Druids priests Saw spirits in nature (sort of like trees in The Wizard of Oz or Ents in Lord of the Rings) Human sacrifice to appease all-controlling gods Stonehenge temple for religious rites involving the solar and lunar cycles; 6 ton stones moved 750 miles from coast to Salisbury Plain in central England and arranged in a way that links the structure perfectly to the solar and lunar cycles

7 Kingdoms (At times, fewer) Heptarchy the rule of 7 Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Essex, Kent, Wessex Also, surrey (between Essex & Wessex)

Bretwaldaruling king Literally means Britainruler King whose supremacy was recognized by others Æthelbert of Kent (540-610A.D.) 1 st Bretwalda St. Augustine and Æthelbert s frankish Queen Bertha Introduced Christianity to Saxons knowledge of a past culture literacy

Reigned: 871-899 A.D. Great warrior who was respected by many British kingdoms Held culture and established uneasy peace with the Vikings known as Danelaw, a time in which literature Grew 30,000 lines of Anglo-Saxon literature generated mixed paganism with Christianity to form a strange synthesis

Anglo-Saxon Chronicles Historical traditions of Anglo-Saxons, in the form of annals (year by year) Written by St. Bede (673-765 A.D.) at Durham Cathedral. A page of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles depicting Charlemagne, in the late 8th century, killing the heathen Saxons.

Bishop Leofric of Exeter collected the works of Anglo-Saxon people and left the book to Exeter Cathedral s Library upon his death in 1072. Began creation in 940, most surviving poems of Anglo-Saxon literature appear in it. Use as a beer mat, cutting board and 14 pages burned out of it, has miraculously survived many exeter fires. The first page of The Wanderer in The Exeter Book.

Devices used by a Scop Lacking end rhyme Excessive use of alliteration Use of kennings: imaginative, usually hyphenated metaphors Ex. Whales -way (rough road) Ex. Swan s Road (open sea) Benjamin Bagby s Beowulf Performance.

Most Anglo-Saxon works were poetry Long Narrative-Serious subject Centers on superhuman heroicaction that determines the fate of a nation Setting is Grand in scope Continents Kingdoms Style is elevated Action oriented Heroic/literary epicknown author Folk epicunknown author Imaginative metaphorsdescribing something vaguely, yet accurately. Related to kennings- very playful quality Use personification Somber, melancholy subject Style emphasis on alliteration and rhyme Tone is reflective of the author s attitude

Our world is lovely in different ways, Hung with Beauty and works of hands. I saw a strange machine, made For motion, slide against the sand. Shrieking as it went. It walked swiftly On its only foot, this odd-shaped monster, Traveled in an open country without Seeing, without arms, or hands, With many ribs, and its mouth in its middle. Its work is useful, and welcome for it loads Its belly with food, and brings abundance To men, to poor and to rich, paying Its tribute year after year. Solve This riddle if you can, and unravel its name.

A creature came through the waves, beautiful And strange, calling to shore, its voice Loud and deep; its laughter froze Men s blood; its sides were like sword-blades. It swam Contemptuously along, slow and sluggish, A bitter warrior and a thief, ripping Ships apart, and plundering. Like a witch It wove spells and knew its own nature, shouting: My mother is the fairest virgin of a race Of noble virgins: She is my daughter Grown great. All men know her, and me, And know, everywhere on earth, with what joy We will come to join them, to live on land!

A worm ate words. I thought that wonderfully Strange a miracle when they told me a crawling Insect had swallowed noble songs, A night-time thief had stolen writing So famous, so weighty. But the bug was foolish Still, though its belly was full of thought.