1
The Ruin

• Week 2
• English III B

2
Who is the author?

• Anonymous
• Only two Old English poets are known by name
• Unlike many other Old English poets, the author
  of The Ruin makes no religious reference

3
Music

• Old English poets have a close link to music
• These three devices helped make the poem sound
  like music
• Caesura- a pause or break in a poetic line
• Alliteration-repetition of a consonant sound or a
  closely associated vowel sound
• Mnemonic Device- aids memorization

4
Old English

• Old English looks foreign to modern speakers
  because its spellings, inflections, vocabulary,
  and syntax are more like Dutch and German than
  Modern English
• The 100 most frequently used English words come
  from Old English

5
When did The Ruin appear?

• The Ruin was produced on a manuscript in the
  10th century

6
Wyrd

• The word "wyrd" occurs frequently in Old English
  and is one of the most important concepts in the
  Anglo-Saxon period. Translated as "fate," "wyrd"
  does not refer to a cosmic power that decrees the
  fall of a particular individual. For
  Anglo-Saxons, "wyrd" meant simply those events
  that are beyond human control yet have a profound
  impact on human destiny.