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Anglo-Saxon World View and Key Themes

Explore the Anglo-Saxon worldview and key themes such as fate, fame, and companionship. Discover how they viewed the world and interacted with nature and God. Learn about their epic poetry and the characteristics that made their writing unique.

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Anglo-Saxon World View and Key Themes

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  1. Anglo-Saxon World View and Key Themes

  2. What is World View? • How a person/group of people feels about and interacts with the world, nature, and God • Anglo-Saxon worldview- grim, negative- they lived harsh lives full of war and hard work • Saw nature as the enemy; no concept of happy afterlife or loving God

  3. WYRD • Anglo-Saxon concept of FATE. • They believed their lives were ruled by FATE (or wyrd).

  4. LOF • Because the Anglo-Saxons did not believe in an afterlife, they sought immortality through a concept called LOF (or FAME)

  5. COMITATUS • Again, because life was so harsh, they made life meaningful through relationships with one another and the king. • Comitatus means COMPANIONSHIP- loyalty and love to your kinsmen, friends, and king

  6. What made life worth living? • LOF (FAME)- for the afterlife • COMITATUS (COMPANIONSHIP)- for now • MEAD HALL- the king lived in a great hall called the mead hall where warriors would gather and tell stories and drink mead

  7. SCOPS • Pronounced SHOPES • Storytellers and poets • Entertainers

  8. Conversion • St. Augustine and St. Patrick are two famous missionaries who brought Christianity to Great Britain. • Christianity offered a happy afterlife, a loving God, and ideas like forgiveness and hope that their religion had not. • Celtic Cross= Pagan Celtic Sundial+Christian Cross

  9. Make a chart listing the differences in Pagan and Christian Values

  10. Monsters and supernatural beings Lof (Fame) Warrior- Physical Strength Courage Pride (Heroic Boasts) Revenge (Weregild) Riches/Gold Loyalty Signs, Superstition, Wyrd (fate) Valhalla Sacrifice “The Almighty” Love Compassion Humility- “the meek shall inherit the earth” Forgiveness “love your enemies” Riches are in heaven, not on earth Sacrifice Heaven Pagan vs. Christian

  11. Characteristics of Writing • Kenning- a metaphorical two word compound • Example: “whale-road”= the ocean • “soul-house”= the body • Video example of kennings: • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYErtw_T0Ts • Epithet- replacing a character’s name with a descriptive phrase • Example: Grendel=“The Shadow of Death” • Caesura- a pause in the middle of a line indicated by a comma, semi-colon, or period • Alliteration- repetition of initial consonant sounds

  12. Reasons for these Characteristics • Euphony= pleasing to the ear; it sounds good!! • Memory= rhythm and repetition help it make things easier to remember- the scops had to tell all of their stories from memory so caesura and alliteration helped

  13. Epics: The Basics • Definition: a long narrative poem that recounts the deeds of a hero and/or the story of a nation • THEME: Good vs. Evil • SETTING: Vast- over many years and different landscapes • HEROIC BOAST- when the hero brags to achieve fame and gain “Lof” • TONE: formal and serious

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