Anglo-Saxon

English Literature
............................................
Historical period from about the time of Christ up to A.D. 1066

Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) literature
---------------
Formed by and reflects the culture

Objectives

• Historical background of the Anglo-Saxon language and culture
• History of Anglo-Saxon Britain
• Christianity's role in the early development of English literature

England to A.D. 450

Before the time of Christ, southern Britain was conquered by the Romans

Original inhabitants of the island
were
Celtic with a pagan Druid religion

After the Roman conquest of southern Britain, the countries of
Wales, Ireland, and Scotland
remained unconquered with their original languages intact

Roman conquest was less a military invasion than a colonization

LEGIONNAIRES
..............
-Garrisoned the country
-Settled down
-Married women from the local population

Christianity spread across the Roman Empire AND Britain

Mixing the pagan Druidic and Roman populations with a Christian one

Roman Empire began to fall into decay
..................................
Roman population either left or was assimilated into the Celtic one

Early Roman Influence on Britain...

-Survives primarily in the ruins of ancient towns
-Hadrian's Wall
-Place names

For example,
Any place name ending in "caster," denotes an old Roman encampment

Anglo-Saxon Culture

Around A.D. 450

-Group of illiterate tribes from what is now Scandinavia and Germany
-Raid and migrate to England

Tribes
........................
-Angles
-Jutes
-Saxons

spoke varieties of Old Germanic

Dialects evolved into Anglo-Saxon (Old English) when they integrate into the Latin-Celtic culture found on the island

Germanic tribes...

-Warlike farmers
-Traveled widely by sea
-Undertook their conquests and migrations

Germanic Society
................................
-organized around extended family units
-ruled by the best warrior, called the cyng (Germanic for 'chief' or 'king').
-united by kinship and by the wealth accumulated by the tribe (called the "hoard").

Hoard of a Tribe
..............................
-King was thought of as "the giver of rings,"
whodistributed the hoard to his thanes "persons of rank"

-Holding land from the king" as a reward for their valor and service
bound the warriors of the tribe together

Warlike Anglo-Saxon society behavioral ideal

King would try to live up to:

1. excellence in fighting
2. diplomacy
3. navigation

Warriors
-had a pagan and darkly fatalistic theology like that of ancient Scandinavia
-sought enduring fame
-made publicizing king's or thane's exploits important

Bards or scops, Anglo-Saxon public poets or minstrels
......................
-recite epic poems of heroes' exploits
-warriors feasted in the mead hall of the king

Ballads or sung poems
........................
-functioned as oral history
-passed down as traditions
-served as entertainment

Boasting was Encouraged
..................................
-warriors needed to publicize their exploits
-gain enduring fame
-boasts needed backed up

Old English Language

Anglo-Saxon
......................
Inflected
Language

Changes to...
1. Beginnings (prefixes)
2. Middles (infixes)
3. Ends (suffixes) of words
........................................
Signaled their parts of speech in sentences

Old English
vs.
Modern English

Old English different enough from Modern English to truly make it a language of its own

-Modern reader might recognize a few Old English words

-Might be spelled and pronounced differently from Modern English

Literary Significance

In A.D. 597, Pope Gregory I sent a priest, Augustine
reconvert Anglo-Saxon Britain to Christianity

Augustine started in the kingdom of Kent, converting King Ethelbert

Within 75 years, much of Britain was Christianized

Reconversion of Britain to Christianity
....................................
Two important consequences

1) The Christian priests, working as court scribes to various kingdoms

Introduced Written Language

2) Caused a mix of pagan and Christian cultures and holidays.

All Hallows Eve (Halloween) is one of these examples.

Priests wrote down...

-legal documents
For example, the oldest specimen of Anglo-Saxon text is King Ethelbert's law code)

Literary works

-Their own compositions

Copied more ancient oral works

Next Class

• Overview and history of "Beowulf"
• Answer questions
• Discuss the epic poem

References
Greenblatt, S. (Ed.) (2006). The Norton anthology of English literature (8th ed., Vol. A). New York: W.W. Norton.
Harmon, W., & Holman, H. (2006) A handbook to literature. (10th ed.) Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.