Anglo-Saxon Religious Beliefs
What is a pagan?
‘Woden’, a Saxon
god.
In Roman Britain, many people had been Christians. The early
Anglo-Saxons were pagans much like the Vikings of
Scandinavia. Anglo-Saxon pagans were superstitious believing
in spells and lucky charms. They thought that ‘magic’ rhymes,
potions, stones or jewels would protect them from evil spirits
or sickness. The Saxons also worshiped several gods like
Woden, the divine father and King of the Anglo-Saxon gods. (A
German version of the Scandinavian god Odin). We got our day
of the week Wednesday, or ‘Woden’s day’ from his name. Other
gods were Thunor, the god of thunder, Frige, the goddess of
love and Tiw, the god of war. Four of the Anglo-Saxon gods
gave their names to days of the week, from Thunor, we have
Thursday, from Tiw, we have Tuesday, from Frige, we have
Friday and Woden, we have Wednesday.
Do you know where the names Monday, Saturday and Sunday came from?
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Sunday: Sun's Day. The Sun gave people light and warmth every day. They
decided to name the first (or last) day of the week after the Sun.
Monday: Moon's Day. The Moon was thought to be very important in the
lives of people and their crops.
Tuesday: Tiw's Day. Tiw, or Tyr, was a Norse god known for his sense of
justice.
Wednesday: Woden's Day. Woden, or Odin, was a Norse god who was one
of the most powerful of them all.
Thursday: Thor's Day. Thunor/Thor was a Norse god who wielded a giant
hammer.
Friday: Frige's Day. Frige was a Norse god equal in power to Odin.
Saturday: Seater's Day or Saturn's Day. Saturn was a Roman god.
Norseman means "man from the North" and applied primarily to Old Norsespeaking tribes living in southern and central Scandinavia.
What is a pagan?
Pagans are buried with their belongings such as
jewellery or coins. Archaeologists have discovered
Saxon graves which contain knives and spears,
suggesting they belonged to men who farmed and
hunted. Other graves included tools used for sewing
and weaving, indicating that grave belonged to a female.
The grave of a king, like the one at Sutton Hoo was
filled with treasure, armour and weapons, whilst a
child’s grave discovered in Essex had the bones of a dog
in it, possibly a pet.
A pagan grave
How did the Anglo-Saxons become Christians?
Christianity continued from Roman beliefs in places
where Anglo-Saxons did not settle, such as Wales and
the west. However, the Roman Pope decided in AD597,
that it was time Anglo-Saxons heard about and were
converted to Christianity. So he sent a monk called
‘Augustine’ to Kent, to persuade the king to become a
St Augustine AD597
Christian. Over the next 100 years, many AngloSaxons turned to Christianity. New churches and
monasteries were built.
Anglo-Saxon Monasteries
Monks and Nuns lived in monasteries, spending lots of their
time in prayer and studying. Monasteries were the only
schools in Anglo-Saxon England. In the monasteries, monks
copied out books by hand and decorated the pages in
beautiful colours. A boy called Bede lived in the monastery
at Jarrow in Northumbria. He went to live with monks in
680AD when he was just 7 years old. When he grew up, he
became a historian. He wrote a book about the history of
the Anglo-Saxons, called 'A History of the English
One of the pages from
Church and People'.
Bede’s book.
Information sourced from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/primaryhistory/anglo_saxons/anglo-saxon_beliefs/