Anxiety in the Old Germanic Life: A Review of Anglo Saxon Heroic Literature

Abstract

This essay tends to discuss anxiety as a feature of Anglo-Saxon culture. It considers three Old English poems: The Battle of Maldon, The Battle of Brunanburh, and Juliana. Using textual analyses and psychoanalytic theory, the study argues that Anglo-Saxon culture is inherently savage. The analyses demonstrate how Anglo-Saxon ethics idealize tragic heroism and glorify battle. Finally, the study delves on the image of the monster as a metaphor of the Old Germanic unconscious. By reading the image of the demon in Cynewulf’s Juliana, the study considers the appearance of the devil as a reflection of the Anglo-Saxon obsession with fear. I argue that the poem, by representing the Devil, ultimately denounces the Anglo-Saxon warrior ethics.