarcate the northern boundary of Roman occupation in the island. The southern part of the entire
island was under their rule for next 350 years. (See Map II)

The colonization by the Romans made some important changes in the island. They brought along
with them the rule of the law, a much-developed
language like the Latin and also better civic life.
The coming of the Anglo-Saxons also
Fortified towns and fine roads were built to enhance the
had a huge impact on the language of
security of the settlers. The drainage system also the island. There is no reason to think
that the Celtic language was wiped out.
improved. Tax on corn was collected from the But since they were the defeated ones
inhabitants. The largest of the towns were called their language lost its prestigeyou will
come across a similar incident while
Londinium which in todays London. Also remember reading about the French invasion of
England. However, a few Celtic words
that Roman civilisation was town-based while the later
still survive in modern English,
day Anglo-Saxons concentrated more in the particularly in place names like, London,
Leeds and names of rivers, for instance,
development of the country-side. The Romans however Avon, Ouse (meaning water or stream),
never lost contact with their own country. The officials Thames (dark river), etc; county names
like Devon and Kent. However, now
and traders went to the British island for a few years of Celtic tongue was gradually replaced by
their duty taking their families and households with the Anglo-Saxon languages which are
mostly derived from the West Germanic
them and returned home when their tenure was group of languages. The earliest
available texts of these people are
completed. You may compare them with the later day found to be curved in runes on metal or
British officials who came to our country for wooden object. They are also known as
futharks.
colonisation. They were never many in number.
Towards the end of this second and long rule of the
Romans the population was divided unequally into
Romans, the Britons who were the children of Roman fathers and Celtic mothers and who followed
Roman habits and called themselves Roman-Britons, and Britons who worked as slaves. It was the
Roman-Britons who thought themselves to be as good as Romans, suffered the most when the Roman
rule ended.

The change of fortune of Britain occurred when the Roman army stationed in the island was called
back to their own country to fight the barbarians. The northern tribes Picts and Scots (who had arrived

Module I, Unit I, p 4
in Scotland from Ireland) poured over the Hadrians wall, pirates swelled in the English channel, the
condition of the towns deteriorated. The Germanic tribes of Europe acted quickly. Angles, Saxons,
Jutes and other tribes from the northern borders of the Roman Empire (modern day Germany and
Denmark) came to colonise the country, killing and looting the country. The Britons fled westward
towards Wales. (See Maps III and IV)

Several historians have recorded the following events in different manners. However, to present a
simpler version of the event it is better to follow what is written by Bede: in 443 CE the Britons went
to seek the help of the Romans against the northern tribes but received none for they were busy
defending the attack of Attila the Hun on the Roman Empire. The Britons then sought the intervention
of the Saxons who gladly accepted this offer. Bede records the names of two important warriors and
their men from Jutland who in 449 CE came to fight for the Britons, Hengest and Horsa. At first they
fought against the Picts but slowly they started to take possession of the country. In the year 455 CE,
Hengest and Horsa fought against the very person who had invited them to the island, Wurtgern or
Vortigern; Horsa was slain but his brother Hengest killed Vortigern and took possession of the
kingdom of Kent which was populated by the Jutes. Realising the worthlessness of the Britons and
richness of the land more tribes like the Jutes from Jutland, other Saxon tribes, Angles from
Schleswig came to the country. Completely overpowered, the Britons fled westwards while these
northern tribes divided the island among themselves: Essex, Wessex and Sussex were taken by East,
West and South Saxons; Norfolk and Suffolk, which was later combined as East Anglia, by the North
and South folks of the Angles and Northumberland by another tribe of the Angles; finally, the
Marchmen took possession of the kingdom called Mercia which was on the border of the Briton
settlements. Britons were now called Welsh, which in Anglian terms meant strangers, and they were
called Saxons or Engles and hence the name English. These seven kingdoms were also known as the
heptarchy and in spite of their similarity in language and culture they fought among themselves for
political supremacy.

It is this political strife that indirectly gave rise to a sense of unity in the later days. It so happened that
whenever one small kingdom rose to power it exerted a kind of influence on the rest. In those days
political power was a dependent on the chief or kings martial prowess and charisma. In the period
that followed the migration age, when the political powers were consolidating we find the names of
such important chiefs who for a brief period of time ruled the politics of the land. First Northumbria
and then Mercia rose to power because of their good leadership. Their kings took title of Bretwalda or
overlord. King Edwin (617-33), Oswald (634-42) and Oswiu (642-70) of Northumbria and King Offa
(757-96) of Mercia were renowned for their exploits and good governance. By 800 CE it was Wessex
which dominated the political map. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which was compiled during the reign of
one of the most famous English kings, King Alfred, records that Ecgberht or Egbert, his grandfather
and the first king of Wessex who had gradually subdued Kent and Sussex, then Mercia and finally
Northumbria and united the English under him. But this must also be borne in the mind that political

Module I, Unit I, p 5
union always does not necessitate a cultural union of the people. Bede records in his Ecclesiastical
History of the English People that King Oswald was first denied burial in a monastery of the kingdom
of Lincolnshire for he had once conquered the land. However, this forced political union was
ultimately accepted by the people when they were
attacked by the Danes or Scandinavians who started
Danish Invasion and its effect on
to pour in from 787 CE.
English language

King Alfred and the Danish Invasion
The first major English ruler
was King Alfred of Wessex, under him and his
successors, Angle-cynn (the English people and their
territory) became Engla-lond (the land of the
In the language tree, the Scandinavian
languages originate from the North
Germanic group of languages which are
very similar to the West Germanic
languages. Thus, as the intensity of the
political enmity between the two groups
lessened, the two languages came
closer and shared their vocabulary with
one another. As a result of which a huge
number of everyday words like man,
wife, father, mother, wise, well, ill, egg,
over, under, come, sit are identical in
two languages. The renowned
philologist, Otto Jespersen says, An
Englishman cannot thrive or be ill or die
without the Scandinavian words; they
are to the language what bread and
eggs are to daily fare.

English). Alfred became the king in 871 but his reign

began in a dismal situation as the Danish invasion of
England had already began (in 794 they had plundered the monastery of Jarrow). Though King Alfred
faced the most virulent period of the Danish attacks he was determined to set his country free. At first
he failed. He tried to bribe the Danes and fight them; still they came in huge numbers, till at last in
878, after seven years of battle, he was defeated at Chippenham, and was obliged to flee to the woods
in disguise. Many stories are told about his years of hiding. He once again collected a handful of
faithful men and made a desperate effort. This time he succeeded. He gained a complete victory at
Edington, near Chippenham, and forced the Danish leader Guthrun to make a treaty at Wedmore. By
this treaty Alfred was accepted as the overlord of Wessex, Sussex, Kent, part of Essex, and part of
Mercia, while he had to relinquish some other parts of the land to

the Danes, known as Danelagh or Danelaw. (See Map V)

Alfred is one of the great rulers of England. He built ships to defend the land against further Danish
invasion, reformed the legal system and was a patron of knowledge and learning. He made
translations of important theological texts and encouraged the writing of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
which is now an important source of information about the age.

After his death his able son Edward (901-925) and his daughter Ethelfled (also known as the Lady of
Mercia) ruled the country well. King Edward conquered some parts of the Danelagh and expanded

Module I, Unit I, p 6
his kingdom till Northumbria. He declared himself as the Emperor of Britain ruling over the Danes,
English and Welsh.

Rulers who followed King Edward witnessed the gradual downfall of English kingship due to
renewed Danish attacks. Athelston (925-940), who had a troubled reign, was followed by Edmund,
Edred and Eadwig (or Edwy). Eadwig ruled only for four years and he was remembered for his
quarrel with an influential priest called Dunstan. Dunstan became the archbishop of Canterbury
during the rule of Edgar I (959-975). Under Edgar, there was sixteen years of peace but unfortunately
he was followed by Ethelred the Unready whose thirty-six years of troubled reign made the country
more susceptible to the Danish attacks. He also levied a tax called Danegeld to buy them off but his
misrule alienated his thanes from him and they joined the Danes instead. Danes were at this time led
by a very able king Swegen whose son Cnut came to the English throne in 1016. Thus the two races
of Anglo-Saxons and Danes or Scandinavians were joined under his leadership. However the Danish
rule was short-lived. Canuts two sons proved to be incompetent rulers thus English and Danes sent
for the son of Ethelred the Unready, called Edward the Confessor (1042-1066) who was brought up in
Normandy. He arrived in England with his retinue of Norman friends, and very soon the English had
another enemy to fight with, the Normans, who like the Anglo-Saxons and Danes came to England in
search of its rich resources and set up their colonies.

Polity and economy of the Saxons

Let us take a look at the nature of the Anglo-Saxon government. From the very beginning of Anglo-
Saxon invasion in 449 CE to 1016, when Canute a Dane was elected by the Witan, England was under
the rule of Anglo-Saxon kings. You must understand that this is a long period of time during which
any civilisation would grow and develop and become more complex. In case of England the advent of
Christianity also initiated a change in the social pattern and power politics. We shall read that history
separately in the following sections. In Anglo-Saxon England, at first, the role of the king or chief was
much limited in political matters. He had to depend on the faithfulness of his people. Local matters
were decided by the assembly of free menthe folk mootthat chose their king or leader. However,
at the later stage, this practice changed, and kingship became hereditary but at the beginning there was
much democracy in such meetings. Then they set up hundred moots and shire moots for smaller
subdivision called hundreds (which was a group of villages) and then shires (which is a group of
hundreds). As the kingdoms grew too large for all the freemen to assemble, the place of the folk moot
was taken up by the Assembly of Wise Men or Witan. In it sat the aldermen, rulers of the shires, and
the thegns or chiefs of the kings bodyguards, the great landowners; after the Church was
established the bishops and archbishops also participated in this political assembly. This was indeed a
parliament in its rudimentary form. The Witan was powerful for it could not only make or amend laws
but also elect or depose kings.

Module I, Unit I, p 7
England also prospered under the Saxon kings. Roughly around the seventh century the business and
trade improved across the channel and North Sea. England was also an important centre for trade
during the Roman rule but now this unprecedented growth was a result of the replacement of the
monometallic gold currency with lower value silver coins better suited for everyday business
transactions. This helped in the large-scale importation and exportation of common daily products
which was previously done only for luxury items. King Offa established monopoly over the coins
issued in his name and made huge profits for his kingdom. (See King Offas coins) This economic
expansion had its drawback: it tempted the Vikings or Scandinavians to make inroads into the
country.

It is a rule of history that every economic change snowballs into a social change. The Anglo-Saxon
society used to be a stratified one and the social structure was relatively stable. The law codes reveal
that the nobles and the slaves occupied the highest and the lowest rung in the social ladder,
respectively, but the middle order was composed of free men. Noble and free status was inherited,
and expressed by a wergeld or man-money: it is the amount of money that the killers were supposed
to pay to the next of the kin if case of a violent death of the person. The noble-blood obviously cost
more than that of the free-men. A slave however had no wergeld though his owner was compensated
in case of his death. This sort of compensation shows the prominence of violence, aggression and
revenge in Anglo-Saxon society. Ample evidence can be found in the literature of the time: stories of
battles, blood-feuds, vengeance bedeck their literature that you are going to read. As the economy
prospered the upward social mobilization becomes easier. Any trader who had crossed the sea for
three times was promoted to the rank of the Thegn. Archbishop Wulfstan of York lamented that slaves
have become their owners masters. This also led to the growth of towns along the English coast and
the population increased in them. Thus by the time the Danish invaders came English society was a
well-governed, urban-based commercial hub.

Heroic values and its effect on literature

The great migration (Vlkerwanderung) of the Germanic tribes to England and the subsequent defeat
of the Celtic tribes turned England into a melting pot where people of various cultures and ethnicity
were forced to live together. Michael Swanton writes:

Ethnic blurring was a natural consequence of the Vlkerwanderung, as nations shifted, driven
by economic and political necessities, absorbing and absorbed by others. Archaeological
evidences suggest that on the eve of great land-takings, the Anglo-Saxons were already a mixed
and mongrel people. (6)

Political competition between the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms may finally have resolved with the forceful
geographical unification, but in an era where kingdoms rose and fell in quick succession with the rise
and fall of its leader such unity cannot be a long-standing one. Yet, as history would show us that

Module I, Unit I, p 8
from these seeds of differences some kind of harmony was imagined that gave rise to the concept of a
unified English nation. Two different and opposite forces can be responsible for this gradual change
in the society. The first is the heroic values that were deeply ingrained in the socio-economic rubric of
the post-Migration society in England; the second is definitely the coming of Christianity which at a
later stage, worked with the aristocracy to strengthen the power of the king over his territory and
created the distinctive British identity. Though the
ideology of the heroic society and that of Christianity are
mutually exclusive, yet in the history of England both
has contributed towards the consolidation of nationhood.

The concept of the heroic society is based on the

fundamental principle of the warrior owing loyalty to his
master or lord in return for his generous gifts. Such
concept of loyalty and rewards can also be found in the
later age of feudalism, but in that case all the rewards are
.
land-based. As you have already seen, the free-men of The importance of music and poetry in
Anglo-Saxon culture can hardly be
the society enjoyed a greater mobility and they could overemphasized At the Sutton Hoo Ship
enrol themselves under any lord or overlord but they burial site, a Lyre was also found, which
was preserved in a leather bag. The
have to pledge allegiance to him till death. Thus, the picture you see is a reconstruction of
the same lyre.
cultural differences got erased as people of different
ethnic background would come under an efficient or
powerful lord. They sought for heroic ideals in a man, whom they believed to be greater than all
others for his martial prowess and mental attributes. Thus a Danish warriors story of Beowulf
becomes the epic of the English people. Again, story of Charlemagnes feats or legends of King
Arthur (perhaps a Roman-Briton) are all preserved with equal care and enthusiasm. Thus the society
was much more lenient in matters of ethnic plurality if, of course, the other side was not a political
threat.

Hence, heroic society was dependent on the leadership qualities of a single man. This also speaks of a
change in the society that took place on the event of the dissolution of the Roman colonies. As the
central authority decayed, the importance of the local leadership, (which was in most of the cases an
economically self-sufficient one), rose, which maintained its own military responsibilities through the
war-band or comitatus. The dispossessed Irish or Picts or Celtic nobles whoever joined the comitatus
enjoyed its fortunes irrespective of their social or racial origins. The only source of allegiance was the
loyalty to the lord. Instead of the Empire, he was the one who could save his people from dangers of
every sort. Thus, the man who has been rejected by his lord, (you shall get ample evidence of such
incidents in the elegiac poetry of the time), had every reason to mourn. In the famous story of
Cynewulf and Cyneheard, narrated in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the formers warriors said that no
kinsman was dearer to them than their lord, and they would never serve his slayer. The lord on the

Module I, Unit I, p 9
other hand had to be generous in his rewards to recognise the loyalty of his followers and also confirm
his reputation. They would also entertain the poets who whose performance of poetry was a mode of
entertainment in which the greatest and the humblest would join and enjoy. The lyre would pass from
hand to hand round the hall, another space of public interaction that strengthened their bond as a
community, and the entire community shall willingly participate. Thus you shall also encounter the
recurrent image of the mead hall and songs in the non-Christian heroic literature of the period.

Advent of Christianity and its Effect on the Social Structure

Christianity came to the island in two phases: first with the early Romans, and its stay and influence
were short-lived because of the coming of the Anglo-Saxons who were pagan. In 597 CE Christianity
arrived again, through a mission sent by Pope Gregory the Great. This time, the religion spread slowly
but consistently and its effect was so overwhelming that when King Offa brought his neighbouring
kingdoms under Mercia he proclaimed his right in the name of Jesus Christ through whom
sovereigns reign and divide the kingdoms of the earth. King Alfred also asked the Danish warlord
Guthrun to embrace Christianity as a part of the peace treaty of Wedmore.

In the second phase, which we shall look at in some details, Christian missionaries headed by
Augustine landed at Ebbsfleet in Kent, the very place where Hengest and Horsa had landed fifty years
ago. First the king of Kent, Ethelbert was converted and his kingdom followed his example. Slowly
other kingdoms followed, the last person to convert was the King Penda of Mercia, who resisted this
religion for thirteen years and it was only after his death in a battle, his followers were converted.

Meanwhile, missionaries of Celtic origin came from Ireland settled in Scotland. In 634 CE St. Aidan,
a Scot, came from Iona and set up a monastery in Lindisfarne. It is told that certain practices of these
two churches differed from one another. In 664 CE a synod was held at Whitby to consider the matter
in which the verdict of King Oswy went in favour of the Roman Church. King Oswy was an
important royal figure at that time: he was the king of Northumbria and after defeating Penda in the
battle of Winwaed, he had established himself as King of Mercia and called himself a Bretwelda.
Thus, his choice had a great importance in the ecclesiastical history of Britain.

The Church was established but was not unified as there were several kingdoms, each having its own
church. In 669, Theodore of Tarsus, a Greek monk, who was chosen to be the Archbishop of
Canterbury by the Pope, took up the task of unifying the Church. He divided the land into dioceses,
gave each bishop his own district to manage, and held national synods. These synods were the
occasions when people could unite as the member of a Church and not of different kingdoms.

Module I, Unit I, p 10
Apart from giving the sense of a unification and
brotherhood, Christianity also changed the A beot is an Anglo-Saxon word signifying a

lifestyle and philosophy of the people. To a war-
torn race, the message of peace was a welcome
change. But the Christian philosophy was
markedly different from the ideology of the heroic
society and we must also understand that
Christianisation process was neither easy nor
swift. Patrick Wormald writes that Christianity
made much less progress in the sixth century
among the Anglo-Saxons than anywhere else. (P
3) The heroic qualities like beot or assertion was
central to Germanic virtue, leading directly to the
action which brings lof, the praise of ones peers,
and dom their esteem. But after Christianisation
such things would amount to boasting and self-
exhibitionism, a vice. Likewise, Superbia (pride),
an essential part of Anglo-Saxon social ethos was
ritualized boast, vow, threat, or promise. The
principle of a beot is to proclaim one's
acceptance of a seemingly impossible challenge
in order to gain tremendous glory for actually
accomplishing it.
Anglo-Saxon warriors would usually deliver beots
in the mead hall the night before a military
engagement or during the battle itself. For
example, a typical warrior may boast that he will
be the first to strike a blow in a battle, that he
would claim a renowned sword from enemy
warrior as spoils of battle, that he will slay a
particular monster that has been wreaking havoc
on a town or village, that and so on. Beots were
usually accompanied by grand stories of one's
past glorious deeds. Although other cultures and
times might disdain boasting as a sign of
arrogance, or sinful pride, the pagan Anglo-
Saxons highly regarded such behaviour as a
positive sign of one's determination, bravery, and
character.

unquestionably opposed to the Christian Examples of the beot can be seen throughout
the epic poem Beowulf, such as when Beowulf
humilitas.
vows to fight Grendel without using any weapons
or armour. (Source: Wikipedia)
Yet in spite of such differences, the church
worked in harmony with the monarch making
each other stronger in their acquisition and consilidation of power over the people. The clergy were
sympathetic to the rulers in general for a stronger ruler would be more useful for the extension of the
kingdom of God on earth. The kings could also use the benefits of an organised church for his
administrative work and for furthering his imperialist purpose. Thus, as history proceeds one would
find that the kings engaging in just wars (bellum justum) to spread the word of God and the Church
defending the king as someone not chosen by his people but sent by God. This change in attitude
towards viewing kingship alters the relationship between the governed and the governor, and reverses

Module I, Unit I, p 11
the structure of the societythe monarchical power becomes independent from the popular will and
to disobey the vicarius dei (Christs substitute on earth) or Christus domini (Lords anointed) is as
grave as committing a sin. The entente between religion and politics becomes the source of practical
power. The old Germanic overlord was now a sacred person demanding not only allegiance or loyalty
of his people but material possession and obedience.

What began as a simple pact of mutual benefit between Church and State at a time of crisis, develops
into an increasingly rigid interdependence, ceremonial elaboration and practical power evolving side
by side. (Swanton 12) This initiated a number of changes in the society: the church and the state got
united and created a centre of power and authority, the administration became more centralised, the
Folc-land became royal demesne, the older comitatus turned into the landed nobility and the ceorlisc
class sank into the Reclinitudes. Laws were no longer made in the folk-moots but by the king and the
legal institutions of the state. As the power consolidates, peoples dependence on land increases, we
gradually move from the migratory heroic society to feudal society where the subjects or the vassals
are bound to the king in terms of land and law.

Advent of Christianity had a tremendous and long-lasting impact on the field of literature. We shall
look at these points again in greater details when we read Christian poetry and prose, but for the time
being we shall simply note the most important points. Firstly, since Christianity is a religion of the
Book, thus literacy becomes an important social requirement; secondly, the Churches become the seat
of learning and preservation of different manuscripts; thirdly, literature graduates from oral to written
state; fourthly, there was an increasing need felt to translate the Latin texts to vernacular English for
the better understanding of the indigenous clergy, this gave rise to a new body of literature which is
distinctly homiletic in purpose; finally, just as the relation between the king and his subjects changed
due to Christian influence, likewise, the nature of hero also changes in literature. We no longer have
the angry proud slayer of monsters but an ecclesiastically sanctioned hero who fights for the uplift of
the poor, widows and orphans, one who is the guardian of the society. War was no longer meant for
personal victory but for the social or rather national cause. Hero of Beowulf is metamorphosed into the
dreamer of the Dream of the Rood, who is an Anglo-Saxon hero, keen to join in a battle with death
and shall honour the Cross as the sign of salvation and proclaim to the world the news of the Second
Coming.

Summing Up:
The early history of England shows how the English identity has been formed of
different cultural identities and ethnic origins.
The Migration Age occasioned for this great mingling of cultures while the English soil
accommodated them, and the heroic culture united them for the pursuit of a common
goal: glory and pride.
As the economy became more dependent on agriculture and landed property, it could no
a. longer support the values of a heroic society; the task of uniting the people was then
done by Christianity and good governance.
This gradual transformation of the society is also reflected in its literature. From heroic
Module
and elegiac poetry to Christian prose, the literature represents the change in theI, thought-
Unit I, p 12
process of the people that accompanies any socio-economic change.