Warrior Poets: Sutton Hoo’s Saxon Burials and 'Beowulf'

October 13, 2024

Warrior Poets: Sutton Hoo’s Saxon Burials and 'Beowulf'

1939 was a memorable year for many unpleasant reasons. However, as the dark clouds of war were gathering over Europe, a truly astonishing archaeological discovery was made in East Anglia at a place called Sutton Hoo. A hitherto (largely) undisturbed ship burial dating from the seventh century AD was gradually uncovered, revealing unparalleled treasures from the early Anglo-Saxon world. The 27-metre-long ship and its deceased occupant had all but disappeared into the acidic soil, but besides the rivets that once held the vessel together, a sword, an elaborate gold buckle, a purse clasp embellished with garnet cloisonné work, shield fittings, silver bowls and spoons, spears, and the remains of textiles were all unearthed. There were also drinking horns, a lyre, and a very famous helmet, which is one of only four surviving complete Anglo-Saxon examples (mind you, it had to be painstakingly pieced back together, as it had been crushed into pieces over centuries of lying under the earth). Not only do the finds provide evidence of abundant wealth and exquisite workmanship, they also suggest an extensive trading network, aspirations towards a Roman legacy, and the intersection of paganism and Christianity in Anglo-Saxon society.

above: The original Anglo-Saxon helmet, now at the British Museum. The one in the first picture is a replica.

above: Extract from Heaney's version of Beowulf, describing a helmet much like that found at Sutton Hoo. Lovely alliteration.

above: Marker set in place to show the position of the burial ship's bow at Sutton Hoo.

above: The rather unassuming looking mound which concealed the Sutton Hoo treasure until 1939.

above: Shoulder clasps.

above: Belt fittings.

above: Great Buckle with interlace pattern.

above: Purse-lid.

above: Reconstructed drinking horn found at Sutton Hoo.

Rather like the tomb of Tutankhamun, the Sutton Hoo burial is an incredible and unlikely intact survivor (somewhat ironically), given that most ancient tombs were robbed hundreds of years ago, their once-sacred riches becoming mere plunder, and their historical secrets lost forever. Only two mounds at Sutton Hoo escaped this fate, and this one by the skin of its teeth, as evidence has been found of grave robbers from the sixteenth or seventeenth century having got within a few feet of finding the Anglo-Saxon hoard.

above and below: Exquisite shield bosses and sword with reconstructed belt.

It was clearly a master goldsmith who created the fabulous metal artworks found at Sutton Hoo, and jewels from as far afield as Sri Lanka and Egypt were used to decorate them. Stylistically, they are pieces from the Migration Period (otherwise known as Insular art), which drew upon Celtic, Irish, Anglo-Saxon, and Mediterranean styles and particularly featured interlace patterns. A set of beautifully ornamented shoulder clasps was intended to be used to fasten pieces of armour around the torso, much as a Roman ruler would have done. Coins in the grave originated from different Frankish mints, some of the silverware was from the Mediterranean, and remains of textiles show a Syrian influence. Evidently, then, the grave goods demonstrate considerable overseas trade and cultural links.

above: Reconstructed textiles from the King's grave at Sutton Hoo.

above: Remains of a Byzantine bucket from the Sutton Hoo burial.

There is nothing in the burial to confirm whose grave it was, but a strong theory is that it is the resting place of King Rædwald of East Anglia. Coins date the burial to 625 AD, which is approximately the time of his death. There are apparently around eighteen burial mounds on the site, and the suggestion is that this was a cemetery for the Wuffinga royal dynasty of East Anglia. Apart from the King’s Mound, with all its gold and silver, there is the Horseman’s Mound containing the remains of a young warrior and his horse, together with cooking tools and a comb. Though less impressive than the glittering gold and gems of the King’s Mound, there’s undeniably something rather poignant about these more mundane but personal grave goods.

Rædwald was supposedly the first Anglo-Saxon king to convert to Christianity, but he maintained pagan sites of worship as well (much to the disgust of the Venerable Bede, who wrote about him one hundred or so years later in his Ecclesiastical History of the English People). This hedging of spiritual bets was probably not only personal but political in nature, since during this period there were both pagan rulers and recently converted Christian ones, and Rædwald would have needed to maintain relations with all of them, preferably of a cordial nature. The discovery in the Sutton Hoo King’s Mound of two silver spoons engraved with the names ‘Saulos’ and ‘Paulos’ suggests the conversion of St. Paul, but of course, Christian burials do not normally include grave goods. All of this supports the idea that this was Rædwald’s tomb, and that the man and his burial represented a changeover point in England (not that England existed yet as a political entity) between the old gods and the Christian one.

As explained at the visitor centre at Sutton Hoo, the inclusion of a six-stringed maple wood lyre in the King’s Mound beside all the military regalia points to the idea of a warrior poet, especially since other Anglo-Saxon burials have been found to contain both lyres and weapons. Then again, perhaps the lyre was there to provide some entertainment in the next life, accompanied by use of the drinking vessels also provided. However, I suppose most kings aspire to be thought of as cultured, and the clever ones of the past undoubtedly realised that if they really wanted to create a legacy, words were mightier weapons than swords when it came to posterity.

above: Reconstructed lyre and lyre bag from Sutton Hoo.

So now to Beowulf, so often linked with Sutton Hoo. This Anglo-Saxon epic poem of 3,182 alliterative lines is England’s Iliad or Epic of Gilgamesh. It has come down to us via just one late-tenth to early-eleventh century manuscript, which was nearly lost in an eighteenth-century fire (it is slightly singed, it must be said). No one knows who wrote it originally or exactly when, but it is reckoned to probably date from around 700 AD. Set in the Scandinavia of the fifth and sixth centuries, the poem tells of the Geat Beowulf saving Danish King Hrothgar’s mead hall from a monster called Grendel and later pursuing Grendel’s vengeful mother. After returning home and becoming king, Beowulf slays a dragon in old age but dies in the attempt. There is a theory that the Wuffinga family originated from a Geatish dynasty mentioned in Beowulf, and the poem, like the Sutton Hoo grave, shows evidence of both pagan and Christian influence. Interestingly, following the discovery of the treasure, legal title to it was determined at the coroner’s inquest by citing passages of Beowulf. The idea was that if the treasure had been placed in the ground with the intention that it ought to stay there forever, then it would belong to the person who found it. The poem’s descriptions of grave goods being deliberately buried with a deceased individual suggested historical precedent for this being the case. There’s an interactive element to the relationship between Sutton Hoo and Beowulf, since each seems to confirm the historical context of the other. Sutton Hoo renders real Beowulf’s world of mead halls, great kings, and heroes, whilst the poem endorses theories about the archaeology found at the site.

I gather that Seamus Heaney opened the National Trust exhibition centre at Sutton Hoo in 2002, having translated Beowulf into modern English in 1999. Lines from his translation are prominently displayed in the centre, evoking this early medieval world, which is English but also not (in that it’s Germanic and Scandinavian, with a bit of Celtic and Mediterranean influence thrown in. We’ve always been hybrids). Heaney’s version of the epic is brilliant, especially when read by the man himself, upholding the oral tradition of transmission. Strident and stirring alliteration (in keeping with the original) conjures up the magic of the mead hall, and the poem is replete with camaraderie between brothers in arms, feats of derring-do, oaths, and monsters, as well as plenty of gore (sounds like a Saturday night out in certain perilous conurbations these days). Like the magnificent grave goods found at Sutton Hoo, Beowulf commemorates a great leader, and alongside the gems and the military paraphernalia, perhaps the dweller in the East Anglian mound who took a lyre with him into the afterlife might have been pleased to have as his epitaph the final lines from Heaney’s translation:

‘They said that of all the kings upon the earth, / he was the man most gracious and fair-minded, / kindest to his people and keenest to win fame.’