An ideology of transformation: Cremation rites and animal sacrifice in early Anglo-Saxon England

Abstract

Over the last two centuries, numerous studies have tried to reconstruct the character of the religious beliefs and rituals of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms prior to their conversion to Christianity during the seventh century AD. In recent years too there have been published works dedicated to identifying the character of early medieval pagan beliefs (Hines 1997; Griffith 1996; Jolly 1996; Owen 1981; Wilson 1992; on the conversion see Mayr-Harting 1972 and Higham 1997). Paganism has been sought in the literary evidence such as the writings of Northumbrian monk the Venerable Bede, who mentions the existence of a pagan priest, a sanctuary and ceremonies linked to the agricultural cycle (Hines 1997: 379; see also North 1997). A range of other sources including hagiographies, homilies, poems (such as Beowulf) and healing charms have all been mined for pagan survivals and pagan-Christian syncretism (Glosecki 1988, 1989; Jolly 1996; Meaney 1989; Robinson 1993). Place-name studies have also been used to ascertain pagan beliefs and places of worship (Gelling 1978; Meaney 1995; Wilson 1992). However, the only contemporary evidence comes from archaeological research. Images on metalwork and pottery have been interpreted in terms of pagan mythologies (Chadwick Hawkes et al. 1965; Myres and Green 1973; Reynolds 1980; Wickham-Crowley 1992; Wilson 1992), while certain excavated structures have been interpreted as pagan shrines and temples (Blair 1995; Hope-Taylor 1977: 154-69). However, it is most common for interpretations of Anglo-Saxon paganism to focus upon the large corpus of excavated graves dating to the fifth to seventh centuries AD. Objects found in funerary contexts have been seen as having magical or amuletic functions (Meaney 1981; Wilson 1992). The mortuary rites themselves, such as the use of cremation or the provision of grave goods and burial mounds, are often thought to indicate pagan practices and/or beliefs in the afterlife (Reynolds 1980; Wilson 1992). Finally, some studies have attempted to identify pagan ritual specialists from their distinctive grave furniture (Dickinson 1993a; see also Knusel and Ripley 2000; Wilson 1992).