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It is difficult to find out about the lives of ordinary people in the early
English kingdoms. Monks who kept historical records usually wrote only about
kings and churchmen. Even then, most of the kings are just names to us. We usually
know the dates of their reigns and battles they fought. But we have no pictures
of them and little idea of what they were like as people.
All we have left are some of their possessions-armour, weapons, jewels, rings,
and perhaps coins. Their wooden buildings and furniture have rotted away, so
to imagine the halls kings lived in we must turn to the works of poets. Old
English was mainly a spoken language. Only a tiny fraction of Anglo-Saxon verse
was written down and preserved. But luckly we have all 3,182 lines of Beowulf,
a stirring tale of kings and warriors, composed in England probably some time
in the eighth century.
‘The joys of the hall’
Beowulf, the hero of the poem, goes to help the Danish king and his followers,
who are living in fear of an evil monster called Grendel. After a fierce struggle
Beowulf overcomes the monster, and then dives into the sea to kill its mother
in her under-water cave. Years later he becomes a king himself, and has to rescue
his people from a terrible dragon, which destroys their homes with its fiery
breath. The aged Beowulf slays the dragon in its lair, but in the struggle he
is wounded and dies.
The story is a fairy tale, yet its background helps us to understand the way
real kings, and their followers lived. For instance the Danish king, Hrothar,
had a banqueting hall, which was a large barn building, made of wood. To celebrate
Beowulf’s killing of Grendel, we are told that Hrothgar decorated its
walls with golden tapestries and had agreat feast prepared. The guests drank
toasts of mead, an intoxicating drink made with honey.
The evening closed with a visit from the queen, who carried a jewelled goblet
round the hall for all to drink. The royal couple left to sleep in a separate
chamber, but the king’s followers, or thanes, stadyed in the hall. ‘Benches
were cleared away and pillows and bedding spread upon the floor’ .The
warriors slept with their weapons close at hand, for’…it was their
practice to be ready to fight at any moment’
This reminds us that there was more to a thane’s life than ‘the
joys of the hall’. He had to serve and protect his lord at all times.
Thanes accompanied the king when he rode out to hunt the stag, fox, and wild
boar. They also went on longer expeditions, to fight wars and help keep law
and order in the kingdom. A king’s power depended on the loyalty, strength,
and courage of his thanes.
Kings and thanes
In Bede’s “History”, the Christian kings of Northumbria seem
peace loving, almost saintly men. Priests and monks were honoured members of
their household. No doubt this was true, but it is a rather one-side picture.
Bede was not a fighting man. From Beowulf we get a more down-to-earth view of
kinks surrounded by their warriors. In the poem we see how important it was
for a king to have plenty of gold and precious things.
In return for their services, thanes expected to be given weapons, horses and
other gifts; and also food and drink - ‘the joys of the hall’. The
most valuable gift of all was land, the real basis of wealth and power.
From time to time each king called together an assembly of thanes, to discuss
new laws, gifts of land and other such matters. Church leaders were also invited
-; bishops, abbots of the larger monasteries and perhaps the king’s
own priest. This assembly was called a Witan. The word means ‘wise men’,
although not everyone who attended was necessarily wise.
Churls and thralls
The ordinary people in the English kingdoms farmed the land or worked in village
trades. Most were freemen called churls, but there were also thralls, or slaves.
From laws and other documents we can get some idea from of the way these ‘lower
orders’ of society lived.
Many thralls were descended from the unfortunate Britons who lost their lands
to the English invaders. In fact the word Briton was ofen used to mean ‘a
slave’.
Churls were mostly peasant farmers, owning a hide -; a piece of land large
enough to support a household. The size of a hide varied from place to place,
but it was normally at least 50 acres. The churls and his family lived in a
simple wooden hut, its roof thatched with straw, reeds, or heather. Inside there
was probably one all purpose-room. In cold weather a fire burned in a open hearth
and the smoke escape through a hole in the roof. Nearby there may have been
outbuildings for storing grain and keeping tools.