AngloSaxon Invasion: The Origin

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Anglo-Saxon InvasionThe Origin History of
English
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Iberians

• Earliest immigrants to British Isles
• Arrive c. 2500 B.C. with late Stone-Age weapons
• Migrated from Spain / Portugal
• Stonehenge c. 2000 B.C.

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Celts

• Arrive much later c. 800-600 B.C.
• Also from Southern Europe
• Two main groups Brythons Gaels
• Brythons (Britons) settle Britain
• Gaels settle Ireland

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Celtic Society

• Individual clans loyal to Chieftains
• Inter-Clan rivalries and disputes settled by
  priestly class Druids
• Druids were religious leaders and keepers of
  history and myth through the oral tradition

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Romans

• Invade Celtic society c. 43 A.D.
• Brought improvements, primarily roads
• Brought Christianity
• Ruled for 300 years, until barbarian invasions of
  Italy forced Roman troops home to defend homeland
• Departed Britain by 407 A.D.

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Anglo-Saxon Invasion

• 449 A.D. The end of Celtic possession of Britain
• Angles, Saxons, Jutes arrive separately from
  areas around present day Denmark
• Celts are pushed West into Wales, North to
  Scotland, off the island into Ireland
• Legend has Arthur as the last great Celtic king
  defending against the Anglo-Saxons c. 475-515 A.D.

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Anglo-Saxon Language

• Angles, Saxons, other invading groups meld
  together into cooperative neighboring kingdoms
  with much social exchange, including marriage,
  etc.
• Languages meld over time into one Anglo-Saxon
  language today called Old English (Angl-ish).

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Old English

• Written form made up of ancient symbols called
  Runes, not Greek Alphabet of today.

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Runes
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Vikings

• Other groups of Vikings (warriors) from
  northern Europe arrive after development of
  Anglo-Saxon culture c.700
• Norsemen (Norway) settled in Northern England,
  Scotland, Wales, Ireland
• Danes (Denmark) settled in Southern Eastern
  England, region known asDanelaw
• Both groups languages affect Anglo-Saxon

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Alfred the Great

• At the height of Anglo-Saxon culture, Alfred
  brings peaceful coexistence among Anglo-Saxons,
  Norse, and Danes
• Promotes Anglo-Saxon language by translating
  literature from Latin and by keeping the
  Anglo-Saxon Chronicle the principal historic
  account of his people

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Anglo-Saxon Poetry

• Most Anglo-Saxon literature before Alfred,
  including Beowulf, comes from the oral
  tradition
• Person responsible for memorizing and carrying on
  the traditional epic verse from generation to
  generation is the scop
• Scops have a crucial role in preserving the
  culture through preserving the stories that
  transmit cultural identity

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Anglo-Saxon Alliterative Verse

• Each line of verse is in two parts
• Line is divided by a mid-line pause called
  caesura
• Each half line has two beats
• No rhyming, but line halves are often connected
  by a shared alliteration
• Kennings - use of compound metaphors, such as
  whale-road for sea

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Norman Invasion 1066 A.D.

• 1066 A.D. William the Conqueror of Normandy
  (Northern France) invades Harold, the last
  Anglo-Saxon king, at the Battle of Hastings
• The birth of Middle English
• Normans are French, and although the language of
  the people of England remains Anglo-Saxon, the
  new language of law and government becomes French
  overnight
• By 1400 A.D., English has absorbed so much
  French, it begins to look like English we can
  recognize

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Old English

• Manuscript page from Beowulf

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Middle English

• C.1400 A.D. Chaucers Canterbury Tales
• Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote
  The droghte of March hath perced to the roote

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