Anglo-Saxons
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
|
"HELL'S Mouth was one of the most popular conceptions of mediaeval times. Except so far as concerns the dragon form of the head whose mouth was supposed to be the gates of Hell, the idea appears to be entirely Christian. " Christ's descent into Hell" was a favourite subject of Mystery-plays. In the Coventry pageant the "book of words" contained but six verses, in which Hell is styled the "cindery cell." The Chester play is much longer, and is drawn from the Apocryphal Gospel of Nicodemus. This gospel, which has a version in Anglo-Saxon of a.d. 950, is no doubt the source from which is derived a prevalent form of Hell's Mouth in which Christ is represented holding the hand of one of the persons engulped in the infernal jaws. This is seen in a carving on the east window of Dorchester Abbey."--The Grotesque in Church Art' (1899) by Thomas Tindall Wildridge "If what I have to say in a matter of science weighs with any man who has political power, I ask him to believe that the arguments about the difference between Anglo-Saxons and Celts are a mere sham and a delusion."--Professor Huxley on Political Ethnology (1870) by Thomas Henry Huxley "From Bede's account of the poet Cædmon, we learn that it was the practice of the Anglo-Saxons in the seventh century, at their entertainments, for all those present to sing in their turns, each accompanying himself with a musical instrument. From the sequel of the story we are led to suppose that these songs were extemporary effusions, probably mythic legends, stories of personal adventure, praise of themselves, or vituperation of their enemies."--History of Caricature and Grotesque in Literature and Art (1865) by Thomas Wright "[Crusoe] is the true prototype of the British colonist, as Friday (the trusty savage who arrives on an unlucky day) is the symbol of the subject races. The whole Anglo-Saxon spirit is in Crusoe: the manly independence; the unconscious cruelty; the persistence; the slow yet efficient intelligence; the sexual apathy; the practical, well-balanced religiousness; the calculating taciturnity."--James Joyce |
|
Related e |
|
Featured: |
The Anglo-Saxons were a cultural group that inhabited much of what is now England in the Early Middle Ages, and spoke Old English. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. Although the details are not clear, their cultural identity developed out of the interaction of incoming groups of Germanic peoples, with the pre-existing Romano-British culture. Over time, most of the people of what is now southern, central, northern and eastern England came to identify as Anglo-Saxon and speak Old English. Danish and Norman invasions later changed the situation significantly, but their language and political structures are the direct predecessors of the medieval Kingdom of England, and the Middle English language. Although the modern English language owes somewhat less than 26% of its words to Old English, this includes the vast majority of words used in everyday speech.
See also
- Anglo-Frisian
- Anglo-Saxon dress
- Anglo-Saxon military organization
- Burial in Anglo-Saxon England
- Coinage in Anglo-Saxon England
- Frisia
- States in Medieval Britain
- Timeline of Anglo-Saxon settlement in Britain
- Anglo-Celtic
- Anglo-Saxon paganism
Modern concepts
