ANGLO-SAXON DINOSAURS

as described in early historical records

Picture of a Dinosaur on the Front of a Ship

adapted from an article by

Bill Cooper

Used with the kind permission of the Creation Science Movement, 50 Brecon Avenue, Cosham, Portsmouth, England, P06 2AW.

The creation model of origins can be used to make a number of predictions. One such prediction is that we should be able to find historical evidence indicating that dinosaurs and men co-existed in the recent past. This hypothesis is quite contrary to what the evolutionary model predicts. It says dinosaurs became extinct millions of years before man evolved, so no man could have ever seen a living dinosaur.

Here, we shall consider written evidence that has survived from the records of several ancient peoples describing, sometimes in detail, human contact with giant living reptiles, animals we would probably call dinosaurs.

The Middle East

There are descriptions of two monsters from the Old Testament: Behemoth and Leviathan (Job 40:15 - 41:34). Behemoth seems to have been a giant marshland vegetarian, something very much like an Apatosaurus, and the armour-plated Leviathan was a somewhat more ominous, fire-breathing creature of the water. Babylonian and Sumerian literature mention similar animals, as does the written and oral folklore of peoples around the world. But perhaps the most remarkable descriptions of living dinosaurs are those passed down to us by the Anglo-Saxons and Celts of Europe.

British Monsters

The early Britons, from whom the modern Welsh are descended, provide us with the earliest European accounts of reptilian monsters, one of which killed and devoured King Morvidus (Morydd), ca. 336 B.C. We are told in the original Welsh account (Geoffrey of Monmouth's Latin translation still survives, in spite of modernist claims to the contrary) that a monster “gulped down the body of Morvidus as a big fish swallows a little one.” Geoffrey wrote of the monster under its Latin name, Belua. King Peredur of the early Britons had better luck than Morvidus, managing to slay his monster at a place in Wales called Llyn Llion.

Elsewhere in Wales, two distinct species of dinosaur are spoken of: the afanc and the carrog. The afanc survived until comparatively recent times at places such as Bedd-yr-Afanc (near Brynberian), Dyfed, Llyn-yr-Afanc (above Bettws-y-Coed on the River Conwy) - the killing of this monster was described by Edward Llwyd in 1693 - and Llyn Barfog. I carrog is commemorated at Dol-y-Carrog in the Vale of Conwy, and again at Carrog, near Corwen.

In England, reptilian monsters caused chaos for the people of Bisterne, Brent Pelham, Christchurch, Deerhurst, Lambton, Little Cornard, Lyminster, Slingsby, Sockburn, Spindlestone, Heughs, Wantley, Wissington, and Wormiston, to name but a few. (For more on these monsters, see Jennifer Westwood, Albion [Granada: London, 1985.])

There are depictions in Celtic art, particularly in illuminated manuscripts, of monsters and strange animals. Over the centuries, works are consistent in their portrayal of parts and proportions of the creatures, something that is unlikely in fictional art.

Nordic Sagas

Now we come to the most remarkable records of all. These are the descriptions of the giant reptiles that the early Saxons, Danes, and others encountered in Northern Europe and Scandinavia. In various Nordic sagas, the slaying of dragons is described in some detail, helping us to reconstruct the physical appearance of these creatures. In the Volsunga Saga, for example, the slaying of the monster Fafnir was accomplished by Sigurd, who dug a pit and waited inside for the monster pass overhead as it made its way to the water. This allowed Sigurd to attack the monster's soft under-belly. Fafnir apparently walked on all fours with his belly close to the ground.

The epic poem, Beowulf, provides us with invaluable descriptions of the huge reptilian creatures that only 1,400 years ago infested Denmark. Beowulf himself, undoubtedly a historical figure, grew to become a seasoned dinosaur hunter. He was renowned for having cleared entire territories and important sea lanes of monstrous animals whose predations were making life hazardous in parts of Northern Europe. Fortunately, the Anglo-Saxon poem, written in celebration of Beowulf's heroism, preserved for us not just physical descriptions of the monsters he encountered, but even the names by which certain species of them were known to the Saxons and Danes of the day.

Beowulf, the Poem

Although scholars always refer to the Christian nature of the poem, Beowulf, there are many details indicating it pre-dates the Christianization of the Saxons and Danes. Among these is the fact that although mention is made of God, the Creation, and Cain, these subjects are also written about in the pagan records of these peoples, including the decidedly pre-Christian genealogies of the Saxons. No mention whatsoever is made in Beowulf of Christ, the saints, or any New Testament event. This stands in marked contrast to poems and other accounts known to be of the early Christian era. Moreover, the poem expresses no exclusively Christian sentiments; rather, it makes approving references to decidedly pagan notions, sacrifices, and oaths. Although seemingly written (or at least copied) in early Saxon England, the poem contains no reference to the British Isles or to any British king or historical character. (The “King Offa” mentioned was the pre-migration ancestor of Offa of Mercia, and his name was duly preserved in the Mercian genealogies.) Beowulf is most likely a pagan poem that originated in the times of which it speaks.

Beowulf, the Man

Beowulf was born ca. A.D. 495. At the age of seven he was brought to the court of his grandfather, Hrethel, who was king of the Geatingas, a tribe in southern Sweden. After an unpromising youth, during which time the Geatish-Swedish wars took place (in particular, the Battle of Ravenswood), he undertook his famous visit to Hrothgar, king of the Danes, in 515. It was in this year that he slew the monster Grendel. In 521, he returned to the kingdom of his uncle, King Hygelic, avenging Higelac's death that same year by slaying Daegreth. He declined the invitation to succeed his uncle to throne, choosing to serve as guardian to the young King Heardred instead. When Heardred was killed by the Swedes in 533, Beowulf became the king of the Geatingas. He reigned for fifty years, dying in 583 at some 88 years of age.

It seems clear that the poem is about real people and historical events, so there is every reason to regard the references to monsters as factual, too.

Grendel

In line 1345 of the poem, King Hrothgar tells how his subjects have reported seeing two monsters haunting the moors. His account describes bipedal creatures, both much larger than humans: one a young male (Grendel) and the other on older female (thought to be his mother). Tracing Grendel's tracks back to his lair (line 1425), Beowulf and his men observe sea-dragons and other monsters snaking through the depths of the lake. These creatures were said to surface at dawn to wreak havoc in the seas where ships sail. So familiar to the Danes were these monsters that the figureheads of ancient Saxon and Danish ships were fashioned after their serpentine and dragon-like features. (See cover illustration.)

Monstrous Calumny

Grendel is often spoken of by modern scholars as having been a troll - a mischievous hairy dwarf from Swedish fairy tales - who swapped troll children for human children in the middle of the night. Not only does this run completely counter to all descriptions and accounts of the animal in Beowulf, the word for troll does not even appear in the original Anglo-Saxon text!

Grendel's name is usually said to be derived from the Old Norse grund, meaning ground or depth, but is more likely an onomatopoeic name from the Old Norse grindill, meaning storm, or grenja, for bellow.

It would seem that Grendel was probably not just a name for this one particular animal, but was the name for the species in general. In an Anglo-Saxon charter from King Athelstan, dated A.D. 931, we read of a grendels-mere (a lake where such animals lived) in Wiltshire. The name also appears in some place-names of Northern Europe, as well as in the Alpine Grindelwald (“Grindel-forest”). And it is found in the Middle English word, grindel, which meant angry.

Description of Grendel

The felling of the monster Grendel is the most famous of Beowulf's successes. The animal is described in two ways: by his awesome wickedness and by his physical characteristics. Epithets were attached to his name because of the sheer terror he inspired in the hearts of men. He was a demon who was synnum beswenced (afflicted with sins). He was godes ansaca (God's adversary), the synscatha (evil-doer) who was wonsaeli (damned), a very feond on helle (fiend in hell)! He came from the race of grundwyrgen, accursed monsters who are said to have been descended from Cain himself. Descriptions such as these of Grendel's nature convey something of the horror with which men regarded him.

Grendel was a youth, having preyed upon the Danes for about twelve years before Beowulf heard of him. He was a man-like in his stance - in other words, bipedal. He had two small forelimbs that the Saxons call eorms (arms), one of which Beowulf managed to tear off. He was a muthbona, one who slew with his mouth or jaws, and the speed with which he was able to devour his human prey tells us something of the size of his jaws. Unfortunately for the Danes, his skin seemed impervious to blows from the sword.

Grendel is also described as aeglaeca (the ugly one), apparently having an ugly appearance to match his ugly nature. He hunted alone and was known to the locals as the atol angengea (the terrifying solitary one). He was a mearcstapa, a “march-stepper” - one who stalked the marches, the outlying border regions. He was a sceadugenga (a shadow-goer) who hunted by night, approaching human settlements and waiting silently in the darkness for his prey to fall asleep before he descended upon them. He would come down from the mistige moras (misty moors) as the deathscua (shadow of death). The Danes employed an eotanweard (a watcher for giants) to warn of the monster's approach, but often in vain. So stealthy was Grendel's approach in the darkness of the night that sometimes the eotanweard himself was surprised and eaten. Little wonder that Beowulf was rewarded so richly and was so famed for having slain him.

In all, a comprehensive and somewhat horrifying picture of Grendel emerges from the pages of Beowulf, something very much like we imagine Tyrannosaurus rex to have been when alive. Modern commentators who have been brought up on evolutionary ideas assume that monsters like Grendel are primitive personifications of death, disease, and other such nonsense. But the evidence hardly supports these imaginative claims.

The York Notes series of the Longman Literature Guides, when dealing with the Beowulf epic, makes a far more honest assessment:

“In spite of allusions to the devil and abstract concepts of evil, the monsters are very tangible creatures in Beowulf. They have no supernatural tricks, other than exceptional strength, and they are vulnerable and mortal. The early medieval audience would have accepted these monsters, not as symbols of plague or war, for such creatures were a definite reality.” (page 65).

Sea Serpents and Flying Reptiles

The Beowulf epic records that in Grendel's lair, a large swampy lake, there lived other reptilian species called wyrmcynnes (literally, “wormkind,” a race of monsters). These included giant saedracan (sea-drakes or sea-dragons), niceras (water monsters), wyrmas (giant serpents), and wildeor (literally, “wild beasts”). One in particular, an ythgewinnes (wave-thrasher), was harpooned by Beowulf's men, using eoferspreotum (boar-spears), and dragged out of the water for examination.

Beowulf also had success in clearing the sea lanes between Denmark and Sweden of certain sea monsters (merefixa and niceras), which had become a hazard to local shipping. Following one such operation, the carcasses of nine creatures (niceras nigene) later washed ashore, where they could be inspected by Beowulf and his men.

Beowulf met his death from injuries sustained when destroying a flying reptile that lived on a promontory overlooking the sea at Hronesnaess, on the southern coast of Sweden. The Saxons (and presumably the Danes), knew this particular kind of creature as a widfloga (literally, a “wide-” or “far-ranging flyer”). The description they have left us fits that of a giant Pteranodon. Interestingly, the widfloga's “subspecies” name was ligdraca, meaning fire-dragon. He was described as being fifty feet in length (or possibly in wing-span) and about 300 years of age. The ability to live up to a great age is a feature of some reptiles today.

Conclusion

The encounters with now-extinct reptiles described in Beowulf, as well as in other historical writings, could easily be the dinosaurs we otherwise know only from fossil remains. Because of the testimony offered by ancient records, such as Beowulf and the Bible, to the co-existence of dinosaurs and men, the evolutionary story of dinosaurs having become extinct some sixty-five million years ago would appear to be nothing but a modern fable.

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