Acknowledgements There Are a Number Ofpeople Whose Assistance
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Acknowledgements There are a number ofpeople whose assistance and encouragement I must acknowledge with the sincerest gratitude and thanks: Professor C. Abbott Conway, McGill University provided me with guidance and encouragement over the past year and was exceedingly generous with his time, advice, and support regarding scholarship and career direction; he also taught me the true importance of primary sources. Professor Dorothy A. Bray, McGill University, for a gentle and finn guiding hand during my time at McGill, and for telling me when to stop reading and start writing. Ruth Wehlau, PhD. (T('ronto) whose work provided the basis for so much of my own. My parents and my parents-in law: Victor and Jacqueline Solomon and Robert and Esther Luchinger whose material support allowed me to invest the time to devote myself to my studies. Liisa Stephenson whose friendship helped to keep me on an even keel through the difficult stages ofthe creative process. Jason Polley whose editorial advice was of timely assistance. This work and all else of value that I ever do I dedicate to my blessed and beloved wife Martina. John-Christian Solomon M.A. Thesis - Abstract Department of English McGill University August 2002 Thesis Title: Healdeo Trywa Wel: The English Christ Abstract: An exan1ination of extant historical and literary evidence for the purpose of questioning the standard paradigm of the "Germanization of Christianity". While the melding and inclusion of both Mediterranean and Teutonic elements in Anglo-Saxon poetry has been the subject of extensive research, until relatively recently, scholars have attributed this dynamic largely to a central manipulation of the Christian message by the Roman church with a view towards making it compatible with the societal mores of the (relatively) newly convt..rted Northern Europeans. This thesis will suggest rather, that the presentation of God and Christ in Old English religious verse may have been an exploration by English scribal clerics of theological issues specifically important to their laity. This study is divided into three parts: the historical background of Anglo-Saxon society in the early Middle Ages; Christian conversion in England and later English evangelization in the north; an analysis of structural metaphor and the importance of hidden meaning in extant Anglo-Saxon religious poetry with a specific look at the Christ of Anglo-Saxon poetry as the personification of specifically English ideas of origin, structure and meaning. ) John-Christian Solomon M.A. Thesis - Abstract Department of English McGill University August 2002 Titre de la These: Realdeo Trywa Wei: Le Christ des Anglais Resume: Cette these comporte un examen d'evidence historique et litteraire afin de remettre en cause Ie paradigme standard du «Germanisation du christianisme». Bien que la fusion des elements mediterraneens et Teutoniques dans la poesie anglo-saxonne ait ete Ie sujet d'une recherche etendue, jusque relativement recemment on a attribue cette dynamique en grande partie a une manipulation centrale du message chretien par I' eglise romaine, manipulation dont Ie but etait de rendre la foi chretienne conciliable avec l'ethos social des Europeens nordiques nouvellement convertis. Comme hypothese alternative, cette these suggere que par la presentation heroYque du Christ dans leur vers religieux les ecrivains anglo-saxons puissent avoir explore des questions theologiques qui etaient tres importantes pour les Anglais, c'est a dire, dont la provenance etait dans la pensee culturale angbise meme. Cette etude se divise en trois sections: 1. L 'historique de la societe anglo-saxonne dans Ie haut moyen age; 2. La conversion des Anglais en christianisme, et l'initiative anglaise d'evangelisation qui a suivi dans Ie nord de l'Europe ; 3. Une analyse de metaphore structurale dans la poesie religieuse anglo-saxonnf> de survie, et de l'importance la de dans de la «signification cachee» avec un regard specifique chez Ie Christ de la poesie anglo-saxonne comme personnification des idees specifiquement anglaises qui concernent les questions de I' origine, la structure, et la signification du monde. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Chapter I: The Historical Background Ofthe Evolution of a Myth 6 Of Ethnicity and the Nature of Conquest 8 Of the Nature of Early English Society 16 Chapter II: Conversions and Concerns Of Germanic Paganism 21 Of the British Church and the Celtic Contribution 26 Of the Papal Involvement 33 Of the Nature of Conversion 38 Of the Method of Converting the Heathen 44 Chapter III: Order, Disorder, and Modes of Meaning in Old English Poetry Of Creation 60 Of Hall and Home 69 Of Sin and Chaos 78 Conclusion 83 Bibliography 86 Solomon 1 Introduction I began this thesis with the intention of considering a number of Old English poems and other writings to the larger purpose of examining the standard paradigm of the "Germanization of Christianity." The reason for my interest in this subject was that over the course of my work during the past two years, I became increasingly convinced that certain aspects of the paradigm were either overly simplistic, or wrongly emphasizeci. While it is conventional (and comforting) to believe that "the Church" centrally orchestrated all the adapting, I came to believe that this was not the only force at work. In other words, the modification of Christian ideas evident in Northern Europe in the early medieval period may not only suggest a manipulation of customs and ideas found on the periphery of Roman civilization by central figures like Gregory the Great, but may more interestingly represent a positive contribution by that "periphery". However, as I delved into my subject, I began to realize that there were key issues I needed to attend to in regards to the societal parameters and ethnic matrix of early English society before I could proceed to deal with a matter so culturally specific as religious verse in anything resembling a meaningful and/or intelligent fashion. Unfortunately, there was no single Ur-text to which I could tum for all the answers that I needed, so as a result I found it necessury to devote a good deal of time (and a major portion ofthis study) to the purpose of grappling with the historical questions vis-a-vis culture and society that a topic of this nature inherently requires to be addressed, if not resolved. I started this study from the premise that many common and established perception' (shared by lay persons and scholars alike) concerning the "Dark Ages" are at best, oversimplistic. However, as I conducted the research for what I had originally intended to be the ) first subsection of my first chapter, I was quite unprepared for the conclusions to which I would Solomon 2 amve. My ultimate realization was that the familiar 1110del ofthe "Dark Ages" bandied about in popular culture and academia, is not simply a misconception born of a dearth of information or flawed scholarship, but is actually the cumulative result of sixteen centuries of ignorance where fiction was traditionally substituted for historical fact largely because it was socially reassuring. What the modern student of the Early Middle Ages faces is not a paradigm, it is a mythology -- a mythology that constitutes the prevailing scholastic view ofthe period to this very day. Therefore, immediately upon achieving this realization (or revelation) I understood that my first task was to achieve and establish a proper conception of Anglo-Saxon society -- at least in my own mind. It is (to say the least) problematic to approach any literary genre in any sort of constructive fashion prior to forming an understanding of the society that produced it, but forming this understanding was a rather laborious and delicate process. A good deal of the difficulties I encountered in the initial stages of this study stemmed from the basic fact that that the Anglo-Saxons were quite different and more complex than I had previously thought, and thus, I was (reluctantly) forced to acknowledge that in truth I had been affected by the very paradigm I sought to disprove. Therefore, I had to begin with asking the most fundamental question of all: Who were the Anglo-Saxons? I concluded the "Anglo-Saxons" were a multi-tribal conglomerate, the scope of which extended far beyond Angles and Saxons. Furthermore, it is almost certain that the overwhelming majority of the population of many (if not most) regions of what we now refer to as England was of Brythonic (and north of the Humber, Goidelic) rather than of Germanic extraction. This new conceptualization radically influenced my entire approach to this subject, for if the early English were not Germanic, how Germanic were the themes in extant early English literature? Therefore, I began my study with trying to discern, to the extent feasible, the actual ethnic ) ./ Solomon 3 composition ofthe inhabitants of the land that produced the literature I have always found so compelling; to make an assessment of what the Anglo-Saxons believed and wrote, I first had to discover who the Anglo-Saxons were. Once I had achieved (to my satisfaction) a grasp of the poly-ethnic nature of English society, other questions, and doubts, and inescapable realizations naturally streamed from this new discernment or perr:3.ps, appreciation. For example: If the indigenous ("surviving") population was not completely pushed into "the Celtic fringe", but rather lived among the newcomers, it is unlikely that the Germanic migration to Britain followed the traditional "fire and sword" model that