The contribution of Anglo-Saxon culture to the formation of modern Western civilization. Additions to the Second Book Anglo-Saxon Culture and the Russian Soul

1. Spiritual culture of the Anglo-Saxons. Individual recruitment of Anglo-Saxons gave way to resettlement. The invasion of Germanic tribes became the beginning of the foundation of new state formations. Anglo-Saxon mythology differs little from Celtic mythology. The head of the pantheon of Germanic gods was.... Boden. Sutsello. Christianization began at the end of the 6th century. Influenced by Roman missionaries. Irish Church. The great role of the monastery and priests as centers of science and culture. About the process of Christianization evidence from handwritten books of the 7th-8th centuries. Monuments of Irish handwritten books.

The further development of writing testifies to the development of Christianity. Events related to the resettlement of Germanic tribes are covered in three sources. Two of them belong to Christian authors (Gildes, a Celtic monk, about the death and conquest of Britain, Bede the Venerable chronicle “Ecclesiastical History of the Angles”, the period from the conquests of Caesar to 700). Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 9th century. was compiled on the initiative of the ruler Alfred the Great. The chronicles describe the struggle between Celtic and Germanic tribes.

Soon the differences between the Germans and the Celts were erased. IN late 9th century King Alfred the Great the ruler of Susex named his language English, and called his subjects (southern and central England) English. The main role in Christianization was played by Pope Gregory 1 (590-604). In 595 he ordered Anglo-Saxon slaves to be bought from the slave market to serve in the monasteries of Britain. A year later he sends 40 Benedictine monks to Britain. At the same time, the Roman Church abandoned the total eradication of paganism. This policy was well suited to the specific cultural development of the Anglo-Saxons. You cannot touch the temple, only destroy the images of idols. Build Christian churches on the site of the temples. As a result of such tolerance of the RCC, Christianity rapidly took hold. In 664, at the Council of Winbury, Christianity was recognized as the official religion of the Anglo-Saxons. The successes of Christianity were twofold - two cultural streams were formed: the Latin-religious-monastic tradition, the folk tradition (based on pre-Christian culture). The result was a synthesis. This factor was decisive in the formation of Anglo-Saxon medieval literary culture.

The first Anglo-Saxon writer is considered Aldheim (640-703). Author of theological treatises in Latin, as well as the author of poems. The treatises have survived to this day. Poems in Old English were only mentioned by William Somebody (12th century). He also compiled a collection of “Riddles” - hundreds of small poems describing mythological animals and constellations. They were later translated into Old English and included in a short collection of Anglo-Saxon poetry.

Beda the Venerable .(673-775) Graduated from a monastery school. He studied in Jarrow (the monastery is a famous center of theology). His works cover a wide range of issues about theology, medicine, mathematics, grammar, and poetry. The largest work is “Ecclesiastical History of the Angles” 731. here is a detailed description of the conquest of Britain by the Romans, geographical features. In his work he relies on earlier chronicles. It was a model until the Renaissance. Dante describes in his Divine Comedy in Paradise placing the Venerable among Plato, Aristotle and others.

The heyday of epic creativity - 8th-9th centuries. There are 4 main genres:

1. Heroic epic - the central place is stories about the fight against monsters, about wars, etc.

2. Heroic elegies - short works about the mental, psychological state of a hero who experiences loneliness, suffering, and the loss of parents.

3. Religious epic - treatment of biblical legends and lives of saints.

4. Historical songs - depicted this or that event.

Transmitted orally. They were called carriers and creators in droves- performers and creators of these tales. These people were considered God's chosen ones. This was one of the most revered figures. He sat at the feet of the king and was showered with gifts. Guardian of wisdom. Mostly they were warriors, as well as representatives of the nobility. Sometimes even kings acted as ospreys. Alfred the Great himself acted as an osprey.

Poems – Weowulf, Vidsid. Weowulf (8th century)– the only major work of the Anglo-Saxons that has survived in its entirety, the richness of themes and plots, the complexity and versatility of the content. Widseed (7th century) – unusual in content, consists of 3 special cycles. 1 - a list of names of famous names of various peoples, 2 - a list of famous groups of tribes, 3 - a list of rulers with whom Vidsid stayed.

Despite the flourishing of oral Anglo-Saxon culture, the written tradition developed rather slowly in the 8th and 9th centuries. At this time, the British Isles were attacked by the Vikings, who destroyed the monasteries. As a result, only one cultural center remained - Yorsky Monastery. He received an excellent theological education there. Alcuin - the first Anglo-Saxon thinker. Was sent by the Pope to lead the bishopric of Keldebery. In 780 he went to Rome to the Pope on a mission. On the way back I met Charlemagne. Alcuin became his chief advisor. At the court of the Great Card, an Academy was organized in the city of Aachen. In Tours he created a philosophical school in France. Alcuin left a large written legacy. Alcuin's work was a symbol of the Carolina Revival. - restoration of the greatness of Rome.

Britain remained on the periphery of the Carolingian Renaissance. Britain had its own cultural center and its own renaissance under the auspices of Alfred the Great. There was a revival of Anglo-Saxon culture. At the court of Alfred the Great, a circle of theologians, philosophers, and writers was formed. They traveled around the country, recording works of the Anglo-Saxon tradition. Monologues of Aurelius Augustine, writings of Pope Gregory 1.

10-11th century – The Benedictine Renaissance is the last rise of Anglo-Saxon culture. Elfric and Wulfstan are the main representatives. Everyday literature, intended for the mass reader, gained popularity. " Bestiary"contains a description of 3 creatures: a panther, a whale and a partridge. The panther symbolizes Christ, the dragon symbolizes the Devil. The panther's three-day dream is the death and resurrection of Christ. It was written in poetic form.

Chapter III. pagan religion of the Saxons.

Reflecting on the idolatry of ancient times from the heights of our prosperous age, we cannot do without some bewilderment at the obsession that has so long darkened the human mind in various parts of the globe. We, of course, understand that it is impossible to behold the majestic dome of the universe, to consider the planets moving in a routine order, to detect comets rushing from system to system in orbits whose diameter is almost infinite, to discover new ones in the innumerable variety of constellations and to predict the light of others whose filled the ray's brilliance has not yet reached us; we understand that it is impossible to contemplate these innumerable spheres of existence without a feeling of awe, we feel that this amazing splendor of nature tells us about the Great Creator. And therefore it is very difficult to comprehend why the instructions of Heaven should have taught this or that local idolatry, which, it seems, was originally calculated to be destroyed by the perfect majesty of Heaven itself and its boundless limits.

The most ancient religions of the world, apparently, were pure theism, without idols and temples. These essential attributes in the political structure of idolatry were unknown either to the ancient Pelasgians, the main ancestors of the Greeks, or to the early Egyptians and Romans. The Jewish patriarchs did not know them, and even our Germanic ancestors, according to Tacitus, managed without them.

Meanwhile, among every nation, with the exception of the Jews, over time, the system of idolatry invariably improved. The Deity was replaced by the symbols which human folly had chosen as its representatives; the most ancient of them were the celestial bodies - the most innocent objects of sinful worship. When it became possible to make idolatry a profitable trade, the heroes gave way to kings exalted to gods. The frantic imagination soon worked with such generosity that the air, sea, rivers, forests and earth were flooded with all kinds of deities, and it was easier, as the ancient sage noted, to meet a god than a man.

However, if you ask this question more deeply, you can come to the conclusion that both polytheism and idolatry were, on the one hand, the result of the activity of human pride, discarding everything inaccessible to its understanding; on the other hand, it is the result of the natural movement of the human intellect towards knowledge and conclusions. These were false conclusions, but at the same time they were, in the opinion of some writers, erroneous attempts in the process of development. As the intellect developed, when sensuality awoke and vice began to spread, some began to have the idea that the revered Almighty was so majestic, and man so insignificant, that people or their deeds could not be the object of his divine attention. In others, a desire manifested itself to free itself from the tutelage of such a perfect and sacred Being, in order to be able to indulge in all kinds of carnal joys with less restriction and repentance. From this moment on, these ideas and desires received approval, since they encouraged people's desire to worship deities with flaws similar to their own; and the interpretation of our world order, being delegated to the lower deities, having their own weaknesses, became a welcome proposal, for it tried to reconcile the perception of the sublime majesty of the Deity with the experience of the daily misdeeds and folly of the human race. Otherwise, humanity would not have recognized the existence of this Deity, and would not have believed in his providence, and at the same time would not have been able to live in comfort without faith in either one or the other. That is why polytheism was influenced by the constant development and self-satisfaction of religious creativity as a kind of assumption calculated to unite both these truths and satisfy the doubts of the scrupulous and inquisitive. At first, new fictional figures were revered as messengers and representatives of the Supreme Being. But as they acquired more and more distinctive features and shades, especially after the practice of allegorizing natural phenomena prevailed, the fictional deities were multiplied many times over and compared with all areas and manifestations of nature. The cult of heroes arose from the belief in the immortality of the soul and was timely added to that abundance of posthumous gratitude and veneration to which humanity has always been so inclined. These quirks seem to have been the natural consequence of man's departure from the Divine guidance, for we can have no true knowledge of the creation, providence, and will of the Almighty Sovereign, except by his own revelations of these reverent mysteries. The human race had no choice but to believe, conscientiously preserve everything he told him, and be guided by his guardianship. But as soon as the above affections and behavior became widespread, a deviation began from the great and simple truths of the Almighty Sovereign to the creation and preference of the conjectures of human ignorance and conjecture. The inevitable result of such a deplorable way of life was delusion and deceit; consciousness became clouded and degraded under the weight of its own theories, and the world was filled with superstition and absurdity.

The use of idols was an attempt to dispel consciousness, awaken memories, attract the senses and direct attention to the visible image of the invisible Omnipresence. In all religious countries, especially in those with the least developed intelligence, they have been very effective for these purposes. In general, both polytheism and idolatry sooner or later slipped into fixation of consciousness exclusively on one’s own false fantasies, suppression of the ability to think, replacing the worship of the All-Parenter and the emergence of the most extreme superstition and tyrannical persecution. Subsequently, the continuous development of the human mind led to the abolition of both of these supposed religious worldviews with the same vigor with which they were originally proposed. When our Saxon ancestors settled in England, they used both of them: they had many gods, and they worshiped their idols. However, the development of intelligence quickly led to a weakening of attachment to their tribal superstition, as can be inferred from the sincerity with which they listened to the first Christian missionaries and from the rapidity with which they accepted the Christian faith.

The beauty of the name given by the Saxon and Germanic peoples to God is unmatched by any other except the more revered Hebrew name. The Saxons call him God, literally Good; the same word denoting both the Deity and its most attractive quality.

Our own system of paganism of the Anglo-Saxons is known to us very mediocrely, since there is no evidence about the initial stages of its development, and only a few details are mentioned about the flourishing stage. It appears to have had a very heterogeneous character and existed for a long time, achieving in its development permanent institutions and considerable ritual splendor.

That when the Anglo-Saxons settled in Britain they had idols, altars, temples and priests, that their temples had fences, that they were considered desecrated if spears were thrown at them, that the priest was forbidden to carry weapons or ride a horse except on mare - we learn all this from the indisputable testimony of the Venerable Bede ().

We find some objects of their worship in the names of the current days of the week.

Regarding the sun and moon, we can only say that among the Saxons the sun was a female deity, and the moon was male (); about Tiw we know nothing more than his name. Woden was considered their great forefather, from him they traced their genealogies. It will be shown later that calculations made on the basis of these genealogies place the period of activity of the real Woden in the third century of the Christian era (). We know very little about the Saxon Woden, his wife Frige and Tanra or Thor, and it would not be entirely correct to set out here in detail all the fantasies that have been invented about them. The gods of the north Odin, Frigg (or Friga) and Thor were, apparently, their Norman counterparts, although we do not dare to attribute to the gods of the Saxons the world order and mythology that the skalds of subsequent centuries brought to us from Denmark, Iceland and Norway. Woden was the supreme idol of the pagan religion of the Saxons, but we cannot add anything else to this other than the description of Odin given by the Danes and Norwegians ().

The names of two Anglo-Saxon goddesses were brought to us by Bede. He mentions Rheda, to whom they sacrificed in March, which received the name Rhed-monath from the rites in her honor, and Eostre, whose festivals were celebrated in April, which in this connection received the name Eostre-monath (). The name of this goddess has survived to this day in the name of the great Easter ceremony: thus, the memory of one of the idols of our ancestors will be preserved as long as our language exists and our country lives. They called the goddess gydena; and since the word was used as a proper name instead of Vesta (), it is possible that under this name they had their own deity.

Fausete, an idol worshiped on Helgoland, one of the islands originally settled by the Saxons, was so famous that the place began to bear his name; it was called Fosetesland. Temples were erected to him there, and the area was considered so sacred that no one dared to touch the animals grazing there, or to take a sip of water from the spring that flowed here, except perhaps in majestic silence. In the eighth century, Willibrord, an Anglo-Saxon convert born in Northumbria, who, under the patronage of his uncle Boniface, went as a missionary to Frisia, tried to eradicate this superstition, although Radbod, the ferocious king of the island, doomed all its desecrators to a cruel death. Willibrord, undaunted by the consequences, baptized three people in the spring in the name of the Holy Trinity, and ordered that several cows grazing there be slaughtered for food for his companions. The pagans who saw this expected that they would be struck by death or madness ().

We know from Tacitus that the Angles had a goddess whom they called Nertha or Mother Earth. He says that on an island in the middle of the ocean there was a grove, in which there was a covered cart, which only the priest was allowed to touch. When the goddess was supposed to be inside the cart, she was taken out, drawn by cows, with the greatest respect. Joy, celebration and hospitality were then widespread. They forgot about wars and weapons, and the reigning peace and tranquility were known only then and were loved only until the priest returned the goddess, satiated with communication with mortals, to her temple. The cart, the cover and the goddess herself were washed in a lake hidden from prying eyes. Then the slaves serving at the ceremony drowned themselves in the same lake ().

The Saxons were afraid of an evil creature, which they called Faul (), a certain female supernatural force, which they called "elf", and very often used it to compare their ladies in laudatory terms. So Judith is called ælfscinu, resplendent like an elf (). They also revered stones, groves and springs (). The Continental Saxons revered Lady Hera, a fantastic being who they believed hovered in the air for the entire week after their Yule, i.e. between our Christmas and Epiphany. It was believed that after her visit abundance came (). We may add that the word Hilde, one of the Saxon terms for battle, is possibly related to the goddess of war of the same name.

That the Saxons had many idols is clear from several sources. Pope Gregory in the eighth century, addressing the old Saxons, urges them to leave their idols, be they made of gold, silver, copper, stone or something else (). Hama, Flynn, Siba and Zernebog, or a dark, malevolent, sinister deity, are said to be part of the host of their gods, but we cannot tell anything about them except their names (). The Saxon Venus was also mentioned; she was depicted standing naked on a chariot, with her head framed by a myrtle, a burning torch in her chest and a symbol of peace in her right hand. True, such a description shows too much sophistication in its details, and its source is not the most significant ().

There are more significant signs of authenticity in Crodus's description; it appears to have been preserved in the Brunswick Chronicle, which later historians used for their work. Crodus appeared to be an old man, dressed in a white tunic, covered with a linen belt with loose ends hanging down. He was depicted with his head uncovered; in his right hand he held a vessel full of roses and other flowers drowning in water; on the left is a chariot wheel; his bare feet stood on a fish covered with uneven scales, as if on a pole (). The idol stood on a pedestal. It was found on Mount Herkinius in the Harsburg fortress, which in ancient times was called Saturburg (), i.e. fortification on Satura hill. Thus he was, in all likelihood, the idol of Satur (Satur), from which the name of our Saturday comes ().

There is no doubt that the Saxons had a sinister custom of human sacrifice to commemorate certain important events. Tacitus mentions it as a feature of all Germans, who on certain days offered human sacrifices to their supreme deity. Sidonius testifies that upon returning from predatory campaigns, the Saxons sacrificed a tenth of their captives, chosen by lot (). We have already mentioned that for sacrilege the criminal was sacrificed to the god whose temple he had desecrated; Ennodius tells about the Saxons, Heruli and Franks that they believed that they pacified their deities with human blood (). But whether human sacrifices were an obligatory part of their religious ritual, or whether they were just sacrifices of captives or criminals that happened from time to time, is impossible to decide due to the lack of other data ().

We have practically no detailed information about the rituals of the Anglo-Saxons. In the month of February they offered pancakes to their gods, and for this reason the month was called Sol Monat. September, due to the pagan celebrations that occurred during this period, was called Khalig Monat, the sacred month. November is known as the month of sacrifice, Blot Monat, for they offered to their gods the cattle that they slaughtered at this time (). Since the Anglo-Saxons were in the habit of eating salted or dried meat in the winter, perhaps November or Blot Monat was the time when food supplies for the winter were prepared and blessed.

Their famous holiday Yule (Geol, Jule or Yule), which was celebrated on the same days as our Christmas, was a combination of religion and drinking. December was called erra Geola, or before Yule. January – eftera Geola, or after Yule. Since Christmas Day was one of the Saxon names called Geola or Geohol deg, it is likely that it was the day when this festival began. They considered this day the first of their year. The trouble traces its beginning to the solstice, when with its onset the length of the day began to increase (). Considering that it was also called “Mother’s Night”, and the Saxons worshiped the sun as a woman, I come to the conclusion that this holiday was dedicated to the sun.

And yet, the most famous Saxon idol on the continent was Irminsula ().

The name of this revered idol was written with varying spelling. The Saxon Chronicle published in Mainz in 1492 calls him Armensula, which is consistent with the pronunciation of modern Saxony. Meibom, the most scrupulous student of this curious object of Saxon idolatry, adhered to the name Irminsula ().

He stood at Eresberg on the banks of the Dimel River (). The above-mentioned Saxon Chronicle calls this place Marsburg. The Rhymed Chronicle of the thirteenth century mentions it as Meersberg (now Marsberg. Note al_avs), which is the modern name ().

His elaborate temple was spacious and majestic. The idol stood on a marble pillar ().

The towering figure represented an armed warrior. The right hand held a banner that attracted attention with a scarlet rose; left – scales. The crest of his helmet was made in the shape of a rooster; a bear was engraved on the chest, and on a shield hanging from the shoulders in a field full of flowers there was an image of a lion (). The description of the Adam of Bremen seems to imply that it was made of wood, and that the place on which it stood was in the open air. It was the greatest idol of all Saxony, and according to Rohlvink, a writer of the fifteenth century, whose sources are unknown to us, despite the fact that the warlike statue was the main figure, there were three others near it (). From the chronicle called the People's Chronicle, we know that there were images of Irminsula in other Saxon temples ().

Priests of both sexes served in the temple. Women were engaged in prediction and fortune telling; men were sacrificers, and often intervened in political matters because it was believed that their approval would guarantee a favorable outcome.

The priests of Irminsula in Eresberg appointed Gowgraven, rulers of the regions of continental Saxony. They also appointed judges who annually decided local disputes. There were sixteen such judges: the eldest, and therefore the main one, was called Gravius; the youngest is Frono or assistant; the rest were Freyerichter or free judges. They administered justice to seventy-two families. Twice a year, in April and October, Gravius ​​and Frono came to Eresberg, and there they made a pacifying donation in the form of two wax candles and nine coins. If during the year one of the judges died, this was immediately reported to the priests, who chose a replacement from the specified seventy-two families. Before a man was appointed to this path, his election was announced to the people seven times with a loud voice in the open air, and this was considered his inauguration.

At the hour of battle, the priests removed the statue of their idol from the pillar and brought it to the battlefield. After the battle, captives and the faint-hearted from the ranks of their own army were sacrificed to the idol (). Meibom cites two stanzas of an old song in which the son of a Saxon king, who lost a battle, complains that he was taken to the priest for sacrifice (). He adds that, according to some writers, on certain holy days the ancient Saxons, mainly their warriors, dressed in armor and waving iron cestus, rode around the idol on horseback, and, from time to time, dismounted to kneel before it, bowing and whispering uttered their prayers for help and victory ().

To whom this grandiose statue was erected remains a question full of uncertainty. Since Ερμηϛ is consonant with Irminsul, and Αρηϛ is similar in sound to Eresberg, the idol was identified by Mars and Mercury (). Some researchers considered it a monument to the famous Arminius (), and one worked to prove that it was a symbolic idol, not related to any deity in particular ().

In 772 this revered object of Saxon idolatry was thrown down and broken, and its temple destroyed by Charlemagne. For three days, one half of his army continued the work of destroying the sanctuary, while the other remained in full combat readiness. His enormous wealth and precious vessels were distributed among the conquerors or transferred to charitable purposes ().

There are several references to the fate of the pillar after the overthrow of the idol (). He was thrown into a cart and drowned in the Weser in the place where Corby subsequently arose. After the death of Charlemagne it was discovered and transported beyond the Weser. The Saxons tried to recapture it, the battle took place at a place that later received the name Armensula from the clash that took place here. The Saxons were repulsed, and to prevent further surprises on their part, the pillar was hastily thrown into the River Inner. Subsequently, a church was built nearby in Hillesheim, and after a long spiritual purification he was transferred to it and placed in the choir, where he served for a long time as a stand for candles during celebrations (). For many centuries it remained abandoned and forgotten, until, finally, Mabom accidentally discovered it, and a church canon, sympathetic to his research, cleaned it of corrosion and stains ().

Idolatrous peoples are extremely superstitious. People's inclination to know the future tries to satisfy their ignorance with the illusory use of fortune telling, lots and omens.

All Germanic peoples were carried away by this absurdity. Tacitus's evidence of this, given about the Germans as a whole, was extended by Meginhard to the ancient Saxons. They believed that the voices and flight of birds were an interpretation of the Divine will, believed that the neighing of horses depended on heavenly inspiration, and resolved their social issues with the wisdom of lot. They divided a small branch of a fruit tree into wood chips, marked them and scattered them at random on a white robe. The priest, if it was a state council, or the head of the family, if there was a private meeting, prayed, peered intently into the heavens, lifted one chip three times and interpreted what was predicted according to the previously applied sign. If the omen was unfavorable, the discussion was postponed ().

To reveal the fate of the upcoming battle, the Saxons selected a captive of the people opposing them and assigned their own warrior to him to confront them. Based on the outcome of this fight, they judged their future victory or defeat ().

The idea that the heavenly bodies influence the destinies of people, which spread from Chaldea to the East and West, had a strong impact on the consciousness of the Saxons. Important issues, they believed, were resolved more successfully on certain days, and the full or new moon was considered a sign of the most favorable period ().

Witchcraft, the favorite delusion of ignorant man, the refuge of his stupidity and the invention of his arrogance or malice, dominated among the Anglo-Saxons. One of their kings even decided to meet Christian missionaries in the open air, because he believed that witchcraft was especially strong inside the building ().

We have no written evidence about the epic foundations of the world order of Anglo-Saxon paganism. But enough documentary sources have reached us about the religion of the Normans, which prevailed in the lands inhabited by the Angles and Saxons near the Elbe, and was the religion of the Norman colonies in England. In them we may see the essence of the faith of our primitive ancestors. In some respects, the polytheism of the north was one of the most rational forms of idolatry. Although it is inferior in style and fantasy to classical mythology, nevertheless, beyond its limits, it generally reflects the power and development of the intellect. The Edda, despite its disorder, has a more coherent theological system than much of Ovid's Metamorphoses.

It is noteworthy that the Normans revered the three main highest gods, related to each other by ties of kinship: Odin, whom they called the All-Father or All-Parenter, Freya, his wife and their son Thor. Idols of these gods were installed in their famous temple in Uppsala (). Of these three, the Danes, like the Anglo-Saxons, paid the highest honors to Odin, the Norwegians and Icelanders to Thor, and the Swedes to Freya ().

In the religious system of the universe of the Normans we see the powerful foundations of ancient theism, mixed with allegory, polytheism and idolatry. Odin's first name is Allfather, although many others were added over time. He is described in the Edda as the Highest of the Gods: “He lives from eternity and rules in his domains, and rules over everything in the world, great and small... He created the sky, and the earth, and the air... He created man and gave him a soul that will live forever and never die, although the body becomes dust or ashes. And all people, worthy and righteous, will live with him in a place called Gimle. And bad people will go to Hel" () . In other places it is added: “When the All-Father sits on the throne, he can see the whole world from there” (). - “One is more noble and older than all the aces, he rules everything in the world, and no matter how powerful the other gods are, they all serve him, like children to a father. Odin is called the All-Father, for he is the father of all gods” (). Thor is represented as the son of Odin and Frigga, and the Earth is called the daughter of Odin ().

The Normans had several wonderful legends that have come down to us in the ancient epic song “The Divination of the Völva.” One of them says that the kingdom of non-existence preceded the earth and heaven (). Another is that in the appointed period the earth and the whole world will be burned in flames. The end of the world was associated with a certain creature named Surt, i.e. “black”, which will have to direct this flame (). Until this day, Loki, their source of evil, had to remain in the cave, placed on an iron leash (). After this day a New World will arise; then the righteous will find happiness (). The gods will sit nearby and talk, while the wicked will be doomed to a joyless existence (). The Edda ends with a description of this final part, presenting it to us in more detail:

“Snow is falling from all sides... Three such winters come in a row, without a summer. And even earlier, three other winters come, with great wars all over the world. Brothers kill each other out of selfishness, and there is no mercy for either father or son.. A wolf will swallow the sun... Another wolf will steal the month... The stars will disappear from the sky... the whole earth and mountains will tremble so that the trees will fall to the ground, the mountains will collapse... and then the sea pours onto the land, for the World Serpent turned in a giant's wrath and climbed onto the shore. And then the ship sailed... It is made of the nails of the dead. It is ruled by a giant named Moody. And Fenrir the Wolf advances with an open mouth: the upper jaw reaches to the sky, the lower - to the ground. The World Serpent spews out so much poison that both the air and the waters are filled with poison... the sons of Muspell rush from above. Surt gallops first, and ahead and behind him flames blaze. He has a glorious sword: the light from that sword is brighter than from the sun. When they gallop across Bifrost, this bridge is collapsing... The sons of Muspell reach the field called Vigrid, and Fenrir the Wolf and the World Serpent also arrive there. Loki is there too, and Moody, and with him all the frost giants. But the sons of Muspell stand in a special army, and that army is wonderfully bright... Heimdall stands up and blows loudly on the Gjallarhorn horn, awakening all the gods... One... asks Mimir for advice... The ash tree Yggdrasil trembles, and everything in the heavens is filled with horror and on the ground. The Aesir and all the Einherjars arm themselves and take to the battlefield. Odin rides ahead in a golden helmet... He goes out to fight Fenrir Wolf. Thor... put all his strength into the battle with the World Serpent. Frey fights in a fierce battle with Surt until he falls dead. The dog Garm... enters into battle with Tyr, and they kill each other to death. Thor killed the World Serpent, but... falls to the ground dead, poisoned by the Serpent's poison. The wolf swallows Odin, and he dies. With his hand Vidar grabs the Wolf by the upper jaw and tears his mouth apart. Loki fights Heimdall and they kill each other. Then Surt throws fire onto the earth and burns the whole world" ().

These traditions agree well with the idea mentioned at the beginning of this work, that the barbarian peoples of Europe arose from offshoots of more civilized states.

Allegory, excited imagination, mysticism and distorted explanations have added to these traditions many wild and absurd fables, the meaning of which we cannot comprehend. The structure of Niflheim, or the underworld, from which flowed rivers of frost, and of Muspellheim, or the land of fire, from which came sparks and flames. The transformation of frost from the heat into drops, one of which became a giant named Ymir (), the other a cow named Audumla, to feed him. A cow licking salt and frost from the rocks, which turned into a beautiful creature, from whom came his son Bor, Odin and all the gods (), while frost giants were born from the feet of the evil Ymir. The sons of Bor killed Ymir, and such a huge amount of blood flowed from his wounds that all the families of the frost giants drowned in it, with the exception of the one that escaped on their ship (). Creating the earth from Ymir's flesh, turning his sweat into seas, bones into mountains, hair into forests, brains into clouds, and skulls into the sky (). All these ideas explaining the origin of the surrounding world, arbitrary allegories that clearly present the events that took place, disordered legends and altered fantasies - all this demonstrates the mixture that the mythology of any people contains.

We have already noted that among the Anglo-Saxons, to express deity in general, the most common word was God, which also meant Good. This identity of words takes us back to those primitive times when the Divine Being was known to people primarily for his good deeds, was the object of their love and was revered for the benefits bestowed on him. But when they retreated from the pure faith of the initial stages of development and directed their religion to satisfy their own inclinations, new trends and aspirations, then world order systems began to arise, trying to explain the origin of the surrounding world without its previous eternal existence, or even without its assistance, and to set out their understanding of the creation and destruction of the world. From that time on, the Norman cosmogonists taught about the emergence of a land of frost in the north and a land of fire in the south; about the origin, as a result of their interaction, of a tribe of evil creatures from the giant Ymir and the gods from the cow Audumla; about the war between the gods and an evil tribe; about the death of Ymir; about the creation of the earth and heavens from his body; and finally, about the coming of the forces of the land of fire to destroy all things, including the gods themselves. The interweaving of materialism, atheism and idolatry evident in these ideas demonstrates the departure of the human mind from its original great truths and its efforts to replace these truths with its own illusions and erroneous conclusions. All this - both polytheism and mythology - seems to be some kind of attempt at a compromise between skepticism and superstition. The intellect, in the process of natural development, beginning to understand the world around it, allowed itself, ignoring personal ignorance, to doubt and resolve these doubts with the help of its fantasies (or cover them up with its allegories) and form a belief to satisfy its own preferences.

The most frightening features of the ancient religion of the Anglo-Saxons, in fact, like all Teutonic peoples, were its removal from chaste and benevolent human virtues and the conclusion of a close alliance with war and violence. She condemned betrayal and perjury; but it represented their Supreme Deity as the forefather of battles and bloodshed, and those who fell on the battlefield became his beloved sons. He gave them the heavenly Valhalla and Vingolf and promised to honor them after death as heroes (). Belief in this justified all the horrors of war and connected all human hopes, efforts and passions with its continuous waging.

Later, as intelligence developed, people ceased to be satisfied with their mythology. There is ample evidence of the spread of this alienation (), which ultimately prepared the Northerners to accept the sublime truths of Christianity, although at first they harbored hostility to them.

Great Britain is the champion of all times in the colonization of territories. About a quarter of the earth's surface was captured at various times by the tireless British colonialists. More than half a billion people around the world were subordinate to the English crown, and the colonial countries were ruled by governors appointed by the British court.

Early in British history, Wales and Ireland were colonized. Then it was the turn of the West Indies (the modern Bahamas, Greater and Lesser Antilles, part of Jamaica and Cuba), and a little later - America. The first British territory in North America was Newfoundland, located in modern Canada.

Despite their superiority, Britain suffered, so to speak, a technical defeat in the West Indies. The reason for this was local features, such as the large scattering of small islands - the Crown simply did not have enough troops to ensure order in this colony.

But everything turned out great in North America: Both settlements founded in 1607 and 1610, Jamestown and Newfoundland, rapidly developed and prospered.

In the 17th century, parallel to expansion in America and the West Indies, there was active British colonization of Africa and Asia, where Great Britain competed quite successfully with Holland and France. The Asian states of Iraq and Palestine, Jordan, India, Afghanistan, Ceylon, Singapore, Malaysia and many other countries were colonized. In Africa, Egypt, Sudan, Kenya, Rhodesia, Uganda, almost all African islands and other smaller countries became British colonies.

Today, Great Britain officially owns large territories on all continents. There are more than thirty so-called “dependent territories”, that is, countries to one degree or another dependent on Great Britain. The largest of them are Gibraltar, Bermuda, and the Falkland Islands (a serious conflict with Argentina recently broke out over dominance over them).

The issue of dependence on the British Crown of countries such as Canada, Cyprus, Australia and New Zealand is not raised in political and scientific circles. However, officially the citizens of these countries are still subjects of Her Royal Majesty.

Over the course of several centuries, British influence changed life and culture, worldview and traditions in the territories controlled by England. Anglo-Saxon traditions radically changed life in the colonies, and this was mainly done with fire and sword. The slave trade and forced conversion to Christianity flourished, and at times Britain was at the mercy of pirates, corsairs and other sea robbers.

Countries colonized at different times by the British Crown today differ from each other in their level of development, political system, and economy. One thing is certain: the more England ruled the colony, the more successful the country has become today. A striking example is the USA and Canada. The indigenous population of these countries was almost completely destroyed, and their place was taken by white settlers, mainly from Great Britain and the European colonies.

Anglo-Saxon mentality

Charles Dickens in his “The Adventures of Oliver Twist” perfectly described the features of the life and lifestyle of the British middle class. And since it was the representatives of the middle class who determined the lifestyle of the colonists during the years of colonization, it was they who had the maximum influence on the formation of the mentality of the inhabitants of the British colonies.

Stiffness and ostentatious puritanism coexisted quite successfully in the moral code of the average settler with the opportunity to take what was poorly located, read - did not belong to other settlers. The indigenous population was most often not considered as people, making some concessions for strategic reasons. A clear division into first-class, second-class people and non-humans ran like a red thread through the seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth and first half of the twentieth centuries. Each white colonist could feel like a lord next to a black slave or Indian, and a member of the upper caste next to a Mexican, Chinese or Indian.

Throughout the history of the overseas colonies, the Anglo-Saxons promoted the highest human and Christian values, simultaneously with the genocide of the local native population and the flourishing slave trade. In the minds of average people, a quiet provincial life, family values, faith in God and the bullying, torture and executions to which slaves and indigenous inhabitants of the colonies were subjected coexisted quite peacefully. This served as the beginning of the formation of some of the character traits of the average colonist and to some extent influenced the mentality of the Anglo-Saxons who inhabit most North American countries today.

Hypocrisy is the main trait of a representative of Anglo-Saxon culture. A smile in this society does not mean a friendly attitude at all, it is a tribute to local etiquette. The politeness for which Canadians are famous is dictated by purely practical considerations - it is better and easier to conduct business and communicate politely.

As a legacy from the British, residents of the former British colonies received such valuable qualities from the point of view of modern life as practicality and respect for private property. The latter has been elevated to the rank of religion in the States and Canada, Australia and Oceania, and former European colonies.

Private property did not become sacred immediately or suddenly, but was formed due to circumstances. During the years of active colonization, the colonists were granted extraordinary benefits, in particular, the opportunity to declare free plots of land their property. It was then that the rule arose that no one could ever claim ownership of someone else's land. And this became the basis of legislation in the United States and other developed countries. Today, private property is inviolable, and owners have the broadest powers to protect their private property.

Thanks to the Anglo-Saxons, the concept of privacy became key in the development of relations and the formation of laws. Thus, in most US states, a police officer does not have the right to search a citizen or his car, demand to show documents on the street, or look at the contents of a package or bag. This is the basis of Western democracy.

Western Democracy – USA and Canada

Despite its Greek origin, this concept was formed in its modern form in the former British colonies, mainly in the USA. The hard life of the first settlers and fierce competition forced the creation of a set of laws and rules, according to which they lived for many years: decisions were made jointly, and the implementation of the laws was monitored by a popularly elected sheriff. Also, the whole world chose judges who judged fairly, but mercilessly. After the declaration of independence of the United States of America, the supreme power was the President, who was also popularly elected. In addition, charges against violators of the law have been and are being brought forward not on behalf of the state, but on behalf of the people of the United States.

The example of the United States was followed by some other countries that now call themselves countries of Western democracy or the free world.

USA, Canada, Australia

These countries are striking examples of British influence on the formation of fundamental national values. These countries are significantly different from Europe and the rest of the world, and this difference is not only due to geographical distance. The special American mentality characteristic of residents of the States and Canada and similar traits of Australians developed historically as a result of the conquest of the Wild West in America and the rapid settlement of Australia in the 17th and 18th centuries. European traditions were gradually replaced in these countries by their own national traits and way of life, and in the end that same American way of life was born - an independent, independent and pragmatic approach to one’s own destiny, career, and position.

America, Canada and Australia are also countries of lawyers. The rule of law forces Americans and Australians to resort to the services of a lawyer in the event of any significant event in life, and business simply cannot do without legal assistance and support.

Despite its independent development, the British past in America, Australia and Canada is evident in everything. Americans and Australians try to adhere to prim Victorian traditions in home decoration, and also love family dinners at a beautifully set table. Every family has cutlery, often silver, and it never sits idle.

Of course, Australia is less fortunate than the States and Canada. Since colonizing the continent, Britain has exiled bandits and murderers to Australia, turning the country into a huge penal prison. After serving their sentences, many convicts remained to live there, started families and gradually formed the Australian people. The dark past was forgotten over time, but British traditions and culture remained. Also, adventurers of all ranks and stripes came to the United States of America at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, many of whom were hiding from justice in their homeland. As a result, desperate and daring, they became the backbone and the main driving force behind the progress and development of these countries.

Today Australia is a fairly developed country with its own advantages, one of which is the absence of aggressive, unfriendly neighbors, and indeed neighbors in general. And its disadvantages - geographical distance from Europe and America. It was geography that constantly hampered the development of this country and made it the outskirts of civilization. However, Australia is a fairly prosperous state where many immigrants aspire, most of whom settle there and achieve success.

Australians are perhaps much friendlier than the tough Americans and just as polite as Canadians. In addition, Australians, like Canadians, are terribly fond of nature, and do not miss the opportunity to go with the whole family somewhere into the bush, admire exotic animals and enjoy gorgeous views.

Unlike pragmatic Americans and simple-minded Canadians, Australians are hopeless romantics. They value relationships over profit, which may be why Australia lags behind the US and Canada in terms of economic growth.

What, besides traditions and culture, distinguishes Canada, the USA and Australia from the rest of the world? Economy and industry. American economic models, also adopted in Canada and Australia, imply dynamics and intensive business development. Efficiency and scale determine success, which has become the main reason for the high standard of living in these countries.

Other former British colonies

The Victorian era was marked by the colonization of overseas territories. And today, most of the countries that were once part of the British Empire have long ago gained independence. However, the culture, traditions, and way of life in these countries are very similar. This is the result of the influence of British culture.

One of the main heritage of the British is language. English is spoken in India and Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong, Cyprus and half of Africa.

In addition to language, the British left a legacy to the colonies of driving on the left. Today people drive on the left side of the road in India, Cyprus, Hong Kong, South Africa, and, naturally, in the United Kingdom itself.

The way of life of the people in the former British colonies overseas also shows signs of Anglo-Saxon influence. Continental breakfast (bread with butter and jam, tea and fruit), lunch, dining etiquette and much more are just a small part of the British influence, the tip of the iceberg. The main thing that was inherited from the British was law. The vast majority of former British colonies still base their legislation on the basis of British law. Developed by English lawyers at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries, the codes of laws have still not lost their relevance and, after minor revisions, are used in the legislation of most countries of the world.

Also recommended reading:
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The relative tolerance of the Anglo-Saxon church towards folk culture during the era of the spread of Christianity led to the fact that monasteries became not only conductors of the new religion in society, but also centers where the recording of monuments of folk literature was concentrated, however, with its appropriate selection and processing. This explains the rather large number of monuments of folk poetry that have survived to our time. After all, only small fragments have survived from the Central German poetic tradition: a fragment of the “Song of Hkldebrant” and two spells. We know practically nothing about the ancient poetry of the Franks. The epic tradition of the Goths disappeared, leaving only minor traces in the epic of other peoples. And only Scandinavia brought to us the richest poetic heritage of the “heroic era”: the mythological and heroic songs of the Edda. Of course, we know only a small part of the works performed by the Anglo-Saxons; most of the epic poems are lost forever. However, four surviving manuscripts of Old English poetic texts (all written around 1000) and several fragments reveal a rare richness and variety of themes, plots, and poetic forms. It is no coincidence that the 8th-10th centuries are considered the heyday of the Anglo-Saxon epic.

It was based on a circle of ideas and concepts that made up what can be conventionally called the artistic consciousness of that part of the population in whose environment epic works arose and were passed on from generation to generation, recreated in each new performance. Aesthetic needs were combined with ethical and legal views. The epic reflected ideas about world history (no matter how limited the “whole world” may be) history and the place in it of the history of its people; it embodied and passed on to subsequent generations information about the past; Through epic legends, both the introduction of each new generation into history and the continuous connection of times from the past to the future were carried out. The epic contained a cosmological model and an ideal model of society, recreating the macro- and microcosm in poetic forms. By its nature, epic creativity was syncretic and multifunctional and was the main form of expression of the knowledge, feelings, aspirations and ideals of its creators.

That is why the role of the performer and creator of epic tales - the osprey - in Anglo-Saxon society was extremely great. Osprey is a close associate of the king, sitting at his feet at a feast, receiving generous gifts and being greeted with honor when he travels around the world. Skop is the keeper of the wisdom he conveys to people, a storehouse of knowledge. Therefore, in the Anglo-Saxon poems, one of the first virtues of a wise person is his knowledge of many songs: Moses (“Exodus”), Hrothgar (“Beowulf”), Solomon, and many others have this dignity. “As precious stones belong to a queen, weapons to warriors, so a good osprey belongs to people,” said one of the Old English gnomic poems. It was impossible to do without an osprey at a feast or on a campaign; he was next to the king both in days of war and in times of peace to glorify his exploits. Only in songs could the glory of the hero, the memory of his valor and generosity, be preserved and passed on to descendants:

... and a close associate, the king’s favorite, a much-memorable expert on hymns, a preserver of the legends of ancient times, he, combining words in his own way, began a speech - the praise of Beoaulf; combining consonances in a skillful manner, he wove into the chant a new story, unknown to people, he told a true story...

(Beowulf, 867-874)

Osprey, as a rule, is a vigilante who also took part in hostilities. But there are many references to the fact that both noble people and kings often acted as singers: this is what they say about St. Dunstan and Aldhelm, about Alfred the Great and many others. The performance of songs was not considered something shameful, unworthy of a noble or simply pious person. On the contrary, the ability to tell about the past in sonorous verse is evidence of wisdom, knowledge, and God's chosenness. It is no coincidence that images of ospreys are so common in miniatures of Old English manuscripts, and even biblical characters, such as David, are represented with a harp in their hands.

As recounted in the poem “Vidsid” - “The Wanderer”, the osprey often passed from one ruler to another, spreading fame and blasphemy throughout the world:

So, as fate has destined, the singers of songs wander through distant lands, composing words about adversity, about good generous givers: both in the north and in the south, everywhere there is a sophisticated ruler in songs, not stingy with offerings, eager to strengthen his deeds with praise before his squad, until he sees the good of life and the light.

(Vidsid, Ш-142)

Wandering from kingdom to kingdom, singing songs at the courts of rulers of different lands and peoples, the osprey told the story about the deeds of the long-dead rulers Ermanaric and Attila, about victories over monsters, giants and dragons that threatened the death of their fellow tribesmen, brave and mighty heroes - Beowulf, Sigmund . The thirst for battle sounded in his tales about strife and bloody battles between the Danes and Jutes, the Huns and Burgundians, the Geats and the Swedes, and it did not matter that many of these tribes were no longer in the world. They inhabited the epic world of the Anglo-Saxon osprey and its listeners and in it they acquired a new full-blooded life.

There were also new songs among the osprey - songs born of Christianity:

...there the harp sang and the clear voice of the hymn-teller, that legend led from the beginning, from the creation of peace; he sang about how the Creator created a dry land washed by the sea, about how the Creator strengthened the sun and the month in the sky so that they would shine for all earthly creatures, and how He decorated the earth with greenery, and how He endowed life to the creatures that breathe and move .

(Beowulf, 89-98)

There were also sad songs - about a hero who was torn away from the world in which he lived and who was left only with memories of past happiness in the circle of friends at the banquet table. All this material, varied in origins, plots and moods, was united in his memory by the squad singer.

The integrity of the epic fund of the Anglo-Saxons was based, on the one hand, on the unity of a comprehensive image of the world created by the artistic rethinking of reality in the minds of many generations of Ospreys, on the other hand, on a general system of versification with a traditional complex of poetic means and techniques. There was a set of metaphors, comparisons, and stereotypical descriptions developed over centuries that could be used in a wide variety of works30. The osprey's memory helpfully suggested to him the words and expressions that should be used when talking about a particular situation, when describing a certain event, regardless of whether it happens to a Christian saint, Beowulf, the giant Grendel or a pagan ruler.

The stereotypical means of expression, along with a unified system of stylistic devices (repetitions, stringing of synonyms, etc.) created the unity of the poetic fabric of monuments with different characters and plots, and cemented the heroic world of the Anglo-Saxon epic. Moreover, the unity of the poetics of epic works cannot hide the diversity of their types. The development of artistic consciousness as a result of the beginning of differentiation of individual aspects of social consciousness as a whole, on the one hand, and the influence of Christian literature with its conscious and theoretically meaningful literary forms, on the other, led to the gradual complication and stratification of epic literature, to the emergence of new narrative types. This process probably proceeded gradually, slowly. But we don't know anything about him. Only its outcome is known - in the VIII-X centuries. On English soil, many epic monuments of various themes were created, reflecting various aspects of life, influenced to varying degrees by the Christian worldview and literature.

What are the types of these works, can they be considered independent genres of epic literature, which allows us to isolate them?

The most obvious feature, on the basis of which separate groups of monuments are usually distinguished, is the plot and its orientation towards reflecting a certain range of events and phenomena. Thus, in the poems classified as heroic epics, the central place is occupied by the fight against monsters, tribal feuds and wars. The content of short poems, usually called heroic elegies, is the psychological state of a person who has lost his master and loved ones and is acutely aware of his loneliness. The religious epic is a treatment of plots from biblical legends and the lives of saints. Historical songs are dedicated to a poetic story about real events. The differentiation of themes and plots entails a number of other significant features, the totality of which allows us to consider the selected groups as independent genres in the system of Anglo-Saxon epic. The most important points are: the relationship of monuments of various genres with the pan-German epic tradition and with Christian literature; their attitude to history, i.e. the level and nature of their historicism; the interaction of truth and fiction in them and the understanding of both; their compositional structure, interpretation of the hero’s image, as well as the main elements of the epic world of monuments, primarily their spatial and temporal characteristics. There are also some differences in the social functioning of various genres and in their intended audience, although this circumstance is not always sufficiently obvious.

At the same time, one cannot exaggerate the independence and isolation of genres in Anglo-Saxon epic poetry. “They are not clearly opposed to each other as different art forms,” and therefore the boundaries between them are blurred and uncertain. It is no coincidence that there is no agreement on the question of, for example, which poems should be classified as heroic elegies, and in Beowulf there are episodes that - if they were written separately - would be considered heroic elegies, religious-epic and even religious-didactic works. The permeability and interweaving of genres testifies not only to the initial stage of their development, but also to the still existing unity and integrity of the epic poetry of the Anglo-Saxons, genre differences within which appear primarily as variants, modifications of the poetic picture of the world.

This is precisely what makes the historical classification of epic genres impossible, especially since all the monuments were created in the editions that have reached us between the middle of the 8th and the end of the 10th century, i.e., almost simultaneously. With the exception of a few works - the earliest ("Hymn" of Caedmon - around 680) and the latest (historical songs) - there is no basis for dating them, although attempts of this kind have been made several times. Therefore, the only possible solution seems to be to clarify the typology of epic genres.

The earliest, from a typological point of view, are the monuments of the heroic epic itself - “Beowulf” (which does not exclude the possibility of a later origin of its edition that has survived to this day), “Waldera”, “The Battle of Finnsburg”. These are tales based on traditional subjects, going back mainly to the all-German epic and having parallels in it. The influence of Christian ideology is revealed in them to the extent that it penetrates into artistic consciousness as one of its constituent (but not defining) elements. However, it should be noted that this group includes works that are typologically heterogeneous. The poem "Beowulf", which tells about the hero's victories over monsters, obviously goes back to the archaic forms of the epic of the ancient Germans, of which only isolated traces have survived in the Scandinavian narrative mythological songs. All the more surprising is the combination of motifs, plots, and ideas from many eras within the framework of one, integral work. In it we find elements of various epic genres: elegies (for example, the lament of a warrior), other heroic tales (the song of Sigmund, the song of Ingeld, etc.), religious epic (the song of the creation of the world or Hrothgar's appeal to Beowulf). It combines the ideas of tribal society with feudal ethics, the heroic ideal of a warrior-hero with the image of a “fair ruler.”

Other heroic-epic works have a different character, of which, however, very few have survived, and mostly in fragments. Their heroes, as a rule, are legendary historical figures, the plot is intertribal (or interstate) feuds, they are dedicated to any one event or chain of events that make up a single plot, the ideal epic world is endowed with some features of reality.

Typologically later genres are religious epic and heroic elegies. Both genres arise under the strong influence of the Anglo-Saxon Christian literary tradition, but from different aspects.

In the monuments of the religious epic, the interaction of two layers of Anglo-Saxon culture and their intertwining in the consciousness of the Anglo-Saxons is most clearly manifested. Biblical and hagiographic stories are processed in the forms of traditional German heroic epic. This reworking, however, cannot be considered as “pouring new wine into old wineskins,” that is, as a mechanical combination of Christian content with traditional epic form. The use of ancient German epic poetics inevitably entailed the reconstruction (in more or less complete volume) of the picture of the world characteristic of German pre-Christian society. It transformed the concepts of Christian ethics into familiar and accessible heroic-epic concepts and thereby included Christian stories in the familiar world of heroic tales. It is no coincidence that most of the monuments are based on plots that have heroic features; those biblical characters and saints are chosen whose actions are consistent with ideas about the heroic. This is Judith, who killed Holofernes and thereby saved her hometown from the hordes of Assyrians. This is St. Andrew, crushing the cannibal Myrmidons in order to free St. who was captured by them. Matthew. This is Moses, a wise leader and ruler who knows many songs, leading his tribe from captivity and organizing a worthy rebuff to the Egyptian army that is overtaking them (the poem “Exodus”). The biblical plot unfolds and grows in accordance with the requirements of heroic-epic poetics, although the temporal and spatial framework is strictly limited by the original. Many episodes are introduced, mostly of heroic content, the chain of which creates a gradual development of the action.

In the heroic elegies a completely different aspect of Christian literature was developed. These are the oldest works in Western European literature in the folk language, where the narrator’s focus is on the psychological world of the hero. Of course, he is stereotypical, just as the situation itself is stereotypical in all works of this genre. Moreover, attention is focused only on one side of this world - on feelings of sadness, loneliness, an acute sense of the variability of the world, the transitory nature of its joys and sorrows. The juxtaposition of the happy past and the tragic present creates a contrast that underlies the composition of the elegies. But all the hero’s experiences unfold against the backdrop of an ideal heroic world. He is present in the hero's memories of a happy past. It defines the tragedy of the situation - the hero’s isolation from this world, the impossibility for him to show his heroic essence. The hero is faceless, he (with the exception of singer Deora) does not even have a name.

Historical songs represent a later stage in the development of the epic. Their connection with the pan-German tradition is manifested only in the system of stylistic devices and images; they are focused on depicting a specific, real, historically reliable event, although the principles of its reflection contain many traditional, sometimes fantastic, features. As a story about one event, they are compositionally built on the sequential unfolding of action over time; the place and time of action, as a rule, are strictly limited, one-dimensional, confined to the real place and time, where and when the event underlying the plot of the work took place.



Anglo-Saxons began to be called the tribes of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians and several other small tribes from the European continent, which in the V-VI centuries. invaded the territory of modern England on ships, drove out the Celts and other indigenous populations, survived a brief period of paganism, were baptized by Roman priests, united under the leadership of Alfred the Great, survived a difficult period of struggle (and partial merger) with the Vikings from Scandinavia (and Iceland) and , finally, were defeated and gradually destroyed as an independent culture by the French under the leadership of William the Bastard (“Conqueror”) in 1066. In the 11th - at the latest 12th centuries. Anglo-Saxon culture and living language completely ceased to exist in this world and were preserved only in manuscripts, on a few runic monuments and in distorted geographical names (toponymy). The period of development of the Anglo-Saxon language from the mid-5th to the mid-12th centuries is called Old English. (F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Efron: 1980: 1890-1907)

Old English (English) Old English, other English Жnglisc sprc; also called Anglo-Saxon language, English. Anglo-Saxon) is an early form of the English language, widespread in what is now England and southern Scotland.

According to L. Korablev, the corpus of Old English literature consists of:

• 1) Alliterative Poetry: Mostly these are variations on themes from the Old and New Testaments. Although there are several "native" heroic poems, such as "The Battle of Maldon", "The Battle of Brunanburgh", "Widsita", ancient lists - "tools", and a number of other poems that modern Western researchers classify as Old English Christian symbolism (" The Seafarer", "The Wife's Lament", "Ruins", etc.). True, the so-called Drene-English spells and magic have been preserved, where ancient German magic and paganism are present halfway with Roman-Jewish ideas and vocabulary. The most famous examples are “Field Rites”, “Spell of Nine Plants”, “Conspiracy Against Rheumatism or Sudden Acute Pain”, “Spell of a Swarm of Bees”, “Against Water Elf Disease”, “Against Dwarf Dverga”, “Against Theft” , "Road Spell", etc.; there are also alliterative riddles, as well as poems from Old English chronicles and poetic translations of the books of Orosius and Boethius, dedicated to Greco-Latin-Christian themes and the “Paris Psalter”; Beowulf stands apart, of course;
• 2) Old English prose:
  • a) Old English laws: secular and ecclesiastical;
  • b) the sermons of the Anglo-Saxon priests themselves (often this is alliterative prose), this also includes the lives of St. Oswald, St. Edmund, St. Gutlac, etc.;
  • c) several versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle;
  • d) Old English translations of the Christian Apocrypha and the Pentateuch;
  • e) Old English translations of secular oriental and Greco-Latin novels such as “Apollonius of Tours” (Alekseev: Apollonius of Tire);
  • f) translations into Old English of the books of Boethius, Orosius, St. Augustine, Pope Gregory, made with several insertions and additions by King Alfred the Great;
  • g) Old English genealogies, legal documents, astronomical, mathematical, grammatical works and glosses. (Here you can also add several Latin and Middle English works created both by the Anglo-Saxons themselves and by subsequent generations, which talk about the history of the Anglo-Saxons);
  • h) Old English herbalists and healers;
• 3) Separately, we can highlight the Old English runic monuments, where there is both prose and alliterative poetry. The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) rune poem is one of the most important medieval manuscripts containing information about runes. (Korablev L.L., 2010: 208)

The art of the Anglo-Saxons is closely connected with literature, because most of the surviving monuments are illustrations for books, sacred scriptures, and the lives of saints.

The term "Anglo-Saxon art" refers to a particular style of book decoration and architecture that existed in England from the 7th century until the Norman Conquest (1066). Anglo-Saxon art can be divided into two periods - before and after the Danish invasion in the 9th century. Until the 9th century, manuscript book design was one of the most flourishing crafts in England. There were two schools: Canterbury (developed under the influence of Roman missionaries) and Northumberland, much more widespread (preserved Celtic traditions). The Celtic decorative traditions of this school (pelt patterns) were combined with the pagan traditions of the Anglo-Saxons (bright zoomorphic patterns). The Mediterranean influence was evident in the addition of human figures to the pattern. The Danish invasion in the 9th century had a disastrous effect on Anglo-Saxon art. This became especially noticeable in the 10th century, when destroyed monasteries began to be revived and interest in architecture increased. At that time, churches built in the Anglo-Saxon manner existed at monasteries, and their architectural design was borrowed from European architects, especially French. At this time, King Edward began construction of Westminster Abbey (1045-1050), which in its layout was similar to French models. Anglo-Saxon architecture had its differences: the relatively frequent use of wood, a square altar ledge in the eastern part of the temple (instead of a semicircular one), and a special stone masonry technique. Early Anglo-Saxon secular buildings in Britain were simple structures made primarily of wood and thatched roofs. Preferring not to settle in the old Roman cities, the Anglo-Saxons built small towns near their agricultural centers. Among the monuments of spiritual architecture, one can highlight surviving churches and cathedrals built of stone or brick (All Saints Church in Brixworth (Northamptonshire), St. Martin's Church (Canterbury), except for one built of wood (Grinstead Church (Essex)). Restoration of monasteries influenced not only the development of architecture, but also the increase in the number of new books in the second half of the 10th century and the development of the so-called Winchester school of manuscript design. The school was characterized by a very lively, nervous and expressive drawing. Works with a brush and pen have been preserved. The works of the Winchester school were an example to be imitated by French masters.Works of English art of the 7th-10th centuries. - mainly, illustrated manuscripts and objects of a decorative and applied nature are still entirely in the living Celtic tradition and under the strong influence of the Scandinavian tradition. Magnificent monuments of Anglo-Saxon art are the Lindisfarne Gospel, the Book of Durrow, precious objects from the burial at Sutton Hoo, numerous carved crosses, etc. (David M. Wilson, 2004: 43)

The predominant occupation of the Anglo-Saxons was agriculture, but they were also engaged in cattle breeding, fishing, hunting, and beekeeping. By the time they moved to Britain, they plowed the land with a heavy plow, grew grain (wheat, rye, barley, oats) and garden crops (beans and peas). In addition, crafts flourished: wood and metal carving, making products from leather, bone, and clay.

The Anglo-Saxons maintained communal relations for a long time. The bulk of the Anglo-Saxons until the 9th century. were free peasants - community members who owned plots of arable land up to 50 hectares in size. They had many rights: they could participate in public meetings, have weapons and formed the basis of the military militia of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

The Anglo-Saxons also had noble people who gradually turned into large landowners. Like many other ancient peoples, there were also semi-free people and slaves, who came mainly from the conquered British population.

The individual Anglo-Saxon states were headed by kings, whose power was limited by a “council of the wise”, consisting of representatives of the nobility. The “Council of the Wise” approved the laws and was the supreme court of the kingdom; it elected the king and could remove him. At the same time, the role of the community was still strong in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. All the most important issues of village life were decided at community meetings.

In order to consider the recipients of spells, it is necessary to analyze the religious beliefs of the Anglo-Saxon tribes.

Anglo-Saxon paganism is a form of Germanic paganism practiced by the Anglo-Saxons in England, after the Anglo-Saxon invasion in the mid-5th century until the Christianization of its kingdoms between the 7th and 8th centuries. Much of what is known about Anglo-Saxon paganism comes from ancient texts that survive to this day. Such are the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles and the epic poem Beowulf. Like most religions defined as paganism, it was a polytheistic tradition centered around the belief in various gods, who were the supreme deities of the Germanic-Scandinavian tradition. Among them:

Odin (Wæden) Supreme god, god of war, poetry and mystical ecstasy. The English name for Wednesday - the day dedicated to Mercury - Wednesday, comes from his name.

Freya (Frog) goddess of love and war. In addition to love, Freya is “responsible” for fertility, harvest and harvest. The harvests are different, and Freya sometimes has attacks, because of which she is allowed to reap a bloody harvest. In this way, Freya can bring victory to the battle. From her name comes the English word Friday, meaning Friday.

Balder (Balder) son of Odin and Freya, god of spring and sun. Balder is similar to the deities of dying and reborn nature present in the mythology of many peoples, patronizing agriculture or vegetation in general.

Ingui Frea is the god of fertility and summer. Frey is subject to sunlight, he sends people rich harvests, patronizes peace on earth both between individuals and between entire nations.

Thor (Yunor) god of thunder, storm and sky. He protected gods and people from giants and monsters. Thor's magical equipment included: the hammer Mjolnir, iron gauntlets, without which it was impossible to hold the handle of a red-hot weapon, and a belt that doubled strength. With a red-hot hammer and a belt of power, Thor was virtually invincible. The English name for Thursday is Thursday, which comes from the name Thor.

Tyr (Tow) is the one-armed god of military valor and justice. Tuesday is named after the god Tyr.

The religion largely revolved around sacrifices to these deities, especially at certain religious festivals throughout the year. Religious beliefs at both stages (pagan and Christian) were closely related to the life and culture of the Anglo-Saxons; magic played a big role in their lives, explaining various phenomena of reality. Religious views were also based on the structure of Anglo-Saxon society, which was hierarchical.