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From Egypt to East Anglia: design in the Sutton Hoo scabbard bosses

5/3/2023

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​Secrets in the Stones: Decoding Anglo-Saxon Art.  Part 1
​
From Egypt to East Anglia: design in the Sutton Hoo scabbard bosses

PictureSutton Hoo scabbard boss ( (C) Trustees of British Museum)
​This article is part of a series about our increasing understanding of the meanings behind the designs of Anglo-Saxon art. For other chapters click here. 

Amongst the glittering masses of gold and garnet treasure, from the Sutton Hoo royal burials in East Anglia and the Staffordshire Hoard to the smaller discoveries of furnished graves and chance finds, it can be hard to concentrate on individual pieces. In the scabbard bosses from Sutton Hoo, however, close inspection reveals an exciting possibility — that the people who created these masterpieces of jewellery not only had the most sophisticated craft skills, but also possessed mastery of classical philosophy from the Eastern Mediterranean.


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Anglo-Saxon 'real Ale' or Beer?

17/2/2023

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​​Most cultures across Northern Europe share a love for alcoholic drinks made from the fermentation of malted barley; a love which has persisted for at least 6,000 years. The wide range of elaborate drinking vessels in early Anglo-Saxon princely burials, and later written descriptions of mead-hall culture, revelry and ritual-drinking strongly evidence the important role consumption of alcoholic drinks played in social life, and functioning, of Anglo-Saxon society. In ‘Beowulf’ it is made very clear that drinking binds warriors together and cements loyalty of troops to their leaders; unable to party in the hall due to Grendel’s attacks, Hrothgar’s fellowship dwindles. Also described is the serving of drinks by the women hosts within the hall – in strict social order (Pollington, 2003) suggesting that women tended to be in charge of brewing and rationing the drinks, and hinting at the soft-power they wielded at feasts by judging and signalling the social pecking-order (Herbert, 1997).
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Early Anglo-Saxon feasting gear, Thegns of Mercia Yule event at Sutton Hoo, December 2022.
Outside of feasts and social gatherings though, it appears that ale was the staple drink of day-to-day life. Ælfric’s Colloquy – a 10th century ‘classroom textbook’ for teaching Latin literacy (with Old English gloss) describes an imagined conversation between a ‘master’ and a novice monk / boy who describes every-day life, including his “sober” diet (Hagen, 1995). When asked by the master “what do you drink?” he replies “ale, if I have any. Water if I have no ale”. When asked why he does not drink wine, he replies that it is too expensive, but also, that wine is unsuitable for “the young and foolish” and implies it is too intoxicating for a child. This is strong evidence that among Anglo-Saxons water was drunk, routinely, but that ale was preferred as the everyday, daytime drink (including for children) and that this ale cannot have been particularly alcoholic.
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It is often said that medieval folk subsisted entirely on ale because water was contaminated and unsafe to drink; we can see from Ælfric’s Colloquy that, at least as far as the Anglo-Saxon period is concerned, this is an oversimplification. Water from streams in more remote and upland areas – such as where monasteries were often sited – would usually be perfectly safe to drink; water from further downstream and especially near major settlements, less so. Early medieval folk could have no knowledge of microbiology but it would not take a genius to notice that those who drank more water, and less ale (considered "strengthening" and generally associated with good health) were often more likely to suffer stomach upsets, leading to the evolution of a habitual preference for ale over water as part of early medieval people’s daily routine.
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It's clear, therefore, that ale was central to both every-day life in Anglo-Saxon England, and to social functioning. Its worth examining then, what precisely Anglo-Saxon ‘ale’ and 'beer' were, how it was made, and why it became so important.  

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Shield of an Anglo-Saxon Prince - Part 3:  Painting

25/4/2022

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Compared to the famous shield from Sutton Hoo Mound 1, the shields from the other treasure-filled princely Anglo-Saxon burials lack ostentatious decorative fittings. In the first chapter (link) we discussed the striking similarity of these shields, which appeared to be high-performance gear for warrior princes, optimised for agility rather than ostentation. In the second chapter (link) we reported on our project to produce an authentic replica of such a shield, and explore just how light weight they could have been. 
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Despite the minimal fittings, its hard to imagine the shields of the late 6th century princely burials were entirely plain, and new evidence has come to light concerning early Anglo-Saxon paints, and the painted designs preserved from the late Iron Age, which has allowed us to more confidently wade into the painting of early Anglo-Saxon shields for the first time.
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Researching and experimenting these paints, exploring the evidenced designs, and how they relate to decorative motifs seen in other media across both Anglo-Saxon material culture and adjacent cultures, we were finally able to finish our replica princely shield with a plausible painted design.

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'Queer / LGBT+ Heroes' of Early Medieval Europe

26/2/2022

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Each February in the UK is LGBT+ History Month; a time to celebrate the contributions of LGBT+ people and a chance to shed new light on the history of ‘queer’ people. Our organization would not exist without the contributions of LGBT+ / ‘queer’ members and we are strongly committed to maintaining an inclusive atmosphere within the group for people of all sexualities, gender identities and expressions, and celebrating the achievements of all members of our team.

​​It’s easy to imagine that diversity of sexuality and gender expression is a modern phenomenon, framed
as it is by modern terminology, norms, and ways of defining identity, but such diversity has always existed.​ Folk of ancient cultures would not recognise the ways we define such identities today, but 'Queerness' in its broadest sense (see notes on terminology, below) has always been with us, often accompanied by familiar challenges in navigating a largely heteronormative world, and in finding acceptance, which many of us would recognise and can identify with today.

Notable, oft-cited examples include the well-documented homoromantic relationships of Roman Emperors or certain later medieval kings, the gender-transcending priests of Cybele and Attis, or widespread, celebrated homosexuality in Ancient Greece. Sandwiched between the better-documented Classical and later Medieval period though, the Migration / Early Medieval period which we often cautiously refer to here as the 'Anglo-Saxon Period' is rarely mentioned in the context of historical 'queer' themes and figures. This risks creating the impression that natural diversity in sexuality and gender expression did not exist among the 'Anglo-Saxons', 'Vikings' and related cultures, enabling those hostile to such diversity to falsely identify with and appropriate these cultures, or rather, a mythical and distorted version of them, and to use their example to promote prejudice.

To whatever extent there is a lack of evidence for (broadest sense) 'queerness' in early medieval history this largely reflects a lack of documentary evidence which addresses matters of sexuality at all. The High Medieval blossoming of art and literature celebrating romantic love in NW Europe, for example, had not yet occurred, and aside from bawdy riddles, discussion of sexuality in surviving Anglo-Saxon literature is largely confined to the more or less guarded writings of clerics whose public status as celibate underpinned their acceptance in society as outside dynastic struggles and rivalries, and whose faith celebrated abstinence. That said, there are certainly figures from the period who, were they alive today might be considered 'queer'. To these can be added other exceptional figures who defied gender expectations and norms; trailblazers involved in the huge societal changes of the period, redefining what it meant to be a man or woman, facing challenges which LGBT+ / ‘queer’ people today would identify with. In discussing and remembering these individuals, we also remember the countless people who suffered and died from persecution targeting aspects of sexuality and gender expression in the period and throughout history.

With this in mind, here are some Early Medieval 'queeroes' from Europe; those who today could be thought of as LGBT+ / ‘queer’, and other historical figures from whose lives LGBT+ people might identify with.



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