by Jason Briggs

Created on: December 08, 2008

The Anglo-Saxons were fanatical in their belief that Fate, what they called the Wyrd, decided who would live and who would die. In their world, full of blood feuds, skirmishes, and wars, death was not uncommon. Though not uncommon, the Anglo-Saxons were not desensitized too it and deeply mourned the loss of anyone close to their hearts. This was expressed in tributes they wrote to the ones they lost, which told of the grief at their loss.

Whether the deceased were cremated or buried, their final resting place was decorated to honor them. Most of the deceased were also buried with some of their worldly possessions, as the Anglo-Saxons believed that these would be needed in the afterlife. Among the items buried with them archaeologists have found jewelry, tools, weapons, and even the remnants of ships. Slaves and livestock, such as horses and mules, also were sometimes buried with the Anglo-Saxon owner so they could continue to serve them in the afterlife.

Though some Saxons were cremated, the predominate form of burial was inhumation in the form of barrows. This is an ancient burial practice dating back thousands of years in which a mound of earth and stones is raised over a grave or even a group of graves. The size of the barrow is proportional to the importance of the individual buried there, meaning that usually this practice was used for Anglo-Saxons to honor their dead nobles.

Once the influence of Christianity started to appear, pagans such as the Anglo-Saxons responded by developing even more elaborate rituals and cremating even more bodies. This was all in defiance as the Anglo-Saxons resisted the pressure put on them by the Christians. It is also believed that there was a tradition of human sacrifice in the Anglo-Saxon culture. Sometimes large barrows were surrounded by several smaller graves, many of them buried in distorted positions.

Eventually the power of Christianity washed over the Anglo-Saxons and paganism began to fall away, derided and disparaged by Christians. In time the Anglo-Saxons began to forsake their beliefs and paganism faded until it was almost completely forgotten. The burial rites of Christianity which involved the ringing of church bells, the reciting of psalms, and the cleaning and dressing of the dead, replaced the ancient pagan ways. Even cremation was considered taboo as the Christians believed the dead would be called to rise up again on Judgement Day.

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