ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -From the end of the sixth century, missionaries from Rome and Ireland converted the rulers of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to a religion – Christianity – which had originated in the Middle East. The conversion to Christianity had an enormous social and cultural impact on Anglo-Saxon England.

Detailed explanation-2: -Their religion was called ‘paganism’. The Saxons were very superstitious and believed in elves, goblins and dragons. The Anglo-Saxons worshipped the gods Tiw, Woden, Thor and Frig.

Detailed explanation-3: -In Roman Britain many people had been Christians. But the early Anglo-Saxons were not Christians, they were pagans. After the Romans left, Christianity continued in places where Anglo-Saxons did not settle, like Wales and the west. The Anglo-Saxons had their own gods, beliefs and superstitions.

Detailed explanation-4: -Anglo-Saxon paganism was a polytheistic belief system, focused around a belief in deities known as the ése (singular ós). The most prominent of these deities was probably Woden; other prominent gods included Thunor and Tiw.

Detailed explanation-5: -Most of the pagan population was purportedly exterminated and replaced with Christian West Saxons. Those who remained were forced to accept baptism and also the West Saxon dialect, and the Isle of Wight was incorporated into the Kingdom of Wessex.