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The role of women in Anglo Saxon life
The role of women in Anglo Saxon life
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Throughout the Anglo-Saxon period, men played a dominant role in society. They were the heads of their household and represented the strength and wisdom of their society. Their main role was to protect and provide for their family. Anglo-Saxon women on the other hand assumed specific roles in their society, such as peace-weaver, mistress and cup-bearer. One of these roles was that of a peace-weaver. A peace-weaver was a woman who was married off to make peace between warring tribes. An example of a peace-weaver in Beowulf is Hildeburh, the ancient Danish princess. She was married to the king of the Frisians to settle a feud. Eventually, Hildeburh’s brother, Hnaef and Hildeburh's son were killed in this battle. The next leader of the Danes, …show more content…
In Beowulf, Wealhtheow was the mistress of the Heorot. She was in charge of all household matters, but only with the permission of her husband, Hrothgar. The mistress presided over the hall table along side of her husband during mealtimes. Wealhtheow was also responsible for make sure everybody had enough to eat and was comfortable. Another important role Anglo-Saxon women had to uphold was cup-bearer. A cup-bearer was a woman who passed cups of mead or beer around to the men as they celebrated. In Beowulf, Wealtheow also had the role of cup-bearer, along with the role of mistress. One of Wealhtheow's most important duties is the ceremonial carrying of a goblet of mead around to the warriors during the feast, helping to establish brotherly affection between the Geats and Danes. While Anglo-Saxon women did not get to play a major role in their society like the kings and heroes of their culture, their roles, nevertheless, were important in holding the society together. When the men were off fighting it was the women’s duty to keep the household intact. In a society that frequently saw the devastation of war, women, whether they acted as peace-weavers or healers were often the ones who brought a measure of peace. The role of a Anglo-Saxon women was never easy, but they upheld their duty and served their
The English attitudes towards gender are reflected in the literacy works of Margery Kempe and Elizabeth I’s letter to Sir Walter Raleigh. Within these two works, the women, especially, challenge the attitudes towards gender roles. First of all, women were expected to be domesticated, meaning all their duties lied within the home and the marriage. The women were responsible for taking care of the children/family and being obedient to their husband.
Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon narrative poem whose oral traditions date back to the sixth century (Ward v1,ch3,s3,n11). Beowulf opens with a short account of the victorious Danish king Scyld Scefing, whose pagan ship-burial is described. His body was carried on board a ship, piled up with arms and treasures: the ship passed out to sea, whence Scyld had arrived to the Danes as an abandoned child – a likely indication of a charmed, magical life. In The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki we meet Yrsa (also found in Beowulf), who is an impoverished child of uncertain birth (Byock xi); she later becomes queen – another charmed life. But re,markably she grows into one of the few women in the saga who do not employ magic. In Beowulf the reigns of Scyld’s son and grandson, Beowulf and Healfdene, are mentioned, and we then meet Hrothgar, the son of Healfdene. In The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki we also meet a Hrothgar, but his name is abbreviated into Hroar. He and his brother Helgi saw their father, King Halfdan, killed by King Frodi, who would have killed the two sons except for the magic of the commoner Vifil with whom they were hiding. King Frodi, in his attempt to kill them, “sought the aid of seeresses and soothsayers,” and when that failed, of “sorcerers” (2). But the magic of Vifil was so strong that it obscured the supernatural vision of the women (witches?); Vifil knew that “powerful spirits have visited the island [where he lived] (3) and thus saved Helgi and Hroar. Later Hroar is a notable figure, just as in Beowulf, ruling over the northern English kingdom of Northumberland until forced into a disastrous conflict. Meanwhile, as kids, Hroar and Helgi’s sister, Signy, manifests an uncanny poetic ability of speaking in beautiful verses when Jarl Saevil is escorting a group to King Frodi’s celebration; to me this seems magical. At Frodi’s feast a seeres named Heid is placed high up on a trance platform and asked to reveal any information about Hroar and Helgi.
And only one of them Remained, stood there, miserable, remembering, As a good man must, what kinship should mean. His name was Wiglaf, he was Wexstan’s son And a good soldier; his family had been Swedish, Once. Watching Beowulf, he could see How his king was suffering, burning. Remembering Everything his lord and cousin had given him, Armor and gold and the great estates Wexstan’s family enjoyed, Wiglaf ’s Mind was made up; he raised his yellow Shield and drew his sword. . . . (691-705)
As the poems of Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight show, women have always had power, yet not as overt a power as wielded by their masculine counterparts. The only dynamic of women’s power that has changed in the later centuries is that the confines and conditions in which women have wielded their power has become more lax, thus yielding to women more freedom in the expression of their power. The structure, imagery, and theme in the excerpts from Beowulf (lines 744-71) and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (lines 2309-30) support the concept of more power in the later centuries, by contrasting the restriction of Wealhtheow and the power she practices in Beowulf with the Lady’s more direct assertion of power in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight five centuries later.
Hygd, wife of Hygelac, the King of Geats, is mentioned several times, although we never hear her speak. She offers Beowulf the throne when he returns home from fighting the dragon, but the narrarator of the poem tells us, "There Hygd offered him throne and auth...
The roles Anglo-Saxon women played in their society depended on the status they had in their community. As in most cultures, the roles of women in Anglo-Saxon society included mother, wife, caregiver, and teacher. Because Anglo-Saxon women had many different roles, I will only focus here on marriage, divorce, and their daily life in their society.
"Beowulf." U*X*L Encyclopedia of World Mythology. Vol. 1. Detroit: UXL, 2009. 177-182. Gale World History In Context. Web. 27 Sep. 2011.
What if women never established rights? The world would not be the place it is today if that was the case. Women are able to do just as much as men are and even more. What if men were treated the same way as women were one thousand years ago? They would have felt just as the women did, hurt because the treatment between men and women was unfair. The fact that men and women were not treated equally was wrong in many ways, but that was the way of life during those times. In the British culture, from the Anglo-Saxon to the Renaissance time period, the men were respected on a higher level than women, and women were to always be subservient to men, which were demonstrated throughout many works of literature.
To the Anglo-Saxon’s, women did not serve as incredibly prominent figures. In a society where war was consistent in everyday life, the ability to fight, being powerful, and ultimately being warriors were treasured. Men were physically stronger and therefore were immediately given the roles of warriors and had higher expectations. Anglo-Saxon women were not considered warriors and especially not expected to fight. Women were then given “less significant” roles in society. Although women were exempt from the higher prized roles, they still managed to attain a certain propriety. The epic Beowulf has three women who play roles that vary yet, are symbolic for the culture. These women are Hildeburh, Wealtheow, and Grendel’s mother and they represent three varying roles that Anglo-Saxon women play: the peacemaker, the hostess, and the monster. (Mention last lady, Aethelflaed, somewhere in the intro)
Women “were expected to bear children, stay home, cook and clean, and take care of the children” (Cobb 29). They were expected to be weak, timid, domestic, emotional, dependent, and pure. Women were taught to be physically and emotionally inferior in addition morally superior to men. During this time, women were ostracized for expressing characteristics and wants that contradicted those ideals. For women, the areas of influence are home and children, whereas men’s sphere includes work and the outside world” (Brannon 161).
Wealhtheow is Hrothgar's queen and the mother of his two sons. Wealhtheow portrays the role of a traditional Anglo-Saxon woman at the time. When Wealhtheow is first introduced to the audience, she immediately falls into her role as peaceful greeter and cocktail waitress. The author writes, "Then Wealhtheow came forth / folk-queen of the Danes daughter of Helmingas / and Hrothgar's bedmate. She hailed all of them / spoke her peace-words stepped to the gift-throne / fetched to her king the first ale-cup" (ll. 612-6). Wealhtheow then proceeds through the meadhall "offering hall-joy to old and to young / with rich treasure-cups" (ll. 621-2). When Wealhtheow first approaches Beowulf and the Geats, she "bore him a cup / with gold-gleaming hands held it before him / graciously greeted the Geats' warleader" (ll. 623-5). The author then reinforces that she is a member of the weaker gender by directing Wealhtheow to her proper pos...
Women in different societies around the world, during the Middle Ages, experienced different hardships and roles. These hardships and roles helped shape how they were viewed in their society. Some women were treated better and more equal than others. In Rome, Medieval England, and Viking society, women’s legal status, education, marriage and family roles were considered diverse, but also similar. In certain nation’s women have more or less power than women in other nations, but none equal to the power that women have in America today.
As a man fascinated with the role of women during the 14th Century, or most commonly known as the Middle Ages, Chaucer makes conclusive evaluations and remarks concerning how women were viewed during this time period. Determined to show that women were not weak and humble because of the male dominance surrounding them, Chaucer sets out to prove that women were a powerful and strong-willed gender. In order to defend this argument, the following characters and their tales will be examined: Griselda from the Clerk's Tale, and the Wife of Bath, narrator to the Wife of Bath's Tale. Using the role of gender within the genres of the Canterbury Tales, exploring each woman's participation in the outcomes of their tales, and comparing and contrasting these two heroines, we will find out how Chaucer broke the mold on medievalist attitudes toward women.
The epic, Beowulf, begins with the funeral of Shield Sheafson, the originator of the Danish people. Shield Sheafson is described as a "scourge of many tribes, a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes" (lines 4-5). Obviously, this ring-giver has led an aggressive and violent life. He has terrorized his neighbors and rival tribes, destroyed their mead-halls or gathering places, and in addition, made them pay tribute. Therefore, while the king was alive, his tribe was protected from enemies, fed, clothed and enjoyed the treasures which their lord acquired for them. The author of the epic shows his approval of this culture and its attributes by saying that Shield Sheafson "was one good king" (line 10). Kinship was one of the main aspects of Anglo-Saxon England - a lord led his men in fyrd (journey or expedition) against enemies, acquired treasures for them and protected his tribe and in return for all that, his kinsmen were loyal to him and followed their lord in battles. People were not identified on a demographic basis, but by their belonging to a particular king or a ring-giver.
The middle English poem Beowulf also defines the important ways in which the feminist heroine is part of an ancient poetic tradition in the depiction of empowered women in patriarchal society. For instance, the plot of the story revolves around Beowulf’s indoctrination into the court of King Hrothgar, since he has been chosen to destroy to the monster Grendel. However, an unusual break with patriarchal tradition finds Wealhtheow, the wife of King Hrothgar, passing the mead cup to Beowulf as part of this indoctrination. In this ceremony, the tradition of the king passing the mead cup has been disavowed due to the power of the Wealhtheow in the royal court: “Wealhtheow came in,/ Hrothgar’s queen, observing the courtesies./ Adorned in gold, she