Then, on the headland, the Geats prepared a mighty pyre\r\nfor Beowulf, hung round with helmets and shields\r\nand shining mail, in accordance with his wishes;\r\nand then the mourning warriors laid\r\ntheir dear lord, the famous prince upon it.\r\nAnd there, on Whaleness, the heroes kindled\r\nthe most might of pyres; the dark wood-smoke\r\nsoared over the fire, the roaring flames\r\nmingled with weeping\u2014the winds' tumult subsided\u2014\r\nuntil the body became ash, consumed even\r\nto its core...\r\nThen the Geats built a barrow on the headland\u2014\r\nit was high and broad, visible from far\r\nto all seafarers; in ten days they built the beacon\r\nfor that courageous man; and they constructed\r\nas noble an enclosure as wise men\r\ncould devise, to enshrine the ashes.\r\nThey buried rings and brooches in the barrow,\r\nall those adornments that brave men\r\nhad brought out from the hoard after Beowulf died.\r\nThey bequeathed the gleaming gold, treasure of men,\r\nto the earth, and there it was before.\r\nThen twelve brave warriors, sons of heroes,\r\nrode round the barrow, sorrowing;\r\nthey mourned their king, chanted\r\nan elegy, spoke about that great man:\r\nThey exalted his heroic life, lauded\r\nhis daring deeds\/\r\nThus the Geats, his hearth-companions,\r\ngrieved over the death of their lord;\r\nthey said that of all kings on earth\r\nhe was the kindest, the most gentle,\r\nthe most just to his people, the most eager for fame.<\/p>\r\nIncluded among the objects was a cloisonn\u00e9 purse. This purse contained avariety of coins that have allowed numismatists to date the monument tothe second quarter of the seventh century. The dating of the coins to about 625 have led scholars to propose the identification of the East Anglian king as Raedwald who died about 624 and 625.\r\n\r\nBede in his History of the English Church and People<\/i> identifies Raedwaldas as the first East Anglian king to have converted to Christianity. This would be consistent with a pair of spoons found in the ship burial. One is inscribed with the name Saul and the other with Paul. These were apparently christening spoons referring to Saul who became Paul after his conversion to Christianity. What we know of Raedwald is that he subsequently relapsed into paganism and apparently kept shrines to both Christian and pagan dieties. Bede (History of the English Church and People, II, 15) presents the following account of Raedwald:\r\n Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker provide a description, historical perspective, and analysis of the\u00a0Sutton Hoo Ship Burial and objects found within.<\/p>\nEDWIN was so zealous for the worship of truth, that he likewise persuaded Eorpwald, king of the East Saxons, and son of Redwald, to abandon his idolatrous superstitions, and with his whole province to receive the faith and sacraments of Christ. And indeed his father Redwald had long before been admitted to the sacrament 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 back from the sincerity of the faith; and thus his latter state was worse than the former; so that, like the ancient Samaritans, he seemed at the same time to serve Christ and the gods whom he had served before; and in the same temple he had an altar to sacrifice to Christ, and another small one to offer victims to devils.<\/blockquote>\r\nIncluded in the treasure are some of the finest pieces of barbarian metalwork that have come down to us.","rendered":"