The Anglo-Saxon Roots of the English Crown - with Dr Sam Newton FSA

Title-picture above: detail of the statue of King Ælfred the Great by Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg (1877) that stands in his birthplace, Wantage (picture taken 1994).

In the 70th year of long reign of Queen Elizabeth II, we shall explore the Anglo-Saxon roots of the English royal line. We shall trace the line back to the Anglo-Saxon kings and queens of Wessex and beyond to Kent and East Anglia. These in turn derive from deep pre-Christian roots back to the Woden and other deities. We shall consider the significance of these roots and note how they help to explain some of the cultic customs associated with kingship such as the royal touch, royal weather, and the veneration of royal relics.

Provisional Timetable

10.15–11.15: Windsors, West Saxons, and Wuffings.

11.15-11.45: coffee break

11-45-12.45: Royal Bringers of Peace and Prosperity.

12.45-13.45: lunch break

13.45-14.45: Woden, the Cult of Kingship, and the Coming of Christianity.

About Dr Sam Newton

Sam Newton was awarded his Ph.D at the University of East Anglia in 1991. He published his first book, The Origins of Beowulf and the pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia, in 1993, and his second, The Reckoning of King Rædwald, in 2003. He has also published several papers, some of which are available on his website or on Academia.

He has lectured widely around the country and contributed to many radio and television programmes, especially Time Team. He is Director of Wuffing Education Online, an accredited Arts’ Society lecturer, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.

Above: Sam playing his replica of the royal lyre of Sutton Hoo on the occasion of the recent visit of lyre performers Moro Music to Sutton Hoo (©Moro Music 21st May 2022)

Some Suggestions for Optional Background Reading

Branston, B., The Lost Gods of England (Thames & Hudson 1957, 1974)

Chaney, W.A., The Cult of Kingship in Anglo-Saxon England (Manchester 1970)

Ellis Davidson, H., The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe (Routledge 1993)

Heaney, Seamus (tr.) Beowulf: An Illustrated Edition, ed. J.Niles (Norton 2007)

Herbert, K., Looking for the Lost Gods of England (Pinner 1994)

Kirby, D.P., The Earliest English Kings (London 1991)

Mayr-Harting, H., The Coming of Christianity to Anglo-Saxon England (Oxford 1977)

Newton, S., The Origins of Beowulf and the pre-Viking Kingdom of East Anglia (Brewer 1993, 1994, 1999, 2004)

Newton, S., The Reckoning of King Rædwald: The Story of the King linked to the Sutton Hoo Ship-Burial (Redbird 2003)

North, R., Heathen Gods in Old English Literature Cambridge 1997)

Swanton, M., The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Dent 1996; Phoenix 2000)

Webster, L., & J.Backhouse, The Making of England. Anglo-Saxon Art and Culture AD 600-900 (London 1991)

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