TY - JOUR
T1 - The value of Weorð
T2 - A historical sociological analysis of Honour in Anglo-Saxon society
AU - Calcagno, Julian
PY - 2021/5
Y1 - 2021/5
N2 - The values that underpin the Anglo-Saxon concept of honour changed at the beginning of the sixth century. During this period, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms enshrined a new era of cultural and religious fervour, inculcating new practices of honour among the new Christianised Anglo-Saxon elite. This paper demonstrates the transition from pagan to Christian honour systems. Historians have often examined honour through concepts based on comparisons or ‘terms of art’, for example ‘Bushido’ in Japan, ‘Futuwwa’ in Islam, and ‘chivalry’ in Christianised later-medieval Europe. This paper emulates these examples by examining honour in Anglo-Saxon society through use of the Old English term weorð, an under-studied phenomenon. Unlike Bushido or chivalry, weorð does not imply a mandated way of living. Weorð is instead pervasive, encompassing many modes of Anglo-Saxon life: Poetry, giving-&-receiving, burial, kin, and bestowing honours. This paper combines sociological analysis with historical evidence.
AB - The values that underpin the Anglo-Saxon concept of honour changed at the beginning of the sixth century. During this period, Anglo-Saxon kingdoms enshrined a new era of cultural and religious fervour, inculcating new practices of honour among the new Christianised Anglo-Saxon elite. This paper demonstrates the transition from pagan to Christian honour systems. Historians have often examined honour through concepts based on comparisons or ‘terms of art’, for example ‘Bushido’ in Japan, ‘Futuwwa’ in Islam, and ‘chivalry’ in Christianised later-medieval Europe. This paper emulates these examples by examining honour in Anglo-Saxon society through use of the Old English term weorð, an under-studied phenomenon. Unlike Bushido or chivalry, weorð does not imply a mandated way of living. Weorð is instead pervasive, encompassing many modes of Anglo-Saxon life: Poetry, giving-&-receiving, burial, kin, and bestowing honours. This paper combines sociological analysis with historical evidence.
KW - Christianisation
KW - Honour
KW - Paganism
KW - Weorð
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85113133893&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.35253/JAEMA.2021.1.3
DO - 10.35253/JAEMA.2021.1.3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85113133893
SN - 1449-9320
VL - 17
SP - 43
EP - 65
JO - Journal of The Australian Early Medieval Association
JF - Journal of The Australian Early Medieval Association
IS - 1
ER -