Anglo-Saxon polytheism
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Anglo-Saxon polytheism refers to the Migration Period Germanic Heathen religion practiced by the Anglo-Saxons in 5th to 7th century England.
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[edit] Origins and History
The Anglo-Saxons, traditionally (according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) composed of tribes of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes, arrived in Britain from southern Scandinavia, the Netherlands and northern Germany. It is from these people that the modern English language (Angle-ish) derives. An impression, but only that, of the Anglo-Saxon mythology can be obtained from reading about Scandinavian mythology. The latter was written down much later, by Snorri Sturlsson, because Iceland remained pagan until well into the Christian era (c.1200). The Norse of Iceland and the English certainly shared a common ancestry in 6th century Denmark. The Anglo-Saxons were a largely illiterate society and tales were orally transmitted between groups and tribes by the Anglo-Saxon travelling minstrels, the scops, in the form of verse.
[edit] Sources
The chief literary source is Bede, a Christian monk who wrote of the old English pagan calendar in his De Temporum Ratione. Only a little Old English poetry has survived, and all of it has had Christian redactors. The epic poem Beowulf is an important source of Anglo-Saxon pagan poetry and history, but it is clearly addressed to a Christian audience, containing numerous references to the Christian God, and using Christian phrasing and metaphor. The monster Grendel, for example, is described as a descendant of the biblical Cain. In fact, the only fragment of poetry dating to the pagan era that has not undergone redaction by Christian editors is the Finnsburgh Fragment.
Some scholars of Anglo-Saxon literature, most notably E.G. Stanley, maintain that no evidence remains of the earlier pagan beliefs, questioning in particular the religious connotations with which the term "wyrd" is translated. There are, however, many archaeological finds documenting pre-Christian England, notable among these is the Sutton Hoo ship burial. Some of these such as the Franks casket illustrate mythlogical scenes.
[edit] Beliefs
The Anglo-Saxons may have believed in Wyrd, usually translated as "fate," although the modern term fate does little justice to the true meaning of wyrd. They believed in supernatural creatures such as elves, dwarves and giants ("Etins") who often brought harm to men. However, Anglo-Saxon words containing the element "elf" were often translations of Greek or Latin terms (for example, a "wæterelf" for "nymph").
Being of Germanic ancestry, the Anglo-Saxons worshipped the same gods as the Norse and other Germanic peoples. The names vary slightly due to the differences in language among the Germanic peoples. For example, Thunor of the Anglo-Saxons was the same deity as Thor of the Norse and Donar of the Germans. Likewise, Woden of the Anglo-Saxons is the same as Odin among the Norse and Wotan of the Germans.
[edit] The Gods
The polytheistic religious ideas of the Anglo-Saxons made allowance for the worship of many gods. There the Anglo Saxons had temples that housed idols of their gods as well as an altar. Pope Gregory instructed Augustine to 'destroy the idols but use their houses for Christian worship'.
| Anglo Saxon | Old German | Norse equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Wóden also known as Grim | Wodan/Wotan | Óðinn |
| Þunor | Donar | Þórr |
| Tíw | Zîu | Týr |
| Seaxnéat | Saxnôte | none |
| Géat | Gausus | Gautr |
| *Fríge | Frîja | Frigg |
| Éostre | Ostara | none |
| Ing | none | Yngvi-Freyr |
| none | Balder | Baldr |
[edit] The Ése
The Ése correspond to the Norse Æsir:
Woden, the leader of the Wild Hunt and the one who carries off the dead. He was one of the chief gods of the Angles and Saxons before the Christian era. He was held to be the ancestor of Hengist and Horsa, two legendary figures from early English history and most of the early Anglo-Saxon kings claimed descent from Woden. He gives us the modern Wednesday ("Woden's day").
Thunor, (Anglo-Saxon: Þunor). He is the god of thunder, who rules the storms and sky. He also protects mankind from the giants. He was the god of the common people within the heathen community. His name gives rise to the modern Thursday. *Geleafawær Fyrnsida
Fríge is the goddess of love, and is the wife of Woden. She is one of the most powerful Goddesses, this position being threatened only by Freya. Her day is Friday, due to her associations with Venus, but there is also the belief that Friday is named for Freya instead.
Tiw is the god of warfare and battle, and gives us Tuesday. There is some speculation that he is a sky-god figure and formerly the chief god, displaced over the years by Woden. *Miercinga Ríce *Anglo-Saxon Heathenism
[edit] The Wen
Ingui Fréy was one of the most popular Gods, after Thunor and Woden - there is evidence[1] to suggest that Ingui was the foremost of the Anglo-Saxon deities, his cult later being displaced by that of the Ese. He is above all the God of fertility, bringing abundance (wone) and fruitfulness to the crops, herds, and the Folk. Though he is a fertility god, he is also connected to warfare to a degree; however, this warfare is defensive, as opposed to offensive, and is not to create strife and havoc. After all, peace is necessary for a good harvest and a productive community, while needless warfare destroys any prospect of peace and abundance. The Yngling royal line of Sweden claimed descent from him.
Freya is said to be the most beautiful of all the goddesses, and is therefore described as the goddess of Love. She is not to be mistaken with Frige, however; Freya's dominion is erotic love, whereas Frigga's is love expressed within marriage. It is likely that Freya directed Woden's Waelcyrge onto the battlefield to claim the fallen soldiers. Like her brother, Fréy, she is connected to abundance and wealth; however, her wealth is primarily in precious metals and gems. She is also a Goddess of Magic, having taught Woden seiðr.
Neorð is Frey and Freyja's father, and is the God of the seas and commerce. He is called upon by fishermen and sailors who depend upon good seas. Like his son and daughter, his realm is that of wealth; namely, the wealth of the sea. He married the giantess Sceadu, though the marriage was not successful as neither of them could tolerate the other's element; Sceadu his mountains, and Neorð her sea. *Miercinga Ríce *Anglo-Saxon Heathenism
[edit] Other Gods and Heroes
Hengest and Horsa, who are named in historical sources as leaders of the earliest Anglo-Saxon incursions in the south, may also have been or acquired deific status. The name Hengest means "stallion" and Horsa means "horse"; the horse in the Anglo-Saxon mythos is a potent and significant symbol.
Weyland, Wayland, or Welund - a mythic smith. Originally, he was an elfish being, a shape changer like his wife, a swan maiden and Valkyrie. His picture adorns the Franks Casket, an Anglo-Saxon royal hoard box and was meant there to refer to wealth and partnership. [2]
Eorðe, whose name means "Earth," is the wife of Woden, by whom she gave birth to Þunor. She is also the daughter of the Goddess Niht. Her worship is generally passive, as opposed to active, though she is called on for "might and main." Her latent strength can be seen in her son, Þunor.
Eostre, according to Bede, was a Goddess whose feast was celebrated in Spring. Bede asserts that the current Christian festival of Easter took its name from the Goddess's feast in Eostur-monath (April/Aprilis).
Niht is the Goddess of Night, and also the mother of Eorðe. The Norse night was the daughter of Narvi. She was married three times; the first to Naglfari by whom she had Aud; the second, to Annar by whom she had Eorðe; and the third to Dellinger Daeg.
Sigel is the Goddess of the Sun, called Sunna by modern Heathens. Her day is, of course, Sunday.*Miercinga Ríce *Anglo-Saxon Heathenism.
[edit] Practices
Since Anglo-Saxon religion and its revival organizations are a subset of Heathenry in general, many of its central practices are also shared by other religions such as Asatru.
- November in Old English was known as blótmónað, as this passage points out:
- Se mónaþ is nemned on Léden Novembris, and on úre geþeóde blótmónaþ, forðon úre yldran, ðá hý hǽðene wǽron, on ðam mónþe hý bleóton á, ðæt is, ðæt hý betǽhton and benémdon hyra deófolgyldum ða neát ða ðe hý woldon syllan.
- "This month is called Novembris in Latin, and in our language the month of sacrifice, because our forefathers, when they were heathens, always sacrificed in this month, that is, that they took and devoted to their idols the cattle which they wished to offer." ([3] trans. Joseph Bosworth)
- It is significant to note that the English word "bless" comes from the word Blot, both of which signify blood, which denotes the sacrificial aspect.
- A ritual drinking feast in which mystical revelation was achieved through drinking alcohol, usually mead. This mystical revelation is typically associated with divination, and the quest for good fortune by alignment with the forces of destiny, the wyrd. The participants at symbel other than the drinkers themselves were the symbelgifa, the giver of the symbel or host, the scop or poet (the entertainment), the alekeeper (the server of the ale), and the þyle who was charged with keeping order (to a greater or lesser extent).*Miercinga Ríce
[edit] Christian Prohibitions of Magic and Other Practices
Early Christian prohibitions on the Anglo-Saxon practice of magic (see seid and völva) in all its shapes and forms are particularly revealing of how strong a belief in the supernatural was held, and are the primary source for knowledge of Anglo-Saxon paganism:
- " We enjoin, that every priest zealously promote Christianity, and totally extinguish every heathenism; and forbid well worshipings, and necromancies, and divinations, and enchantments, and man worshipings, and the vain practices which are carried on with various spells, and with "frithsplots"[2], and with elders, and also with various other trees, and with stones, and with many various delusions, with which men do much of what they should not. — And we enjoin, that every Christian man zealously accustom his children to Christianity, and teach them the Paternoster and the Creed. And we enjoin, that on feast days heathen songs and devil's games be abstained from.'" (ecclesiastical canosn of King Edgar, AD 959)[3]
A magic item that survived destruction by the clerics is the Franks Casket, an Anglo-Saxon royal hoard box with runic inscriptions (whalebone, early 7th century). It bears scenes of Roman and Germanic background as well as a picture of the Magi adoring Christ. These carvings along with runic inscriptions were meant to influence the fate, O.E. wyrd, of its owner, a warrior king. The image of the “Holy three Kings” may have saved the box from purgatory.
It is possible to conclude from the foregoing that magical practice was rife, and that water, tree and stone worship in various forms were also practiced by the Anglo-Saxons. Interesting also is the mention of frithspottum, relating as it does to the core concept of frith, ostensibly meaning "peace" but having much deeper significance and a far broader spread of implications.
[edit] Transition to Christianity
Transition to Christianity took place gradually, over the course of the 7th century, influenced on one side by Celtic Christianity and the Irish mission, on the other by Roman Catholicism introduced to England by Augustine of Canterbury in 579. The last pagan Anglo-Saxon king, Penda of Mercia, died in 655, but paganism among the rural population, as in other Germanic lands, didn't so much die out as gradually blend into folklore.
[edit] References
- ^ Richard North - Heathen Gods in Old English Literature (Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England) 2006
- ^ Frith = brushwood, splot = plot of ground; sometimes used for 'splotch, splash'.
- ^ Thorpe, Benjamin, Monumenta Ecclesiastica, London (1840), ii, p. 249, cited after Margaret Alice Murray, The Witch-Cult in Western Europe (1921) [1]
[edit] Literature
- Brian Branston, The Lost Gods of England, Thames and Hudson, 2nd ed. (1974), ISBN 0-500-11013-1
- William A. Chaney, The Cult of Kingship in Anglo-Saxon England: The Transition from Paganism to Christianity, University of California Press (1970).
- Kathleen Herbert, Looking for the Lost Gods of England, Anglo-Saxon Books (1995), ISBN 1-898281-04-1
- Gale R. Owen, Rites and Religions of the Anglo-Saxons, Barnes & Noble Imports (1982), ISBN 0-389-20128-6
- Stephen Pollington, The Mead-Hall: The Feasting Tradition in Anglo-Saxon England, Anglo-Saxon Books (2003), ISBN 1-898281-30-0
- E.G. Stanley, The Search for Anglo-Saxon Paganism, Rowman and Littlefield (1975), ISBN 0-87471-614-4
- E.G. Stanley, Imagining the Anglo-Saxon Past : The Search for Anglo-Saxon Paganism and Anglo-Saxon Trial by Jury, D.S.Brewer (2000), ISBN 0-85991-588-3
- Michael WoodIn search of the Dark Ages, Checkmark Books (2001), ISBN 0-8160-4702-2
- Richard North, Heathen Gods in Old English Literature, Cambridge Studies in Anglo-Saxon England, (2006), 0521030269
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Anglo-Saxon Heathenism, the historical Anglo-Saxon religion.
- Miercinga Ríce Website, modern Anglo-Saxon paganism with information the historical aspects.
See Also: Lyblác Anglo Saxon witchcraft at www.seax.org The tradition founded by Wulfeage/Sean Percival in 2003
