the belief in magic and fantasy. Is it said that she is "...a mistress of black magic, and sought always to do harm to her half brother Arthur with her many spells" (Sutcliff 9-10). This shows that there is a belief in magic among everyone.
             The belief in magic and fantasy was a modification of the Anglo Saxon characteristic. The Anglo Saxons did believe that these things happened, but the belief was much stronger in the medieval period than in the Anglo-Saxon period. In the Anglo-Saxon time, the only evidence there is in the belief of magic and fantasy is Grendel, a horrible monster from Beowulf. Grendel is described as a hideous monster that lives is the bottom of a lake and comes up at night and eats people. When Beowulf, Prince of the Geats fights Grendel he gets help from some of his men. However when his men join in, the fighting scene is describe by saying:
             Their [Beowulf's men] courage
             Was great but all wasted: they could hack at Grendel
             From every side, trying to open
             A path for his [Grendel's] evil soul, but their points
             Could not hurt him, the sharpest and hardest iron
             Could not scratch at his skin, for that sin-stained demon
             Had bewitched all men's weapons, laid spells
             That blunted every mortal man's blade. (798-804)
             This is one of the only examples that show the belief in magic and fantasy that the Anglo Saxons had.
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