Were the Anglo-Saxons Pagan at the time or Christian? | Forums

[DreadGrrl]

Yeah but the Romans did not reach Scotland, unlike other tribes from the Old Continent which made it all the way to the North...

They did, and they left a lot of genetic material behind. I’m Scottish through and through, going back at least three hundred years (there may have been an Irish woman about that point in time in my ancestry . . . we’re unsure of where she came from). I look more Italian or Spanish than “traditionally” Scottish, as do many Scots. All of my family back home does, too.

[thegardener25]

They did, and they left a lot of genetic material behind. I’m Scottish through and through, going back at least three hundred years (there may have been an Irish woman about that point in time in my ancestry . . . we’re unsure of where she came from). I look more Italian or Spanish than “traditionally” Scottish, as do many Scots. All of my family back home does, too.

Although we are an island nation, we weren't just isolated & waiting for the next invasion. The scots are European & we've traded & had allies all over Europe for centuries. Long before that union with England, that's why Brexit will eventually lead to Scotland being an independent nation within Europe once again. Even if our former friends & allies may have forgotten us.

So your Italian/Spanish looks might not be down purely to them romans. In fact you said you were from the Hebrides originally, just one possible example, during the English battle with the Spanish armada, there was a Spanish ship which was blown off course. I think it sailed up the North Sea & then west round the north coast of Scotland, then ran aground on the NorthWest coast. The Scots being the kind hearted souls they are. looked after the sailors & with the old 'enemy of my enemy is my friend' adage. We helped them repair their ship. So I dunno, maybe some of those Spaniards got some local action before they got back in to the action so to speak. (sorry, hope you don't think I was being cheeky).

[VestigialLlama4]

So essentially the Vikings, because of their invasions, forced the Saxons to create the identity of "Englishness" as a way for them to unify against the Vikings?.that seems to make alot of sense, is this the historical picture of it

It's the current scholarly consensus. The fact is that the Vikings are as much a part of England's heritage as the Saxons, Celts, Romans before them...and the Normans (aka French Vikings) who came after them, and also the many waves of immigrants that came even further after them all the way today. Whether it's from the former colonial nations like India, Pakistan, Sri-Lanka, or West, East and South Africa, from anywhere across the world.

The English language is formed from a mix of Celtic, Germanic, Norse, French, and other registers. It's a hybrid, mongerel, totally impure language.

Darby McDevitt said in an interview that the game will deal with all of that:

"Very few games actually treat the Norse Viking experience as historically grounded. I think the urge is to always immediately lead with the mythology stuff, but we really want you to feel like you're living in the Dark Ages of England, that you're exploring the Roman ruins left behind 400 to 500 years earlier by the Romans and the remnants of the Britannic tribes before that and even the Saxon Pagans before they all converted to Christianity.

All these layers haven't been done before in a game and I don't think there's ever been a Viking game that's tried to be the ultimate grounded Viking fantasy. That's where we found our place to shine--and I think we have. We've created this massive world to explore, to raid, to assault, to meet interesting people, but you're going to do it as a human, as a person who has to ride a horse to travel long distances and get to where they want to go rather than fly or something."

At the very least, there will be a lot of interesting tombs to tackle. York, or Jorvik, as it is called in the game was founded by the Romans as Erboracum so it has a lot of Roman Ruins.

Although we are an island nation, we weren't just isolated & waiting for the next invasion. The scots are European & we've traded & had allies all over Europe for centuries. Long before that union with England, that's why Brexit will eventually lead to Scotland being an independent nation within Europe once again.

I wish you good luck with that. Out of a sense of schadenfreude and also sympathy, I want Scotland and Northern Ireland to exit the UK. Wales...well I guess if they want it...but not too interested in them one way or another.

[bubu39RR]

The Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy was fully christian on latin rite from 6th century, after the Vortigern episode. Anyway, the soil of Britannia did not ceased to be christian with a lot of saints like Columba of Iona and so on. They were derived from the Irish monasticism of the 4th century with Saint Patrick. On Britannia developed in the 4th century the pelagianist heresy as a mark, if you want of a very developed christian thinking. Britanny never ceased to be christian. Around year 600 (precisely 597), Saint Gregory the First, "servus servorum Dei" was able to send 40 benedictine monks with Saint Augustine, first archbishop of Canterbury, to put in order the Holy Church of Britanny. In around 604, Saint Lawrence his most trusted disciple who came also from Italy was elected as second archbishop. In 668 Sain Theodore of Canterbury was send as archbishop to Britanny by the vicar of Petrus, Saint Vitalian. So it is obviously clear that the soil of Britannia was old christian extraction when the vikings first emerged at the bay of Martyrs from Lindisfarne monastery in 793, the monastery built by Saint Aidan at the request of king Oswald. Saint Cuthbert, the saint patron of Northumbria was its abbot and after that bishop of Lindisfarne. His tomb was raided first time by the danes in 875. So this is a small answer for the initial question...

[GameGuru2018]

The Vikings targeted Christian monasteries because these monasteries were centers of trade via pilgrimage and other stuff. Their attacks on Christian churches was motivated solely by treasure and plunder, and not out of any real religious clash.

Wrong!

They deliberately attacked christian churches and monasters!
Those monasters were nests, hotbeds of christian preaches who preached later in Scandinavia.

They've come deliberately to kill future christian preaches. Why was that hatred?

Because in 772 Charlemagne destroyed their sacred tree Irminsul (Yggdrasil). Sacred for scandinavians and germans.
Slaughtering 5 thousand people.

Before that.... scandinavians were very tolerant. There were many christian preaches in Scandinavia and monasters.

After......all christian preaches were killed and monasters burned.


They were very angry!

It was religious war. Long, ruthless and bloody. 3 centuries long.

They wanted only one thing - don't touch us! Leave the faith of our fathers alone.

[VestigialLlama4]

They deliberately attacked christian churches and monasters!
Those monasters were nests, hotbeds of christian preaches who preached later in Scandinavia.

It was also a hotbed for a lot of loot, gold, and other shiny things because that's where trade and treasure was in the Post-Roman world. Religious places were the centers of trade then.

Because in 772 Charlemagne destroyed their sacred tree Irminsul (Yggdrasil). Sacred for scandinavians and germans.
Slaughtering 5 thousand people.

The massacre happened in Verden in Saxony, a fair bit South of Scandinavia proper. It had zilch to do with the motivations of the Vikings attacking Lindisfarne and other places.

[VestigialLlama4]

EXTRA HiSTORY did number of videos on the Vikings.

This one is especially interesting for the religious issues.

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