The Heliand: The Warrior's Strength and the Transcendence of Faith
Location
CSU 285
Start Date
9-4-2012 4:00 PM
End Date
9-4-2012 5:00 PM
Student's Major
World Languages and Cultures
Student's College
Arts and Humanities
Mentor's Name
Nadia Kramer
Mentor's Department
World Languages and Cultures
Mentor's College
Arts and Humanities
Description
The research project centered on the literary text, Heliand, a biblical paraphrase of the Gospel originally written in Old Saxon in the 9th century. Throughout this period, Christianity was steadily spreading to the pagan lands of northern Europe. Because this initially involved a form cultural clash between the Christian and Germanic world-views, Christianity is often thought to have been an overt replacement of the earlier traditional folk-culture of these lands. The Heliand, though, expresses differently by drawing parallels between the old Germanic warrior culture and the Christian faith. The project examines how this is accomplished by exploring deeper into the specific foundations that defined Germanic tribal culture of the day and how the Heliand appealed to each element in terms of the intimacy of kinship, the heroism of individual conduct and the presence of strong spiritual forces such Fate. Additionally, the project takes into consideration the effects of certain historical events, such as the Saxon Wars and the conversion stories of some of the major Germanic tribes, and the roles they played in the final incorporation of the Germanic culture into Christendom. In the end, this text has given greater insight on how the person of Jesus Christ, as the center of the Christian faith, could also be the ultimate embodiment of the warrior ideology of the northern peoples.
The Heliand: The Warrior's Strength and the Transcendence of Faith
CSU 285
The research project centered on the literary text, Heliand, a biblical paraphrase of the Gospel originally written in Old Saxon in the 9th century. Throughout this period, Christianity was steadily spreading to the pagan lands of northern Europe. Because this initially involved a form cultural clash between the Christian and Germanic world-views, Christianity is often thought to have been an overt replacement of the earlier traditional folk-culture of these lands. The Heliand, though, expresses differently by drawing parallels between the old Germanic warrior culture and the Christian faith. The project examines how this is accomplished by exploring deeper into the specific foundations that defined Germanic tribal culture of the day and how the Heliand appealed to each element in terms of the intimacy of kinship, the heroism of individual conduct and the presence of strong spiritual forces such Fate. Additionally, the project takes into consideration the effects of certain historical events, such as the Saxon Wars and the conversion stories of some of the major Germanic tribes, and the roles they played in the final incorporation of the Germanic culture into Christendom. In the end, this text has given greater insight on how the person of Jesus Christ, as the center of the Christian faith, could also be the ultimate embodiment of the warrior ideology of the northern peoples.
Recommended Citation
Rhody, Nathanael. "The Heliand: The Warrior's Strength and the Transcendence of Faith." Undergraduate Research Symposium, Mankato, MN, April 9, 2012.
https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/urs/2012/oral-session-16/1
