100 likes | 260 Views
Religion and Women. Things to Keep in Mind:. Religion of diff. gods persisted through influence of Christianity. Ordin : god of death, poetry, and magic Thor was the god of thunder and lightning Dragon represents the protection of the treasure in Beowulf
E N D
Things to Keep in Mind: • Religion of diff. gods persisted through influence of Christianity. • Ordin: god of death, poetry, and magic • Thor was the god of thunder and lightning • Dragon represents the protection of the treasure in Beowulf • Religion emphasized early heroism as it did in Beowulf • Women held rights and were given a gift of land and money • Hild (614-680) abbess of Whitby considered most famous of these women during this time
The Anglo-Saxon Religion: gods for Warriors • Christianity unites Britain under a common ethical code • The religion of the Celts integrates imagination into British culture • Religion of warrior gods continued even through the influence of Christianity • Religion originated in Germany • Similar to Norse or Scandinavian Mythology
God of Death • Ordin: god of death, poetry, and magic • Ordinwas Woden which is Wednesday meaning “Woden’s day.” • Woden: help human communicate with spirits through uses of burial rights and ecstatic trances • Woden: played an important role in the lives of people
God of Thunder and Lightning • Thunor, is also Thor, Norse god of thunder and lightning • Thor’s sign is the hammer and twisted cross (swastika) which can be seen on many Anglo-Saxon gravestones • Thunor’s name means Thursday or “Thor’s day.”
Other Figures in Mythology • Sig. fig in mythology is the dragon • In Beowulf, the dragon represents the protector of the treasure • Dragon represents personification of “death the devourer” and the guardian of the grave mound. • Grave mound – warriors ashes and treasure
Conclusion of Anglo-Saxon Religion • Seemed to be more concerned with ethics than with mysticism • Represented earthy virtues of bravery, loyalty, generosity, and friendship • The death of pagan Anglo-Saxon culture gives the British epic, Beowulf, its melancholy feel and emphasizes on earthy heroism instead of hope for an afterlife
Women in Anglo-Saxon Culture • Women rights were influenced by the Norman Conquest • Wills used later in Anglo-Saxon shows women inherited and held property; even when married • Husband had to offer a woman a gift called the morgengifu or “morning-gift” of money and land • Women had personal control of gift
Women cont… • Christianity offered opportunities for women • Women joined communities and powerful abbesses, who were in charge of large double houses that included both a monastery and a nunnery • Hild (614-680) abbess of Whitby considered most famous of these women • Accumulated an immense library and turned Whitby into a center of learning • Viking destroyed Abbey in 19th Century • Ruins of a monastery still stand today and overlook the north sea