Religious propaganda in selected Anglo-Saxton literature

This study of selected Old English texts, from the canons of Aelfric and Cynewulf, presents the argument that the primary purpose of the Saints' Lives in question is that of instruments of persuasion. After a description of the rites of Anglo-Saxon paganism, an attempt is made to outline the manner in which the Christian missionaries used certain aspects of pagan belief to promote Christianity. As such, these texts may therefore be viewed as religious propaganda in the Anglo- Saxon Church's attempt to win new converts to Christianity and to strengthen the faith of those already within its fold, firstly by promoting belief in the miraculous and secondly by investing Anglo-Saxon Christianity with the supernatural powers of the Anglo-Saxon and Celtic Pagan religions. Although the works of Cynewulf predate those of Aelfric, I have chosen to discuss the prose works of Aelfric first. However, I do not believe that reversing the historical order invalidates the argument.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of English Language and Literature

Year dc:date.issued

1999

Author dc:creator

• Keating, Lise Manda

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Van der Westhuizen, J E

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/17868

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/17868