History of the English Literature
Lecture III
20th October A.D. 2010
The impact of the arrival of Christianity on Anglo-Saxon literature and
culture
Various manifestations of early English Christianity are rooted in pre-Christian elements and
heroic culture and ideals (Gold and treasure =power). Irish had their part in it too.
1. Arrival of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon kingdoms
a. two directions  from Ireland and from Rome
b. Irish missionaries like St. Columba  the establishment of a monastery in Iona, Scotland (563
A.D.).
c. The mission of St. Augustine (St. Augustine of Canterbury) in 597 A.D.
d. the Synod of Whitby, 664 A.D., ending the discord between Irish and Roman Christianity
2. Anglo-Saxon Culture as growing out of several cultures:
a. Germanic Heritage (from the continent).
b. Celtic elements (both those of the Romanized Celts and pagan Celts).
c. The memory of the power of Rome and classical culture
d. Christian ideas and ideology  initially a mixture of pagan and Christian elements and influences
e. Several examples of the evidence for the existence of two cultures and two traditions side by side:
-the names of week-days in English. Óxinn- Wotan/Wodan -Wodansdvg -Wednesday
-possible connections between Old Norse gods and Christianity: Baldr-Christ, Óxinn  hanging on
the Yggdrasil tree to obtain the wisdom of runes
-Irish cross  the cross superimposed on the solar symbol
-the poem Heliand (Saviour) in Old Saxon (on the continent), ca. 825 A.D., also known as the
Saxon Gospel.
-the so-called Frank's casket(made of the whale bone (7th Century): front panel with a scene from
Germanic mythology and the adoration of newly-born Christ by the three Magi), ca. 650 A.D.,
Northumbria.
-the concept of the middangeard  Middle Earth/ Middle Yard  in  Cvdmon's Hym from 670
A.D., similar to Old Norse Midgaard.
3. The Kingdom of Northumbria in the late 7th and 8th Century:
a. the growth of monasteries and their importance as cultural and intellectual centres.
b. the idea of the so-called Northumbrian revival (also called the Northumbrian renaissance).
c. Insular art: production of beautifully illuminated manuscripts (like the Lindisfarne Gospols) in
the 7th and 8th century.
d. Anglo-Saxon intellectuals:
-bishop Aldhelm of Wessex (639-709 A.D.)
-Abbess Hild of Whitby (614-680 A.D.)
-Venerable Bede of Northumbria(673-735 A.D.)
King Aldfrith of Northumbria (r. 685 -705)
4. Translation of the new faith : the vision of Christ in the Dream of the Rood -the heroic element
and Christianity
a. recorded on a stone cross (Ruthwell, 8th c. Northumbria) and in a manuscript found in Italy (the
Vercelli Book).
b. Christ as a hero similar to pagan heroes or warriors  modified vision of crucifixions