The King at Sutton Hoo

In a previous post, I explored the grave goods found at the burial site known as Sutton Hoo. This post will discuss the identity of the King buried at Sutton Hoo.

Unfortunately, the local soil was so acidic that the body did not survive. All that Basil Brown found to indicate that a body once lay there was the outline of a person. Initially, some historians suggested there never was a body at Sutton Hoo. However, in the 1970s, tests on soil samples taken at an earlier date indicated the presence of the remains of a deceased body.

The identity of this individual has become an enduring mystery. However taking some of the grave goods as clues, we can speculate as to who this individual was.

Status

The grave goods excavated at Sutton Hoo indicate this was a high-status individual. Some of the grave goods, such as the silver spoons were imported from Byzantium. ¹R. E. Kaske, The Silver Spoons of Sutton Hoo, : Speculum, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Oct., 1967), pp. 670-672 The 40 coins found in the remnants of the purse each came from a different mint in Merovingian France. ²D. Deliyannis, H. Dey, P. Squatriti, Fifty Early Medieval Things: Materials of Culture in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, (New York, 2019), p. 114.

A number of the objects were elaborately decorated, such as the plummet and hilt of the sword and the purse lid. These would all indicate that this individual was well connected, with the ability to import goods from the continent and beyond. That he was a man who possessed great wealth. He was able to employ superior craftsmen to create these beautiful objects, or that they were heirlooms handed down to him, or even perhaps treasures stolen or won. By whatever means he had obtained these goods, these were items that the average Anglo-Saxon did not possess.

Given the military nature of the items and by drawing comparisons with similar finds throughout Europe, we can assume that this individual was a male. The equipment is masculine in nature. Collectively, they are objects a high-status Anglo-Saxon man might possess.

A King at Sutton Hoo?

Historians and archaeologists have speculated that this is a royal burial. And given the quality of the grave goods, this is a sound assumption. The helmet, shield and belt suggest this was a great warrior. The items might have been for ceremonial rather purposes rather than built for function. Helmets seem to have indicated royalty. Until the introduction of the crown around the year 900, they appear to have performed that function. ³B. Yorke, Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England, (London, 2003), pp. 16-17.

The bronze sceptre found is also thought to be symbolic of royalty. A sceptre was a symbol of one’s office and not merely of one’s rank in life. The sceptre might be an echo of the Roman past intending to mimic the staff. This was a symbol of authority.⁴B. Yorke, Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England, (London, 2003), p. 19. Furthermore, the sceptre was decorated with a small stag. Stags were symbols of royalty in this period as the near contemporaneous poem Beowulf attests. ⁵M. Wood, In Search of the Dark Ages, (London, 2005), p. 68.

Who was the King Buried at Sutton Hoo?

The coins found at Sutton Hoo date to around 620 – 640 AD. ⁶M. Wood, In Search of the Dark Ages, (London, 2005), p. 66. Since Sutton Hoo lies within the Anglo-Saxon realm of East Anglia, we would assume here lay a King from that realm. The East Anglian Kings who fall within this time frame are King Raedwald (d. c. 624), King Eorpwald (d. 627), Kings Sigebert and King Ecgric who ruled jointly until around 636.

King Raedwald has emerged as the most popular candidate amongst historians. Not only does he fit well within the time frame, but Bede gives us some information about King Raedwald, indeed Bede is our only near-contemporary source for Raedwald. King Raedwald’s life and his attitude towards religion seem to align with some of the objects found at the Sutton Hoo burial site.

Edwin was so zealous for the true worship, that he likewise persuaded Earpwald, king of the
East Angles, and son of Raedwald, to abandon his idolatrous superstitions, and with
his whole province to receive the faith and mysteries of Christ. And indeed his father Raedwald
had long before been initiated into the mysteries of the Christian faith in Kent, but in vain; for
on his return home, he was seduced by his wife and certain perverse teachers, and turned aside
from the sincerity of the faith; and thus his latter state was worse than the former; so that, like
the Samaritans of old, he seemed at the same time to serve Christ and the gods whom he served
before; and in the same temple he had an altar for the Christian Sacrifice, and another small
one at which to offer victims to devils.

Saint the Venerable Bede, Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of England, Book II, Chapter XV

Here Bede tells us of King Raedwald was persuaded by Edwin (King of Northumbria) to convert to Christianity. However, he was then persuaded to recant and revert back to paganism by his wife. However, Raedwald perhaps seeking to secure the safety of his soul built a temple for Christ. There he worshipped Christ alongside other pagan gods. Obviously, Bede finds this abhorrent. Could Raedwald have perhaps missed or misinterpreted the main message of Christianity? That Christianity is a monotheistic religion? Could he have perhaps thought Christ was merely another god to worship? Or perhaps what we see is how early Ango-Saxon kings tried to navigate their way through and embrace this new religion in an old world.

The Case for King Raedwald

The reason this passage is relevant to the Sutton Hoo finds is that amongst the grave goods were found a set of silver spoons. One of these bore the inscription the Greek word ‘Saulous’ and the other the Greek word ‘Paulous’. Upon his conversion to Christianity, Saul took the name, Paul. The apostle Paul is regularly associated with conversion and the notion of rebirth in the Christian tradition.

It has been suggested that these spoons might have been baptismal gifts given to Raedwald. ⁷D. Deliyannis, H. Dey, P. Squatriti, Fifty Early Medieval Things: Materials of Culture in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, (New York, 2019), p. 114. However, R. E. Kaske has argued that the two spoons were not inscribed by the same hand. He questions the symbolic value of a convert possessing a spoon with the inscription Saul. ⁸E. Kaske, The Silver Spoons of Sutton Hoo, : Speculum, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Oct., 1967), pp. 670-672.

There were other items which were perhaps associated with Christianity, such as silver bowls decorated with a crucifix. These alongside the silver spoons that would have lay next to the head suggested they held particularly significant meaning to the individual in life. Also, the belt buckle might have been used to store religious relics. ⁹M. Parker Pearson, R. Van De Noort and A. Woolf, ‘Three Men and a Boat: Sutton Hoo and the East Saxon Kingdom’, Anglo-Saxon England, 1993, Vol. 22 (1993), p. 28.

Based on these finds, perhaps the King at Sutton Hoo is the relapsed convert Bede told us of. Indeed Raedwald is the most likely candidate.

Some Concluding Thoughts

Whoever he was, the selection of pagan and Christian-inspired items in his grave gives us an insight into the complex world of early Anglo-Saxon kingship. To me, it seems conversion was far from a straightforward process. Those kings had much more to consider than the welfare of their souls, but also their positions of power. If they sought to hold onto that power, they had to tread a fine line. Conversion to Christianity could make them politically vulnerable. Those reluctant to follow the king to conversion could find enough like-minded individuals and topple him. More often than not, strength was found in numbers. But as Christianity grew in strength and more kings converted, the Anglo-Saxon world would be turned upside down as the new religion became the dominant force.

Sources

• 1
  R. E. Kaske, The Silver Spoons of Sutton Hoo, : Speculum, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Oct., 1967), pp. 670-672
• 2
  D. Deliyannis, H. Dey, P. Squatriti, Fifty Early Medieval Things: Materials of Culture in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, (New York, 2019), p. 114.
• 3
  B. Yorke, Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England, (London, 2003), pp. 16-17.
• 4
  B. Yorke, Kings and kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England, (London, 2003), p. 19.
• 5
  M. Wood, In Search of the Dark Ages, (London, 2005), p. 68.
• 6
  M. Wood, In Search of the Dark Ages, (London, 2005), p. 66.
• 7
  D. Deliyannis, H. Dey, P. Squatriti, Fifty Early Medieval Things: Materials of Culture in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, (New York, 2019), p. 114.
• 8
  E. Kaske, The Silver Spoons of Sutton Hoo, : Speculum, Vol. 42, No. 4 (Oct., 1967), pp. 670-672.
• 9
  M. Parker Pearson, R. Van De Noort and A. Woolf, ‘Three Men and a Boat: Sutton Hoo and the East Saxon Kingdom’, Anglo-Saxon England, 1993, Vol. 22 (1993), p. 28.