The November 2011 National Geographic Magazine has an article about this gold hoard from Anglo-Saxon Britain. The weapons and gold came from an era where "mundane events and acts could be suffused with magic" (57). The article explains how the people of the time may have viewed the objects. They believed "the magical properties an object possessed trumped its material worth" (57). These people valued gold not just for being precious but also because it was considered alluring and indestructible.
Hadrian's wall was created to keep out the barbaric Picts and Scotts. After Roman rule ended warfare ensued, and this warfare resulted in the development of Christianity in England as well as the establishment of the Anglo-Saxon dominance in the region. The elaborately decorated weapons and gold from the early days of England mentioned in this story give us yet another glimpse at the past, one we have been relying on the Sutton-Hoo findings to provide for us.
Photo courtesy of the National Geographic Website.
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