Anglo Saxon Religion

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Research PaperEnglish 12HBy: Eloy ApolinarAnglo-Saxon religion has played a role in every major civilization. Their religious history is an interesting one because they were both pagan and Christian. It can be clearly seen in England’s history just how important religion was to the stability and unification of the many kingdoms in Britain.Eric John, author of Reassessing Anglo-Saxon England, tells us that the Anglo-Saxons were pagans for the first two centuries that they were in England. he also tells us that the names of the months were significant, as well as the significance of hills and mounds, such as the Harrow on the Hill. In Old English, translates to “hearn” which means sanctuary. These sanctuaries usually housed cults that later on many were consecrated to become Christian churches.Anglo-Saxon Paganism is based on Germanic paganism which carried over with germans during the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British Isles. This type of religion precedes Christianity and is polytheistic, unlike the monotheistic beliefs of most modern religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Two of the more important deities in Anglo-Saxon paganism were Odin (Old English-Woden) and Thor (Old English punor) as seen on http://undoomed.wetpaint.com/page/Anglo+Saxon+Gods+and+Godesses and on http://www.englatheod.org/ancestors.htm. The Anglo-Saxons also believed in something called “Wyrd” which can be roughly translated as fate. They also believed in supernatural creatures such as elves, dwarves, super humans and giants. The influence of this religion can still be seen today in the names for the days of the week. From the Tiw, the god of warfare and battle, we get Tiwe’s Day or Tuesday. Woden’s wife, Frige is the namesake for Friday (Frige’s Day), and punor, the god of thunder and the common people gives us Thursday or punor’s Day. Woden also has his day named after this chief of the gods; we called it Wednesday (Woden’s Day).There are many figures...