From Paganism to Christianity

The Anglo-Saxon use of philosophy and eloquence to effect others was largely changed and affected by the shift from paganism to christianity with the arrival of christian missionaries in the 6th century to the germanic tribes in Britain. The philosophical concepts of "Fame" and "Fate" brought on by heroic traditions were contradicted by christian beliefs and the poetic tradition in germany was losing its value as an oral tradition. To understand the great change this shift had to their oral knowledge and ability to use philosophy and poetry to communicate, we first must analyze the basis for poetry and philosophy in the Anglo Saxon germanic tribes.


After rebelling against the Christian Britons, the Anglo-Saxons set up Germanic kingdoms, thus beginning the The Anglo-Saxon era of England which lasted from approximately 450-1066 A.D. Each kingdom was ruled by a certain lord. In the new Anglo-Saxon society, the closest relationships were between a lord and his kin. The Germanic clan or "Comitatus" consisted of men who followed their lord with strong loyalty and sacrifce. The comitatus held their duty to their lord as their most important task in life and believed it to be the greatest loss to be separated from lord and kin. This sorrow from loss can be seen in the Anglo Saxon poems "The Wanderer" and "The Seafarer". "The Wanderer" describes a man that has been exiled from his lord and clan, and must wander aimlessly. The man speaks of how horrible it is to be separate from his clan and lord, considered to be the worst punishment and dishonor:

"When friendships are no more. His fortune is exile,
Not gifts of fine gold; a heart that is frozen,
Earth’s wisomeness dead. And he dreams of the hall-men,
The dealing of treasure, the days of his youth,
When his lord bade welcome to wassail and feast.
But gone is that gladness, and never again
Shall come the loved counsel of comrade and king."
(II. 27-34)

Similarly the poem "The Seafarer" describes the same horrible loss and misery of a sailor who is isolated at sea, he describes his loneliness as “Wretched and anxious, in the paths of exile/ Lacking dear friends, hung round by icicles.” (II. 14-15) He has truly lost everything, his kin, lord, and duty.


When the Germanic Tribes came to Britain in the fifth century, they brought the language of Old English with them. They also brought this tradition of poetry that was usually mournful, conveying the suffering and loss of the burdened and miserable lives of the people who wrote them. The Anglo-Saxon poems, “The Wanderer,” and "The Seafarer" convey how this tradition of eloquence captures the culture’s philosophical concepts of "Fame" and "Fate" and the importance of a Lord to the Germanic tribes. The Anglo-Saxons did not believe in an afterlife, only the idea that they are assigned a certain fate that could be good or bad depending on the hero's circumstance. If one had the courage to fight his fate and create "Fame" than he would be remembered and spoken of as a hero in poems following his death. This was the goal for peoples of the germanic tribes, as seen in the famous poem Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon culture saw Fame as a worthy and honorable objective: “So fame/ Comes to the men who mean to win it/ And care about nothing else!”17 (II. 507-509)


Once the Christian missionaries came to Briton in the 6th century, they began converting the Anglo Saxons to christianity. Christianity introduced new concepts such as an afterlife of heaven and hell and the cause and effect pattern of our actions on earth resulting in where we go in the afterlife. This contradicted the pagan beliefs of the Anglo Saxons and their main philosophical foundation of "Fame" and "Fate." This would cause the poems such as "The Wanderer" and "The Seafarer" to lose value and change the oral tradition of using poetry and philosophy to pass down pagan beliefs. The use of eloquence and philosophy in the Anglo Saxon culture would change forever after this point. This shift conveys the importance the pagan beliefs and philosophies of the Anglo Saxons were for their basis of knowledge that could be communicated through their rhetoric to convince others of their view on life.

So why do you think the Anglo Saxons placed such great importance on Fame and Fate? How does their poetic tradition show their ability to use language as a way to communicate philosophical ideals?