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This volume will throw new light on the intellect of the earliest English - the way they thought, the way they viewed the world, and the way they viewed worlds other than this. Previous understanding of the topic, well rooted in the ideas of its time, regarded the English as adherents of two consecutive religions: Paganism governed the settlers of the 4th-6th century, but was superseded in the 7th-10th century by Christianity. Of the two, Christianity, a religion of the book, documented itself thoroughly, while in failing to do so Paganism laid itself open to centuries of abuse, conjecture or mindless admiration. In developing new objectives, the papers here demonstrate that beliefs varied from place to place and were expressed in material culture. Through archaeology therefore, these beliefs can be rediscovered. Aware of the fact that even the best archaeology provides no open access to the mind, the contributors record, and study, signals of belief rather than what was believed. The premise of this volume is therefore that paganism was not a religion with supraregional rules and institutions but a loose term for a variety of local intellectual world views. The same courtesy is extended to Christianity. Both religions are treated as sources on which people, local people - the true agents of Anglo-Saxon England - eclectically drew. A range of material culture and locations across Northern Europe are explored, looking at signals of belief from the landscape, water cults, burial rites, the hall and animals in life and art. Each author looks across the sea to Scandinavia, as well as to the woods and fields, mires and mounds of Old England, resulting in a new perspective on the intellectual preoccupations and anxieties of a crucial age.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is IMO a very important one. "Signals of Belief in Early England - Anglo-saxon Paganism Revisited" edited by Martin Carver, Alex Sanmark and Sarah Semple. Published by Oxbow Books, this is a collection of scholarly essays about the latest research into the mentality of the earliest English - the way they thought, the way they viewed nature and the supernatural. Split into chapters dealing with various aspects of early English belief and practice, such as "In the Open Air", "At the Water's Edge", "At the Funeral" etc, this collection of works really brings the Anglo-saxon spiritual landscape and experience to life, and is a book I'm sure I will consult time and again. Because it can take me time to really absorb books like this, I'm sure I'll read certain chapters again and again to really get to grips with them, and will likely consult other works mentioned in the extensive bibliographies at the end of each one. The last chapter in particular I found extremely interesting - "Creating the Pagan English" by Sue Content and Howard Williams, which is an examination of the history of Anglo-saxon Pagan studies as a whole. In the Afterword, "Caveats and Futures", Ronald Hutton has this very astute observation to make on what the book reveals about early English religion :
"What the whole book seems to reveal, and Martin Carver specifically and fluently depicts, is a world of fluid religious identities, between which individuals and communities can move and which indeed they are largely free to construct according to their own tastes. Although zealots may characterise it in terms of cohesive and competing kinds of faith, the reality is actually one in which belief and practice are both profoundly variable. Not only do people pick and mix between religious systems, but they develop their own idiomatic and personal manifestations of each."
This, to me, is very telling, and also liberating in the sense that we are being quite authentic, quite in keeping with historical precedent, when we attempt to update Heathenry and make it relevant to our modern day lives and tastes. It's good to know that the "pick and mix" approach which some of us have probably been criticised by certain "fundamentalist" Heathen types for favouring (I certainly have anyway!) is actually what Heathens here in England have always done!
"What the whole book seems to reveal, and Martin Carver specifically and fluently depicts, is a world of fluid religious identities, between which individuals and communities can move and which indeed they are largely free to construct according to their own tastes. Although zealots may characterise it in terms of cohesive and competing kinds of faith, the reality is actually one in which belief and practice are both profoundly variable. Not only do people pick and mix between religious systems, but they develop their own idiomatic and personal manifestations of each."
This, to me, is very telling, and also liberating in the sense that we are being quite authentic, quite in keeping with historical precedent, when we attempt to update Heathenry and make it relevant to our modern day lives and tastes. It's good to know that the "pick and mix" approach which some of us have probably been criticised by certain "fundamentalist" Heathen types for favouring (I certainly have anyway!) is actually what Heathens here in England have always done!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I attended a conference in Oxford in 2005 which was the first time experts on pre-Christian Anglo Saxon subjects from various fields had had the chance to get together. They came from Scandinavia as well as the UK, and the opportunity to spend three days together was an electrifying experience for all those attending, both academics and lay. I was delighted when an academic friend pointed this book out to me, as I had disppaired of ever seeing anything I heard that weekend in print.
If you only buy any one book on pre-christian beliefs in Anglo Saxon England, this is it. The papers range across a variety of subjects. Alas, not every presentation that day in Oxford is represented in the book, but around 80% is. The delight is that it is the cream of archealogical and historical study from people who are capable out breathing life into the unfortunately few fragments we have from the period. The dots are connected here in a measured way - with imagination that is backed up by evidence.
A gem for anyone interested in the beliefs of the time!
If you only buy any one book on pre-christian beliefs in Anglo Saxon England, this is it. The papers range across a variety of subjects. Alas, not every presentation that day in Oxford is represented in the book, but around 80% is. The delight is that it is the cream of archealogical and historical study from people who are capable out breathing life into the unfortunately few fragments we have from the period. The dots are connected here in a measured way - with imagination that is backed up by evidence.
A gem for anyone interested in the beliefs of the time!
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