Christianity & Anglo-Saxon Literature and Culture

by John Paul Philips

There's something about The English that stirs strong emotions within us, whether it be admiration, curiosity, or even resentment. 

If you clicked on this blog, you must fall into either of these and must be interested about what's going on. Worry thou not, for thy time shalt not be spent in vain futility!

In this blog post, you'll learn something interesting, if not entirely new, about the connection between Christianity and Anglo-Saxon literature and culture.

Blodcyning, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Spend a moment with the image above. What's the very first thought that crosses your mind? You must have thought that this should be either Greek or Hebrew or some other fancy classical alphabet, didn't you? Guess what? This is English! Yes, you read it right! This is English--Old English! To be more precise they are called the Northumbrian Runes. In simple terms, these fancy letters are part of the Runic alphabet, which is a writing system used by various Germanic languages before they adopted the Latin alphabet. 

Public Domain/ Wikimedia

Pictured above is the renowned Old English Poem, The Wanderer. This is one of the very few Anglo-Saxon pieces of literature that we have to date. In fact, all the Anglo-saxon literature are just four volumes and can be easily read within one's lifetime.

Now, you must be wondering what does Christianity have to do with all this? Well we're getting there! Christianity had its hand in everything in all parts of the world. Literature Scholars have an unanimous consensus that it was the Christian Monks who had produced most of the literary works, if not all, back in those days. This is mainly due to the then prevalent warrior and agrarian culture. The main work of the people were to defend themselves and wage wars for various reasons, while at the same time cultivate crops and grains for their sustenance. They didn't have the time nor the access to educational resources like the monks did. Afterall, the primary purpose of the monks was to study for their clerical vocation. 

With this background in mind, let us understand that there was a synthesis of culture. The Anglo-Saxons were basically the Germanic people. We should not confuse them with the Greeks or the Romans who were already wise. The Germanic folks were warriors and they fought! Chrisitanity, on the other hand, was a religion of peace!  These two synthesized, and the Anglo-Saxon culture was developed over time. We could see its influence in almost all the literary works. For instance, in the above pictured poem, The Wanderer, there are mentions of bravery, courage, valor, glory and honour of the world; while at the same time, there is also an equal emphasis of faith, hope, wisdom, God etc. (Since the poem is so long, you may read it at the bottom of the page).

The same is the case with another classical Old English Poem called the "The Dream of the Rood" (rood meaning Cross). This poem is about a man who dreams of the cross. He is first astonished because of all its glory, and later grieves and changes his life upon realizing that it was his sins that put Christ to death, and by listening to the words of  the Cross. That's an interesting poem to read as well. (It is all in public domain)

While there is an opinion among certain literature scholars that the monks had modified/added the Christian elements in the already present Germanic literature, this is still a question of debate. There are still ongoing studies on this matter. Let time tell!

However, the sole reason of this blog post, is that how passionate and wonderful was the Christian religion back then! It didn't shut the other cultures out and impose its Roman elements on them (because Christianity's stronghold-even till date-is the Chair of St. Peter!). Rather, it respected it, took it, blended it with its Christian Theology and produced a profound culture. We can't deny that, can we? So profound, that many great saints, theologians, authors, etc where from the English world and its surroundings. Isn't that beautiful?!  Why then do we hesitate to approach the culture today like this? Why don't we do it with the same zeal for Christ, with the same compassion for His People?! Why is the culture shutting/cancelling Christianity out? Why is Christianity laying its emphasis on being anti cultural? This is a question to be prayerfully reflected upon with the Lord, not something to be merely rationalized. Our Lord brought a change to the culture of His time by being anti-cultural, but rather by being in the culture and leading them out of their flawed lifestyles and beliefs.

Hoping that this piece of writing would benefit atleast one person reading this, I sign off! 

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Links to the poems:

1. The Wanderer

2. The Dream of the Rood