Title: Old English History
1Old English History
Anglo-Saxon Period or The Dark Ages
2Inhabitants include
3Germanic Tribes (Jutes, Angles, Saxons)
- 449 AD to 1066
- settled in Kent
- brought with them
- 1) heroic ideals and set of traditional
heroes - 2) Old English Language
- 3) literature melancholy, stern, dangers
4King Alfred the Great of Wessox
- 1) 849-899 / reigned 871-899
- 2) was able to unite the three tribes and push
Danish invaders (Vikings) to the N.E. part of
England - 3) rebuilt his kingdom restored England to a
learning, leading facility and reestablished
just law - 4) Greatly influenced OE Literature
- (see more in OE Literature)
-
5- Germanic tribes of England lived peacefully for
two hundred years (850-1066)
6Meanwhile . . .
- Christianity came to England, again
- 2nd or 3rd c. (314 AD)
- from the North (Celtic Christianity of Ireland,
known as the center of Christ) - from the South (St. Augustine and monks landed in
KentCanterbury St. Augustine was the first
Archbishop of Canterbury) - wrote in Latin
- wrote about scripture and theology
- set up monasteries (Northumbria),which became
important learning centers - monks spent their days copying manuscripts in
cloistered settings - Caedmon1st English religious poet
7Two Great Men of the Church
- St. Augustine, Archbishop of Canterbury
- Caedmons prayer invites us to Cradle a sense of
wonder in every person
8Bede the Venerable
- 1) most outstanding writer
- 2) wrote about Caedmon
- 3) prolific writer
- 4) foremost scholar of his time
- 5) regarded as the greatest ecclesiastical
authority until Reformation - 6) Father of English History
- 7) Wrote The Ecclesiastical History of the
English Church and People - 8) began translating Gospel of St. John into
Latin - 9) lived 673-735
- 10) Regarded as a prodigy (in later times may
have been considered a Renaissance Man
9And then came the . . .
- Vikings (Danes), meanest and most hated
10and finally, the Normans
- Edward the Confessor Dies, (1-5-1066) leaving no
heirs and a three-way rivalry for the crown - Harold Godwinson, advisor to Edward, very
powerful in England, brothers-in-law - William, Duke of Normandy, distant cousin to
Edward, swore he received word of his succession
by Harold, himself claimed to have the Churchs
support - Harald Hardrada of Norway claims extended
beyond Edwards ownership of throne
11William was the Conqueror
- Harold had assumed the throne, but William
invaded and won in what is known as The Battle of
Hastings
12Battle of Hastings
- Norman Conquest (1066), lead by William the
Conqueror of France, marked the end of the
Anglo-Saxon (Old English) time period
13End of Anglo Saxon/Old English Period
- "King Harold is killed". Scene from the Bayeux
Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings. Harold
grasps the arrow lodged in his eye.
- William the Conqueror,
- Duke of Normandy
14Bayeux Tapestry
- 230 feet long
- Contains 50 scenes leading up to the Battle of
Hastings - Embroidered on linen with colored woolen yarn
- commissioned in the 1070s
- currently displayed in Bayeux, Normandy, France
15At this time, look at the map of the Roman
Invasion and the charts of the Indo-European
Languages and the Germanic Tribes
16 A-S Levels of Society Earldorman
--nobility -- king Thane --wealthy but
owed allegiance to King Geneat --(means
companion) owed land and allegiance to
earl, thane, king Peasants --owed rents
or services to those who owned land farmed
Theows and Thralls --(serfs and slaves)
prisoners of war performed menial
tasks on the land or in homes of
upper class
17OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE
-
- Characteristics
- melancholy
- stern
- haunted by sea and dangers
- shortness of life
- eager to depict and praise acts of heroism
- heroic traditions and exploits
- elegiac traditions
- fatalismdominant mood
- old pagan heroic tradition was later mixed with
Christianity - Little literature available
18Caedmon and Bede contributors of Old English
Literature (Bede, below)
- Caedmonfirst English religious poet
- Bede (673-735)most outstanding writer
- 1) wrote about the life of Caedmon in The
History of the English Church and People - 2) sang it, as most lyrics were
- 3) began translating Gospel of John into Latin
- 4) child prodigy
- 5) wrote 40 books, considered the last word on
their subjects for centuries (saints, grammars,
biblical, commentaries, literary criticism,
scientific treatises) - 6) without him we would know little about
English History up to the Norman Conquest
19Anglo Saxon Poetry
- poetry was memorized and recited by scops
- not written down, thus not read
- riddles, caesuras, kennings, alliteration,
repetition, variation, simple, but full of
imagery - few surviving pieces (Exeter Books, Beowulf,
among few)
20Anglo Saxon Riddle
21Beowulf
- 1) name means bear
- 2) Beowulf was an actual Swedish warrior
in early 6th c. - 3) poem refers to historical events that date
as early as 516 520 - 4) composed around 700 AD (Bedes
day) - 5) 3,182 lines long
- 6) anonymous author / recited, not read
- 7) written in Old English around 1000 AD
- 8) oldest surviving in any modern European
Language
229) Epic poem
- long story on a serious theme, narrating the
adventures of a hero - one central heroic character
- set in distant past
- mood is noble, religious, dignified, and sublime
- includes formal, genealogical introductions
- warrior heroes, perilous journeys, monsters,
eternal struggle of good versus evil
23 10) Scandinavian setting 11)
offers glimpses of Scandinavian feuds between the
Geats and Swedes, Frisians and Danes, but
mostly reflects English life as was in 7th c.
12) monster-battles 13) story is an
allegory initiation into adulthood
testing ones courage as an adult honorable
conquest by ones death 14) told with
concreteness, adventure, detail, and sympathy
2415) Beowulf embodies the characteristics of an
epic hero
- embodies outstanding chars of race
- involved in a struggle against opposing forces of
nature - represents his people through good deeds, linked
together in a narrative - represents a heroic ideal
- honesty, integrity, courage, loyalty
- sadness, fear
- symbolic role as a fighter of monsters
25Alfred the Great (849-899) / aka King Alfred
- As a Literary Figure . . .
- continued the translation of the Gospel of
St. John into Latin (began by Bedesee below) -
- 2) produced great booksset of translations
Europes classics such as Bedes English History
and Anglo-Saxon Chronicles -
- 3) considered the Father of English Prose
-
- 4) helped to bring respect for the English
Language to England - 5) Responsible for starting the first public
schools -
- 6) All of this while he was nearly
single-handedly saving the Germanic Tribes from
Danish invasion!!! (see notes on OE History)