Burial in Anglo-Saxon England

When the Anglo-Saxons first came to England in the 5th century  they were pagan. They believed in a pantheon of gods including Woden( Odin), Thunor (Thor) and others. By the 8th century pretty much all of them had converted to  Christianity.  The beliefs of both religions was that  there was an afterlife but how they saw that afterlife was very different and that was reflected by the burial customs. As a result it is generally quite possible to tell the difference between a Christian and a Pagan grave and that difference helps to track the spread of Christianity across England.

Pagan Afterlife

The old religions of the North Germanic and Norse peoples believed that there was an  afterlife. Or rather several afterlives.  Half of the warriors who died in battle would go to Woden/Odin’s hall in Valhalla. During the day they would fight battles and at night feast in Woden’s halls. The other half were taken by the goddess Freyja to the Folkvangr – her afterlife paradise.

So much for folk who died in battle. What about those men who did not? What about Women or children? Well here are several possibilities. Some Norse legends speak of a Holy Mountain – a blessed realm rather like a Christian heaven vaguely in this world and vaguely in the next. Others talk of Hel.

Now Hel, (spelt with one L) is the goddess of the dead. Her realm may have once have been the destination of those who did not die in battle. As the years go by – and MAYBE as a result of contact with Christianity – it becomes a dark dreary place and eventually a place of punishment.

Pagan Burial

What is clear  is that in all cases activities similar to that of life before death would go on. Men would would fight or build or make things. Women would sew and cook etc.  Therefore  you needed weapons and day to day items. As a result Pagan Anglo-Saxons were buried WITH goods. Warriors would be buried with their weapons, armour and shield. Crafts-men like blacksmith might be buried with their tools. Everyone would have a small knife – a seax perhaps and probably strike-a-lights and fire making tools. Women might have sewing equipment, spindles and perhaps the keys they used to lock the food up in life.

Cremation or  Burial?

There is a mixture of approaches to the question of cremating or burying the dead. It seems from the graves found that the Saxons of the  South favoured Burial more than the Angles further north but in all locations there is a mixture of approaches. What seems to be the case is that if  a person was burnt then the grave goods were burnt too (from fragments of objects found in urns) . The urns were then buried in cemeteries.

Ship Burials

A few special, famous or rich individuals were granted a much more dramatic send off. Some were buried inside a ship which itself was buried in the ground. One of the most famous examples of this was the Sutton Hoo Burial  in East Anglia. Just before World War Two a series of mounds were excavated and one was found to contain the burial of a king – thought to be the powerful King Redwald of East Anglia who died in the 620’s. His grave contained a glittering array of treasures including his amazing helmet which is kept at the British museum.

Christian Burials

With the coming of Christianity another view of life after death was introduced. Man and Women would be reborn into a world free from strife and pain and  in the presence of God. There would be no need to fight or cook or sew. As such there was no need to prepare people for their heavenly reward by burying them with objects. Indeed  to do so was often seen as a pagan tradition. As a result they were buried in simple clothes and with almost no adornments. There was the odd exception as revealed by a recently discovered burial. Near Cambridge in the mid 7th century – only fifty years after the Augustine mission brought Christianity to the Anglo-Saxons- a 16 year old noble women was buried. Only one object was found in the grave – a golden cross which she wore on her chest.

I write novels set in Early Anglo-Saxon England during a time where the Saxons were clashing with the Welsh and Pagan religions fighting Christianity. Read more in the Northern Crown Series