Religion during the Anglo-Saxon England is often portrayed through the eyes of the Christian society, which consequently results in subjective description of Vikings and their beliefs in connection to their raids and invasions of the island. The purpose of this thesis is to examine how religion of the Anglo-Saxons and their invaders is presented in literature and cinematic works, and to determine the importance and purpose of religion in such works. This work will focus on Christianity and paganism during the life of Alfred the Great, and will seek parallels between the religions in terms of how religion is expressed by narrative and characters, to what extent it is presented and what kind of connotations the descriptions have or imply. The research for the thesis included overview of several history books and articles to set the historical background, which is in the main part of the thesis analysed in terms of religion with five novels from Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories and television series Vikings and The Last Kingdom. The results of close reading of the religious passages and observing movie segments show, that religion plays an important role in all analysed works of art, and cannot be omitted without significantly decreasing the depth and authenticity of the story. In literature, The Saxon Stories provided a detailed description and inclusion of Christianity, and presented paganism to a lower degree. This was opposite for the television series Vikings, which follows the life of the Vikings and portrays their religious traditions in greater detail than Cornwell’s novels. One of the most important figures for the thesis is Alfred the Great. Not only does the thesis focus on the religious state during his life, but also his contributions to Christianity in England are described in all analysed works alike, and correspond well with true historical facts. The thesis also provides a description of several Viking characters, who are important representatives for paganism and steer away from the common trend, which describes Norsemen as godless, uncultured and violent figures. There are many literary works that are set in the Anglo-Saxon England, which are not limited to the life of Alfred the Great. Those works could be analysed in the same manner and compared to this thesis to find differences in portrayal of religion in terms of style, scope and manner.
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