The Non–Christian as Culturally Distinct ‘Other’ in the Old English Judith, Elene and Andreas

Abstract

Social belonging in Old English literature is complex. Poems like Beowulf and the various Elegies focus on an individual’s position within their own cultural group. However, in more overtly religious poems, community becomes more fluid. Distinctions seemingly based on ethnicity prove less rigid than any racialised ‘othering’. Instead, social belonging is determined by faith; differentiated between Christian and non–Christian. In Judith, the consciously Christianised Bethulians are juxtaposed with the heathen Assyrians. In Andreas, moral othering of the Mermedonians is resolved when they repent and convert. In Elene, conversion dismantles the barrier between Christians and non–Christians through assimilation. Alterity is thus removed from ethnicity, while communal belonging proves malleable when the ‘other’ is willing to embrace Christianity.