Woden’s Day, August 14: Britain Before 1066EQ: What was ancient Britain like?

Welcome! Gather work, paper, pen/pencil, wits! Get ready to write/notes!o Submit Missing Work!

Freewrite: Ragnarök Lecture/Presentation:

Britain Before 1066 o Artifactso Invasionso Tough Gothso Mythologyo Ragnarök

CLOZE: Britain Before 1066 (YOUR notes)

ELACC12RI3: Analyze and explain how individuals, ideas, or events interact and develop ELACC12RL4-RI4: Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they

are used in textELACC12W4: Produce clear and coherent writing appropriate to task, purpose, and audienceELACC12W9: Draw evidence from informational texts to support analysisELACC12W10: Write routinely over extended and shorter time frames ELACC12SL1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions ELACC12L6: Acquire and use general academic and domain-specific words and phrases

Freewrite (100 words): RagnarökSuppose you were a warrior going to a battle, and you KNEW that your side would lose, and you KNEW that you would die.

What would you do?Be honest about it.Of course, I will never know whether you are being honest about it.

Artifacts of Stone Age BritainStone Circles are found all over Britain and North Europe.We don’t really know who built them (not aliens!), or why,

but they are generally supposed to be religious/astrological sites.Stonehenge (c. 1000 BC)

Rollright (FAR older)

A History of Invasions Prehistory: Celts,

Picts, Druids 55 BCE: Romanso “King Arthur” was

probably a Celtic chief vs. Romans

450 CE: Vikings and Gothic tribes (“Anglo-Saxons”) from North Europe (what is now Germany)o Angles: East Anglia o Jute/Geats (Beowulf):

London areao Saxons: Essex,

Wessex, Sussex 1066: Normans

(North France)

Each wave of invaders pushed inhabitants farther North and West. Each wave considered predecessors inferior, so vilified Northwest. Even today, Londoners consider Northwestern folk “outlandish.”

Why did the Anglo-Saxons do so well?

Well, whom would you bet on?Druid (modern reenactor) Pictish Warrior (artist’s conception)

Celtic Warrior (artist’s conception) Anglo-Saxon (action figure)

Anglo-Saxon/Norse Mythology Days in English have Norse names Days in Spanish have Roman/Latin names

Sunday – the Sun (Old English word) Domingo – Domini (the Lord)Monday – the Moon (Old English word) Lunes – Luna (Spanish/Latin for “moon”)Tuesday – Tyr, the Norse God of War Martes – Mars, the Roman God of War)Wednesday – Woden, King of Gods Miercoles – Mercury, Messenger of GodsThursday – Thor, Hammer of the Gods Jueves – Jove, King of the Roman GodsFriday – Frigga, Norse Sex Goddess Viernes – Venus, Roman Sex GoddessSaturday – Saturn, Roman God of Harvest Sabado – again for Saturn

Loki – “Trickster” God – doesn’t get a day of the week!

Norse Mythology is very unusual – especially its eschatology.

Most religions teach that God(s) are eternal superbeings who create and control Nature and Fate, and live forever. Heroes or

saints join God or the Gods in Paradise, and they too live forever.

As for the Norse, remember yesterday’s tale of Woden and the Troll King: They neither control nor create Fate or the Natural

world, but are themselves subjects – and their dom awaits.

Norse Myth says that Gods created Order in heofan und miðgarðr (“sky and middle-earth”) after battling Dragons of Sea and Sky and Giants of Ice and Fire, natural forces of Chaos

which are older and more powerful than the Gods.

Norse Gods are subject to all aspects of mortality – lusts, stupidity, wounds, age – and finally to Fate (Wyrd).

So they are flawed, and they fight, and can die – and will die.

So even the Gods’ dom is set. How can humans hope?

Heroes who die brave deaths go Valhalla, the “Brave Hall” in the Gods’ city of Asgard, in Heofan. Here they feast with the Gods until Ragnarök, at which time Loki will trick the Gods and Heroes into battle with the Dragons and Giants of Nature.

Gods, Heroes, and all heofan und miðgarðr will be destroyed, leaving only fire and ice, sea and sky.

In Anglo-Saxon battle culture, victory is never the point;a hero’s mod (“brave mood,” courage) is.

Courage is valued for its own sake, because victory is never finally possible, even for heroes and gods. The best a warrior hopes for is a life of lof which brings him glory in life, a good reputation after death, and time in Valhalla before the collapse of everything.

CLOZE/Quiz: Britain Before 1066You may use YOUR notes, and ONLY YOUR notes.

1. Name a famous prehistoric Stone Circle in Britain:

2. In Prehistory the British Isles were populated by __________, _________ and ___________.

3. Anglo-Saxons and Jutes were ____________ tribes from what is now ________________.

4. What famous poem which we will read was about a hero of the Jutes/Geats?

5. What part of Britain did the Jutes/Geats take as theirs?

6. Why did they choose this place from all available places?

7. What was the Anglo-Saxon warrior’s weapon of choice?

8. Where do English names for days of the week come from?

9. What is eschatology?

10. What is wyrd?

11. What is mod?

12. What is Valhalla, and who got to go there?

13. What happens at Ragnarök?

Turn In Today: CLOZE: Britain Before 1066 Closing Freewrite: Ragnarök Closing Freewrite: Aristotle, Poetics

(if you didn’t submit yesterday) Corrections to yesterday’s work (if any)