Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- DEDICATION
- CHAPTER I THE EARLY NARRATIVE POETRY OF THE TEUTONIC PEOPLES
- CHAPTER II THE HEROIC AGE OF THE TEUTONIC PEOPLES
- CHAPTER III SCENE AND NATIONALITY IN THE HEROIC STORIES
- CHAPTER IV THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE HEROIC POEMS
- CHAPTER V THE POETRY AND MINSTRELSY OF EARLY TIMES
- CHAPTER VI SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS IN THE HEROIC STORIES
- CHAPTER VII MYTHICAL ELEMENTS IN THE HEROIC POEMS
- CHAPTER VIII THE USE OF FICTION IN THE HEROIC POEMS
- CHAPTER IX THE HEROIC AGE OF GREECE
- CHAPTER X THE HOMERIC POEMS
- CHAPTER XI EARLY GREEK POETRY AND MINSTRELSY
- CHAPTER XII SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS IN THE HOMERIC POEMS
- CHAPTER XIII MYTH IN THE HOMERIC POEMS
- CHAPTER XIV FICTION IN THE HOMERIC POEMS
- CHAPTER XV THE COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF TEUTONIC AND GREEK HEROIC POETRY
- CHAPTER XVI SOCIETY IN THE HEROIC AGE
- CHAPTER XVII GOVERNMENT IN THE HEROIC AGE
- CHAPTER XVIII RELIGION IN THE HEROIC AGE
- CHAPTER XIX THE CAUSES AND ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS OF THE HEROIC AGE
- ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA
- INDEX
- Plate section
CHAPTER XVIII - RELIGION IN THE HEROIC AGE
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 September 2011
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- DEDICATION
- CHAPTER I THE EARLY NARRATIVE POETRY OF THE TEUTONIC PEOPLES
- CHAPTER II THE HEROIC AGE OF THE TEUTONIC PEOPLES
- CHAPTER III SCENE AND NATIONALITY IN THE HEROIC STORIES
- CHAPTER IV THE ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE HEROIC POEMS
- CHAPTER V THE POETRY AND MINSTRELSY OF EARLY TIMES
- CHAPTER VI SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS IN THE HEROIC STORIES
- CHAPTER VII MYTHICAL ELEMENTS IN THE HEROIC POEMS
- CHAPTER VIII THE USE OF FICTION IN THE HEROIC POEMS
- CHAPTER IX THE HEROIC AGE OF GREECE
- CHAPTER X THE HOMERIC POEMS
- CHAPTER XI EARLY GREEK POETRY AND MINSTRELSY
- CHAPTER XII SUPERNATURAL ELEMENTS IN THE HOMERIC POEMS
- CHAPTER XIII MYTH IN THE HOMERIC POEMS
- CHAPTER XIV FICTION IN THE HOMERIC POEMS
- CHAPTER XV THE COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF TEUTONIC AND GREEK HEROIC POETRY
- CHAPTER XVI SOCIETY IN THE HEROIC AGE
- CHAPTER XVII GOVERNMENT IN THE HEROIC AGE
- CHAPTER XVIII RELIGION IN THE HEROIC AGE
- CHAPTER XIX THE CAUSES AND ANTECEDENT CONDITIONS OF THE HEROIC AGE
- ADDENDA ET CORRIGENDA
- INDEX
- Plate section
Summary
In the course of the Heroic Age many of the Teutonic peoples were converted to Christianity. The change of faith began among the Goths soon after the middle of the fourth century and must have spread very quickly to the Vandals. The Gepidae and Langobardi seem to have followed the example of these peoples in the course of the following century. At the time of Justinian's accession the Heruli were probably the only Teutonic people in eastern central Europe who remained heathen. In the west the Burgundians accepted Christianity apparently about the beginning of the fifth century, and the Franks before its close. The conversion of England took place in the seventh century; that of the Frisians and Old Saxons for the most part in the eighth. The Northern Kingdoms in general were little affected by the change until towards the close of the tenth century, though the first missionary efforts in Denmark and Sweden began before the middle of the ninth. In parts of Sweden the heathen religion lingered on until late in the eleventh century.
In the Nibelungenlied it is clearly recognised, perhaps through scholastic influence, that the multitude assembled at Attila's court included both Christians and heathens; but no such distinction is drawn in the English and Norse poems. In the former all the characters are made to speak as Christians, though they observe heathen rites; in the latter no indication is given that any of the characters were Christians.
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- The Heroic Age , pp. 393 - 431Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1912