I'm always interested in interpretations of British history from other perspectives. Remember that the Saxons had the serious advantage of having been the first to write it all down, and they did put a spin on things, much of it involving huge enthusiasm for their new religion, as you would! We also think of hard done to Saxons being raped and pillaged by Vikings, but that's not the whole truth. The Saxons were a conquering race who had not been on the island for all that long before the Vikings began raiding.
They were also not innocent, as genetic evidence proves that they practised apartheid and were quite successful at preventing Britons from breeding. When the Vikings arrived, some of the Britons pushed into unwanted corners of the island welcomed the new invaders. And of course talk to a Norwegian and they might tell you that all the Vikings only wanted to trade (I did, and that's what she was taught at school). The truth is probably that some raided, some traded.
Hmm, pessimism. I would say that a monk in those days, who would be the scribe of an epic poem, would indeed be pessimistic. Putting aside Vikings, life in the early monasteries was tough, and being a scribe was even tougher!
I wonder if we should call it pessimism. Maybe, from our nice comfy lives in the modern age these poets looked liked pessimists. Perhaps they were instead realists? They accepted that they would one day die? And that they might also die young. We on the other hand have long lives and pensions to look forards to, if nothing else on the 'other side'. Few of us, especially those of us who are young, have that acceptance of mortality. Yet speak to my father and he will sound pessimistic -
he would call it resignation.
There's another thing - natural English nostalgia. There was an item on the news today about how people thought 1985 was better than now. Excuse me? Three million unemployed? The Miners' strike? They came to the conclusion that it was the same old nostalgia we just love to indulge in. Mustn't grumble.
