LL-L 'Mythology' 2006.10.02 (02) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 02 October 2006 * Volume 02
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From: Paul Tatum [ptatum at blueyonder.co.uk]
Subject: LL-L 'Mythology' 2006.09.29 (03) [E]

Hello Lowlanders,

Paul Finlow-Bates wrote:
> Part of Branston's argument was that Old English versions of Germanic gods were
> much less "human" and more "elemental" than the Norse versions we are more
> familiar with through Snorri. To a large degree, Thunor *was* thunder, Woden
> *was* wind. He suggests that this is an older state of affairs, but it also made
> these gods a lot harder to identify with for most people, and this may account
> for the rapid conversion of the English to Christianity compared with the
> Scandinavians.
>
> Paul

>From what I have read I don't think that there is really very much
evidence for the nature of pre-Christian gods, let alone for the nature
of peoples' relationships with them. Most of the evidence is
archaeological or from a Christian point of view. The fact that England
was Christianised long before the Anglo-Saxons became dominant is
probably as good an explanation for the more rapid conversion when
compared to the Norse, no? I don't think the Anglo-Saxons wiped the
slate clean in the so-called 'invasion'.

Yours, Paul Tatum

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