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THE ANGLO-SAXONSHISTORY AND LITERATURE

1ANGLO-SAXON INVASION HISTORY

The Anglo-Saxon Era:Timeline 43CE Romans invade Britain. Encountered the Celts. Romans build roads, villas, huge buildings, and forts. Introduced Christianity. 420CE Romans leave.

2Timeline Continued450CE Jutes from Denmark, and the Angles and Saxons from Northern Germany invade England. Germanic tribes. Anglo-Saxons push out Celts

3ANGLO SAXON SOCIETY

Lived in tribal groups with a high Class of warriors. Kings emerged as society developed.They were tall, fair headed men armed with swords, spears and round shields.The Anglo-Saxons were warrior-farmers

4OCCUPATION AND ROLE OF WOMEN.The wife of an earl or thane supervised weaving and dyeing of clothes, the slaughter of livestock, the making of bread, beekeeping, and the brewing of mead (fermented honey). They would work alongside men in the fieldsWomen inherited and held property. Married women retained control over their property

5OCCUPATIONS OF MEN

The Anglo-Saxons were mostly the farmer warriors.Other skills included hunting, textile production and leather working.6CHARACTERISTICS OF ANGLO-SAXON MEN.Hard fighters and bold sea warriors Admired physical strength, bravery, loyalty, fairness, and honesty Great love of personal freedomBoastful, reckless, cruel, and bloodthirsty Enjoyed conflict, swimming matches, horse races, banqueting, drinking mead, singing songs, and storytellingAlso flyting, a conflict of wits between two warriors where each praises his own deeds and belittles the others

7RELIGIONANGLO-SAXONS were basically pagans but after the arrival of Roman missionary St Augustine they were converted into Christians.

8LANGUAGESpoke Old English. This was the language that Beowulf was written in.

9ANGLO-SAXON LITERATUREAnglo-Saxon literature began as an oral tradition. Stories, poems and songs were all told aloud and passed from generation to generation orally through minstrels (also called scopes).Anglo-Saxon literature, the literary writings in Old English was composed between c.650 and c.1100.

10DEVELOPMENT INANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE

ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF WESSEX (849-99)Defeated Vikings at battle of Edington in 878 AD.Decided that literature must be in written form and in English language 9not in Latin).Translated books himself (Boethius's Consolation of Philosophy, Gregory's Pastoral Care, Augustine's Soliloquies, Psalms)Ordered to write Anglo-Saxon timeline named Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

11FORMS OF LITERATUREAnglo-Saxons had two types of literatureprosePoetry

12PROSEProse is an unstructured form of language, closely connected with rhythms of everyday speechProse was written in Latin before the reign of king Alfred.After king Alfred was written in English language.Literary prose started developing from the 9th century.13FAMOUS PROSE WRITERS

KING Alfred the greatAelfricwulfstan14FAMOUS PROSE WORK Anglo-Saxon chronicleCatholic HomiliesSt Augustine's Soliloquia (translated in English)

15Anglo-Saxon chronicle

Original MANUSCRIPT of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in WESSEX during the reign of Alfred the great.It is a collection of historic events in Anglo-Saxon period.Writer is still unknown16Catholic HomiliesAelfric wrote Catholic Homilies.Its a collection of sermons in vernacular. 17St Augustine's SoliloquiaIt was translated by king Alfred.Philosophic workWriter recalled all his good work as writer and educator in it.18TYPES OF POETRYThere were two types of poetry:-Germanic poetryChristian poetry19Genres for heroic German poetry

Heroic PoetryEleagic PoetryClassical and Latin poetryRiddles

20Genres for Christian poetrySaints livesBiblical paraphrasesOriginal Christian poems

21THE MOST FAMOUS WORK IN POETRY-BEOWULF AND WIDSITH

Beowulf is the Most famous of early Germanic poems Written anywhere between 400- 1000, but most likely after the 500s.The author of BEOWULF is unknown, but likely to be Christian.It is likely that a few different authors elaborated on the tale.Widsith is older than Beowulf.22BEOWULF

The epic poem Beowulf strengthens the Heroic Code. This code was derived from the Anglo-Saxons Germanic roots, and called for strength, courage, and loyalty in warriors. It also required kings to be hospitable, generous, and have great political skills. This code was a basis for Anglo-Saxon honor.23WIDSITHA poem of 144 lines.Considered as a rare and valuable record of lost heroic songs.It is thought to be older than Beowulf.It is an autobiography of an interment minstrel who recounts the story of his long travels through Germanic world.

24DEVICES OF ANGLO-SAXON LITERATUREAnglo-Saxon literature used several devices including:-MataphorsSimilesCaesuraKenningRepetition25CHARACTERISTICS OF ANGLO-SAXON LITERATUREThe main characteristics of Anglo-Saxon literature were:-Stories were often filled with violence and gore.Most stories were about heroic warriors prevailing in battleCharacters were driven by fate and their courage was tested.26CONCLUSIONAnglo-Saxon literature laid the basis of modern literature and English language.27 THE END28COMPILED AND ARRANGED BYHIRA ZAINAB29RESEARCH BY:-IRUM NOROWZTEHREEMAMINA MUJAHIDAMINA ANDHIRA ZAINAB30