Anglo-Saxon charms in the context of a Christian, world view

Jolly, Karen Louise

doi:10.1016/0304-4181(85)90008-9

Cited by 35 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…Yet the process of conversion as experienced in many different parts of early medieval northern Europe undermines the view that the introduction of Christianity brought about a swift and wholesale end to preconversion beliefs and traditions (Pluskowksi and Patrick 2003). One need look no further than the litany of clerical admonitions against heathen worship by Aelfric and Wulfstan of York to demonstrate that such practices were very much alive at the end of the Anglo-Saxon period (Jolly 1985;Meaney 2004). In contrast to this rather polarized view, recent conceptions of conversion processes in early medieval Europe have sought to highlight the diversity inherent to both Christian and pagan paradigms and the hybrid forms of religious expression that resulted from dynamic and sustained encounters between the two.…”

Section: Hoards As Ritual Deposits In Late Anglo-saxon Englandmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…In contrast to this rather polarized view, recent conceptions of conversion processes in early medieval Europe have sought to highlight the diversity inherent to both Christian and pagan paradigms and the hybrid forms of religious expression that resulted from dynamic and sustained encounters between the two. A central theme to emerge, as illuminated from a variety of Anglo-Saxon cultural domains, is the way in which traditional modes of 383 a cellared structure from bishopstone preconversion belief and ritual were appropriated and reassigned new meaning within a Christianized milieu (see Jolly 1985;Niles 1991;Hollis 2001;Webster 2003). Two recent case studies have highlighted threads of continuity linking elements of medieval Christianized ritual back to Anglo-Saxon and earlier traditions of popular belief.…”

Section: Hoards As Ritual Deposits In Late Anglo-saxon Englandmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Symbolic Lives of Late Anglo-Saxon Settlements: A Cellared Structure and Iron Hoard from Bishopstone, East Sussex

Thomas

Ottaway²

2008

Archaeological Journal

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This paper examines the character and significance of a cellared structure discovered during recent excava tions on the site of a later Anglo-Saxon settlement at Bishopstone, East Sussex. The structure in question formed a focal element within an estate centre complex administered by the Bishops of Selsey from c. AD 800, otherwise surviving in the celebrated pre-Conquest fabric of St Andrew's parish church. The excavated footprint of this cellared structure is examined in detail and conjectural reconstructions are advanced on the basis of comparative evidence garnered from historical and archaeological sources. The collective weight of evidence points towards a tower, pos sibly free-standing, with integrated storage/cellarage accommodated within a substantial, 2 mdeep subterranean chamber. This could represent a timber counterpart to excavated and extant masonry towers with thegnly/episcopal associations. The afterlife of this structure is also considered in detail on the grounds that it provides one of the most compelling cases yet identified of an act of ritual closure on a Late Anglo-Saxon settlement. Alongside being dismantled and infil led in a single, short-lived episode, the abandonment of the tower was marked by the careful and deliberate placement of a closure deposit in the form of a smith's hoard containing iron tools, agri cultural equipment and lock furniture. One of the few such caches to be excavated under controlled scientific conditions, it is argued that the contents were deliberately selected to make a symbolic statement, perhaps evoking the functions of a well-run estate centre.

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Section: Hoards As Ritual Deposits In Late Anglo-saxon Englandmentioning

confidence: 91%

Section: Hoards As Ritual Deposits In Late Anglo-saxon Englandmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Symbolic Lives of Late Anglo-Saxon Settlements: A Cellared Structure and Iron Hoard from Bishopstone, East Sussex

Thomas

Ottaway²

2008

Archaeological Journal

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“…Although nineteenth and early twentieth century folklorists did take an interest in such charms, little was understood about them, and, with the exception of William Mackenzie's study of Gaelic healing charms (Mackenzie 1895), no attempt was made by folklorists, historians or linguists to ana lyse their origin, structure or regional distribution. However, there is, and has long been, an academic in terest in the Anglo-Saxon and medieval charm tradi tion (see, for example: Cockayne 1864-6;Grendon 1909;Storms 1948;Bonser 1963;Biihler 1964;Foley 1981;Jolly 1985;Smallwood 1989;Hunt 1990), and it is hoped that this study will provide some sense of the continuity of that tradition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 90%

Healing Charms in Use in England and Wales 1700–1950

Davies¹

1996

Folklore

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The collection and analysis of Anglo-Saxon and early medieval healing charms has long generated an active interest in their content and application. However, despite the quite extensive ethnographic evidence concerning the content of healing charms in use from the eighteenth to the twentieth centuries, there has been no attempt, so far, to make an extensive collection of charm formulae from this period. This paper seeks to begin that task. It is hoped that this inventory, not only serves to highlight an important aspect of the English and Welsh tradition of folk medicine, but also serves to indicate the long history of that tradition. An examination of these charms also provides an illustration of the importance of the written word in the transmission of popular knowledge.

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“…Multiple examples of this syncretic integration of pre--Christian healing associations can be found in the Lacnunga, a manuscript dating to about 1050 CE containing various charms and remedies that was likely produced in a mo-nastic context. 37 One of these charms, the so--called "Benedictio Herbarum," helps explain the subordination of trees' healing powers into a Christian framework:…”

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confidence: 99%

“Health of the World”: The Symbolic Associations of Trees in Eleventh-Century England, in the Context of Landscape

Ruten

2017

USURJ

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The Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England in the seventh century CE was a momentous period of religious change which had many far‐reaching effects. Anglo-Saxon paganism had attached a set of sacred and symbolic meanings to various natural features in the English landscape. In this belief system, trees and groves were strongly associated with healing and defensive powers. This paper will argue that due to the persistent presence of once-sacred trees and groves in the English landscape, combined with a continually widespread demand for health remedies, the pre-Christian associations of trees with healing and defense in England were not easily forgotten after the conversion period and in fact continued throughout the eleventh century. However, these pre-Christian symbolic associations were effectively subsumed within the hegemony of a Christian ideological framework. A continual, bidirectional alignment of these symbolic associations of trees with elements of Christian symbolism, namely that of Paradise and that of the Cross, served to explain and legitimize their syncretic continuation within this Christian framework. These insights invite us to appreciate some of the complexity of the syncretism that occurred during the period of Christian conversion in Anglo-‐Saxon England. They also invite us to further contemplate some of the lasting effects of this gradual syncretic process.

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Anglo-Saxon charms in the context of a Christian, world view

Cited by 35 publications

References 9 publications

The Symbolic Lives of Late Anglo-Saxon Settlements: A Cellared Structure and Iron Hoard from Bishopstone, East Sussex

The Symbolic Lives of Late Anglo-Saxon Settlements: A Cellared Structure and Iron Hoard from Bishopstone, East Sussex

Healing Charms in Use in England and Wales 1700–1950

“Health of the World”: The Symbolic Associations of Trees in Eleventh-Century England, in the Context of Landscape

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