# Anglo-Saxon Culture



## Fluffypoodel (Jun 7, 2012)

Hey, I am trying to write a story set in an Anglo-Saxon world and I would really appreciate any info on the subject. Daily life is great and I would really like to know more about religious beliefs, such as the clash between pagan and Christian beliefs. I'm open to everything and anything that you guys want to shoot at me! Thanks for your help!


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## Jabrosky (Jun 7, 2012)

You should have posted this in the Research section of the forum, but I'll help anyway by giving you a link:

Regia Anglorum - Article Index


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## Chilari (Jun 7, 2012)

What are you talking about Jabrosky? It is in the Research forum. And always was. I did nothing. Nothing I tell you. It wasn't me.

Ahem.

My Anglo-Saxon knowledge is fairly limited, I'll admit, but my overall impression is that the lines between pagan and Christian religions was less a clash and more a sort of... smoosh. There are bits that overlap, aspects of pagan culture which were adopted into the Anglo-Saxon vision of Christianity. You can see this is some of the relgious art of the time, with the snake eating its own tail motif actually drawn from the Norse, based on Jormungand.

I'd suggest looking at the Staffordshire Hoard as a starting point on Anglo-Saxon art.

This website seems to have some basic information that might help on the daily life side of things.


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## Ravana (Jun 8, 2012)

Chilari said:


> What are you talking about Jabrosky? It is in the Research forum. And always was. I did nothing. Nothing I tell you. It wasn't me.



LOL!

"Smoosh," indeed. The whole of Anglo-Saxon England was converted–officially, that is–in under a century. There were occasional vacillations during the period… most of which lasted a whole year or two. (Wessex seems to be the only significant exception.) That, however, is what the _rulers_ did: what the common folk did may have been rather different. I suspect that mostly what they did was not care one way or another, so long as they got to hold parties at the same times of year. Couldn't prove it offhand, though; that's been my impression about most religious conversions throughout much of history, however.

As for daily life, you can also try sources on northern Germany, Denmark and Norway during the same time, as that's where they came from, if you run dry on other options. Most of the details would be similar.


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