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Beowulf's Anglo-Saxon Burial

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The early middle ages began approximately around 400 AD, after the fall of Roman Empire. Germanic and Norse tribes, called Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisian began to take over, bringing their Anglo-Saxon traditions and almost ending Christianity. Anglo-Saxon traditions brought the rise of feudalism, an arrangement in which a king offered land to noblemen in exchange for protection and the noblemen offered protection to the peasant in return for living and working on such land (Annenberg Foundation). Paganism – the worship of many gods and stories such as Beowulf, replaced Christianity. One of the oldest epic poems, Beowulf, a young hero, comes to the aid of a community in crisis, monsters are killing the townsfolk and the head monster, Grendel …show more content…

The Anglo-Saxons were a combination of the Angles and Saxon tribes and were the primary tribes in battle as they welcomed fighting however, outside of battles many were skilled at hunting, farming or leather working while the women of the tribes made clothing, baskets and most likely tended to the home. The men were big in stature, more than likely fair haired, and carried swords, round shields and used helmets to protect their heads and face (Barrow). One of the various items found during the excavating of the site is a helmet, only one of four have been recovered, making this helmet incredibly rare. When the helmet was found it was in pieces, archeologist carefully dug up all the pieces and conservators went to work restoring the helmet. The helmet was made of iron and tinned copper alloy panels the panels were decorated with the traditional animals and also had scenes of gallant soldiers. The crest shows a snake with two heads and on the panels one of the events shown portrays “a mounted warrior trampling a fallen enemy, who in turn stabs the horse” (The Bristish Museum). The face part of the mask is said to be extraordinary showing all parts of the face down to a moustache and small holes for the warrior to breath. The amount of detail the helmet portrayed is remarkable, down to the detailing of the brows above the warrior eyes which used the copper alloy veneered with wire made of silver and small red jewels. This discovery shows the effort each warrior put into surviving and the beliefs of the Anglo-Saxon

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The Anglo - Saxon Culture valued war, loyalty, honor, and riches. The American values are not the same as the Anglo - Saxon values. The Modern day values focus more on religion and equality. Shild was an abandoned child, who valued honor and riches to become a King.

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The Anglo-Saxons were pagans and then later converted to Christianity. The Bayeux tapestry, a cloth that is 230 feet long and 20 inches tall, is a major achievement by the Norman Romanesque because it’s so exquisite and is a work of art.

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In Beowulf, there are several side stories that provide significant insight to the future of the story. In chapter 13, the side story of Sigmund and Hermod begins. Being placed after Beowulf’s defeat of Grendel provides a look as which path Beowulf’s could take with his newfound fame and glory. Beowulf could follow in Sigmund’s path. Sigmund was glorious warrior who fought many kinds of evil terrorizing the communities.

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Beowulf’s seemingly simple story of a mighty hero facing a battle with an evil monster is something a child would pick up. Tough, after reading beowulf in my AP Literature class we can see that there’s more to this fairy tale that meets the eye. There’s a story on how Beowulf is not only battling a demon but himself as well. Its starts of with Beowulf going on a quest, a simple one, to only defeat the mighty monster Grendel.

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In chapter 15, I came across the bird mask that was from Vancouver Island in Canada. A variety of materials was used to create the bird mask. It was first carved out of wood, then covered in cedar bark, feathers, and fiber for its bird like appearance. This masked was worn during ancient rituals in the Hamatsa society. The purpose of the ritual was to initiate new members into the prestigious Hamatsa society.

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This head is made of brass and iron, brass being the basis for most of the head and iron only being used to form the eyes giving them a piercing almost intimidating stare. The cross hatching design at the top of the head is fashioned to resemble the coral headdress that royalty wore during

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Which explains that a lot of people in England were at one point following Pagan culture until missionaries in England came and converted a lot of them to Christians. In Pagan culture, a lot of the beliefs in their stories describe life controlled by faith where people are struggling with evil for a part of the world and in Christian culture, they believe that the choices people make in life are centered around their creations. In conclusion, the story Beowulf includes both Pagan and Christian beliefs in the story as the characters Grendel and Grendel's mother and the dragon represent the dark aspect of the Pagan culture of the epic and the choice’s Beowulf makes in the story when fighting the evil monsters represents the Christian culture part

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Ever since mankind has discovered the existence of jewels and valuable artifacts, the quest to acquire these treasures is one that is never ending. The dream of finding riches has driven many people to make this the central focus of their life, This concept can be seen in many movies and novels such as Pirates of the Caribbean and The Gold Bug. This notion can especially be seen in the epic poem Beowulf. Treasures are items that every person strives to collect. Beowulf is a young warrior who loves to fight; but more importantly, he loves to gather treasure.

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UThe Anglo-Saxons were a tribe of people who lived in Great Britain during the 5th century. They were warriors who had traveled all the way from northern Germany and southern Scandinavia. The Anglo-Saxon people are very well known today despite not having been around for the several, several centuries. Their people led to the spread of Christianity through eastern Europe and the establishment of seven major kingdoms. They are also well known for the code of Honor, as the Anglo-Saxons had many values that their soldiers must live by.

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The arrival of Gandalf and his comrades closely mirrors that of Beowulf at Heorot, King Hrothgar 's hall. The Hall was extremely important in Anglo-Saxon culture because it displayed prosperity and the agricultural viability of the land. In Beowulf, the land is plagued by the monster Grendel and the hall is abandoned and falls into disuse. Similarly, in Rohan, the Meduseld is shown as an old building that had seen better days. King Theoden, ruler of Rohan, was under Sauron’s evil influence due to his councillor Grima “Wormtongue” who was a servant of Saruman, the corrupted wizard.

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