Anglo-Saxon Culture and Belief

Wednesday 27 September 2017 | 10am-12pm |10 sessions

Tutor: Geoff Doel | Canterbury campus | £105

The huge impact of the Norman Conquest and the underplaying of the significance of the Anglo-Saxons in much of our education has led to an undervaluing of their cultural achievements. Their surviving poetry is remarkably good, their jewellery and metal work exquisite, and the evolution of their rich pagan tradition into Christianity a fascinating process, as those of us who live in the Canterbury area are particularly aware.
This course will particularly focus upon: Anglo-Saxon paganism and the pantheon of deities; the Christian conversion (with particular reference to Canterbury and Northumbria); Anglo-Saxon church architecture (with particular reference to Kent and Northumbria); the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial and the concept of Sacral Kingship; the achievements of King Alfred; and illuminated manuscripts and poetry, including the epic Beowulf and the beautiful lyrical poems The Seafarer and The Wanderer, which we’ll look at both in translation and in the original language to give a flavour of the traditional alliterative style.