15. Culture of Anglo-Saxon Britain

•Folklore of the tribes consisted of the epic songs

• Early church art was influenced by the pre-Christian mythology and early cults.

•Applied art was represented by ornamented tools and weapons, household tools, clothes décor,etc.

•Belief in mighty pagan gods created the ‘animalistic’ style of depicting mysterious animals

•Religion – Christianity.

When King Alfred the Great of Wessex became monarch in the country he made the most use of the Church and the literate men to establish a system of law, educate people and write down current events and he also had built burghs or boroughs (walled settlements) which became prosperous market towns

16. Anglo-Saxon Britain. The Danelaw.

The Danelaw

Vikings from Denmark captured York in 867

Both Nottingham and York became part of the Viking domination

York became the capital of a Viking kingdom that lasted almost without interruption up to 954

880 Guthrum signed a treaty with King Alfred. It granted Guthrum rule over a large area of East Anglia (the Danelaw) that was basically Danish territory in England

886 - King Alfred managed to recover London and was accepted as overlord by all the English not subject to the Danes. He reorganized his army, built ships and fortresses, made the Welsh kings his allies

912 - King Alfred’s son, Edward and his sister, Aethelflaed, conducted separate campaigns into Danelaw and regained some lands.

Danelaw is the northern, central, and eastern region of Anglo-Saxon England colonized by invading Danish armies in the late 9th century.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, it was recognized that all of eastern England between the Rivers Tees and Thames formed a region in which a distinctive form of customary law prevailed in the local courts, differing from West Saxon and Mercian law. Its law was distinguished by procedural differences, severe fines for breach of peace, and the existence of an aristocratic jury of presentment to initiate the prosecution of criminal suspects.

The region derived its name from the Old English Dena lagu (“Danes’ law”) under the assumption that its unique legal practices were of Danish origin, an assumption borne out by modern scholarship.

17. Anglo-Saxon art. Beowulf.

•Anglo-Saxon art from the time of King Alfred (885), with the revival of English culture after the end of the Viking raids, to the early 12th century

•Anglo-Saxon art is mainly known today through manuscripts

Beowulf:

•one of four surviving Anglo-Saxon manuscripts

•Beowulf was written by an anonymous Englishman

•Was written around 1000 AD, discovered in 17th century

•the longest epic poem in Old English

•the breathtaking story of a struggle between the hero, Beowulf, and a bloodthirsty monster called Grendel

•The Beowulf epic contains 3 major tales about Beowulf and several minor tales that reflect a rich Germanic oral tradition of myths, legends, and folklore.

•The Beowulf warriors have a foot in both the Bronze and Iron Ages

•Beowulf orders an iron shield for his fight with a dragon.

•Iron replaced bronze because it produced a blade with a cutting edge that was stronger and sharper

•Anglo-Saxon society is neither primitive, nor uncultured

•Grendel, Grendel's mother, and the dragon are marvelous characters, and each fight is unique, action-packed, and exciting

•Beowulf is a very appealing hero. He is the perfect warrior, combining extraordinary strength, skill, courage, and loyalty

•Beowulf = Hercules

•He chooses to risk death in order to help other people, and he faces his inevitable death with heroism and dignity