early british literature the celts and the anglo-saxons
TRANSCRIPT
Early British Literature
The Celts and the Anglo-Saxons
Celtic Literature
Irish Literatureð Ireland has the oldest
vernacular tradition of literature in Europe with written texts dating from the 6th c.
ð Old Irish: before 900ð Middle Irish: 900-
1350ð Late Middle/Early
Modern Irish: 1350-1650
ð Modern Irish and Scots: 1650-present
Brian Boru Harp
Old Irish Literature
ð The oldest writings are poems written in the margins of 6th c. continental manuscripts: short lyrics on religious or nature themes.
ð The early literature has survived in Middle and Late Middle Irish manuscripts: miscellaneous collections of prose and verse containing legend, history, bardic and lyric poetry, and medical, legal, and religious texts from several periods
The Scribe8th-9th c
A hedge of trees surrounds me.A blackbird’s lay sings to me.Above my lined bookletThe trilling birds chant to me.
In a grey mantle from the top of bushesThe cuckoo sings.Verily—may the Lord shield me!—Well do I write under the greenwood.
Major Irish Medieval MSS.
ð The Book of the Dun Cow (before 1106): contains tales of the Ulster Cycle and Fenian legends
ð The Book of Leinster (before 1160): contains heroic legends
ð The Yellow Book of Lecan, The Great Book of Lecan,The Lebor Brecc, and the Book of Lismore (late 14th or early 15th c.)
ð The Royal Irish Academy alone has more than 1300 mss. – mostly religious, historical and legal treatises
Leabhar na hUidre [Book of the Dun Cow], p.73
Tain Bo Cuailinge: The Cattle Raid of Cooley from The Book of the Dun Cow
Filí (Old Irish); File (Mod. Irish)ð The filí (filíd pl.) in the earliest times combined the functions of
magician, lawgiver, judge, counselor to the chief, and poet. ð Later, but still at a very early time, the offices seem to have been
divided:Brehons devoted themselves to the study of law, and the
giving of legal decisions Druids claimed the supernatural functions, and priestly
offices Filíd were principally poets and philosophers
ð The division seems to have already existed in Ireland at the time of St Patrick, who was in constant opposition with the druids.
ð Filíd underwent years of training to compose in verse the laws, genealogies, legends and traditions.
Bardsð In Old Irish culture, the bards were the performers of the
filíd’s poemsð They were record keepers and lineage holders, for the
bards could determine a king's legitimacy. ð To satirize a king was to declare his access to the throne
suspect. ð The role of the bard was historian and social
commentator. They glorified heroes while insulting cowards and villains.
ð They were both the newspaper and the opinion page.
MACSWEENEY DINES AS BARD RECITES: "The work of the file or poet was recited to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument,. . . .The reacaire or reciter [bard] was a subordinate employee of the composer, who sat by the chieftain (his patron) enjoying his own composition." Declan Kiberd, "Irish Literature and Irish History, " in The Oxford Illustrated History of Irieland, ed. R. F. Foster (1989)
Welsh Literature
ð The earliest Welsh manuscripts date from the 12th c., but the earliest poetry comes from the 6th c.
ð Before 1100: Y Cynfeirdd ("The earliest poets") or Yr Hengerdd ("The old poetry")
ð The core tradition was praise poetry -- patronage from kings and nobles.
ð The other aspect of the tradition was the professionalism of the poets sustained by the Order of Bards, with a 'rule book' emphasizing the making of poetry as a craft.
ð Poets undertook an apprenticeship of nine years to become fully qualified.
Welsh Poetsð Nennius’ Historia Britonum list
poets active during the reign of King Ida (547-59):"At that time, Talhaiarn Tataguen was famed for poetry, and Neirin [Aneirin], and Taliesin, and Bluchbard, and Cian, who is called Guenith Guaut, were all famous at the same time in British [that is Brythonic, or, Welsh] poetry."
ð Poems by Taliesin and Aneirin are believed to have survived in the Book of Taliesin and Y Gododdin, Aneirin’s epic of a battle between the Celts and the Saxons.
RomanBritain
1st-5th c.
5th Century: Celtic Disarray
408: Devastating attacks by Picts, Scots and Saxons led Britain to declare “independence” from Rome in 410.
440-450: Civil war and famine in Britain. Country divided along factional lines
445: Vortigen authorized use of Saxon mercenaries against Scots and Picts
450: adventus Saxonum: Hengest arrived with 3 ships of warriors. Saxons increased settlements.
Anglo-Saxon Literature
The Kingdoms of Anglo-
Saxon England
England as a Nationð Bede may have been the first writer to articulate
the idea of the English as one people in 732 in his History of the English Church and People.
ð Viking Invasionsð Destroyed kingdoms of Northumbria and East
Angles in the 860s
ð Wessex emerged as the power that defeated the Vikings under Alfred the Great
ð 878: Alfred defeated the Vikings at Edington
ð At his death in 899, Alfred was the most powerful regional king in England
House of Wessex
Wessex: West Saxons
Alfred the Great, his son Edward and wife Ealhswith at the Witan -- Assembly of the
Wise
Wessex Dynasty
ð Edward the Elder (r. 899-924) succeeded his father Alfred and conquered the Midlands and East Anglia.
ð His son, Athelstan (r. 924-40), brought the Scots, the Welsh, the Cumbrians and the Cornish under English rule by 928: he became King of all England and “Emperor of the World of Britain.”
Tomb of King Athlestan in Malmesbury Abbey
E or A = Æ
Canute of Denmark 1016-1035
Harthacanute Harold I 1040-42 1036-40
Ælgifu
Alfred1035-36
Coin from King Edgar’s reign
House of Wessex
Genres: Prose
ð Sermons: most popular of prose genresð Translations of Latin religious works and
Biblical worksð Saints’ Livesð Legal texts: wills, records, deeds, laws, etc.ð Scientific and Medical textsð Chronicles: historical writing: Anglo Saxon
Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
ð Collection of annals (yearly history) narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxon settlement in Britain.
ð First continuous history written by Europeans in their own language.
ð Probably begun during the reign of King Alfred in the 9th c.
ð After completion of the original chronicle, copies were sent to monasteries and updated yearly.
ð Nine surviving MSS.
The initial page of the Peterborough Chronicle
Known A-S Prose Writersð King Alfred (849-99): translated a
variety of Latin works such as Gregory’s Pastoral Care, Augustine’s Soliloquies and Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy.
ð Aelfric, abbot of Eynsham (955-1020?): known as Grammaticus: greatest writer of A-S sermons, saints’ lives and Biblical glosses and translations.
ð Wulfstan II, archbishop of York (10th c.): author of highly stylistic sermons and clerical legal texts.
Alfred the Great
Genres: Poetryð Thula: alliterative lists of names or tribesð Gnomic verse: proverbs, traditional wisdomð Spells: invoke natural and supernatural powersð Riddles: what am I?ð Religious poetry: retellings of Old Testament stories, saints’ lives,
“Dream of the Rood”ð Adaptations of classical philosophical texts: e.g. Boethius’ Consolation
of Philosophyð Wisdom poetry: lyrical, meditative, elegiac – “The Wanderer,” “The
Wife’s Lament,” etc.ð Heroic court poetry: celebration of historical events related by scops:
Beowulf, etc.
Manuscripts with Anglo-Saxon Poetryð Exeter Book: Codex Exoniensis – 10th c. ms.
ð Largest existing collection of Old English poetryð Donated to the library of the Exeter Cathedral by
Leofric, the first bishop of Exeterð Contains “The Wanderer,” “The Seafarer,” “The
Wife’s Lament,” “Widsith,” “The Ruin,” “Deor,” etc.
ð Junius MS. – begun c. 1000 ceð Anthology of religious poetry: Genesis, Exodus,
Daniel, Christ and Satanð Illustrated: only about one-third of illustrations
completedð Bodleian Library, Oxford University
Junius MS: Angel Guarding the Gates of Paradise
Manuscripts with Anglo-Saxon Poetryð Vercelli Book – 10th c. ms.
ð Cathedral Library, Vercelli, Italyð Contains 23 sermons, a life of St. Guthlac and six poems
including “The Dream of the Rood”
ð Nowell Codex: Cotton Vitellius A xv – late 10th-12th c. mss.ð British Library’s Cotton Collectionð Composite of two mss. Bound together in the 17th c. –
damaged in an 18th c. fire in the Cotton Library ð 1st Codex (12th c): Old English prose: Alfred's translation
of Augustine's Soliloquies, the Gospel of Nicodemus, “Solomon and Saturn”, and a fragment of a life of Saint Quentin.
ð 2nd Codex (10th c): Beowulf, Judith and 3 prose works
First page of Beowulf from
the Cotton Vitellius MS.
Beowulf Prologue
Poetry
Thulað Alliterative lists of
names and tribesð Oral mnemonic deviceð Found extensively in
Widsithð Technique also found
in Old Testament
Gnomic Verseð Proverbs, traditional
wisdomð Hit becwæÞ – It is said“As the sea is smooth
when storms are at rest, So people are quiet when peace is proclaimed.” (Exeter Book)
Riddles
I war with the wind, with the waves I wrestle; I must battle with both when the bottom I seek, My strange habitation by surges o’er-roofed. I am strong in the strife, while still I remain; As soon as I stir, they are stronger than I. They wrench and they wrest, till I run from my foes; What was put in my keeping they carry away. If my back be not broken, I baffle them still. The rocks are my helpers, when hard I am pressed; Grimly I grip them. Guess what I’m called.
The Anchor
The Exeter Book
Spells and CharmsCharm for a Swarm of Bees
Take earth with your right hand and throw it under your right foot, saying: I've got it, I've found it:Lo, earth masters all creatures, it masters evil, it masters deceit, it masters humanity's greedy tongue.
Throw light soil over them [the bees] as they swarm, saying: Sit, wise women, settle on earth: never in fear fly to the woods. Please be mindful of my welfare as all men are of food and land.
Trans. Karl Young
Known A-S Poetsð Cædmon: herdsman attached to the
Whitby monastery during the abbacy of St. Hilda (657–681). Author of “Hymn,” oldest A-S poem
ð The Venerable Bede (c. 672-735): Benedictine monk at Jarrow; author of the Historia Ecclesiastica: The History of the Church of England and “Bede’s Death Song”
ð Cynewulf (fl. ca. 750): author of four poems, Christian narratives, Elene, Christ II, Juliana and The Fates of the Apostles.
ð King Alfred (849-99)
Depiction of Cædmon carved on a stone memorial cross on the grounds of St Mary's Church in Whitby
Bede’s “Death Song”
Facing that enforced journey, no man can beMore prudent than he has good call to be,If he consider, before his going hence,What for his spirit of good hap or of evilAfter his day of death shall be determined.
Fore ðæm nedfere nænig wiorðeðonc snottora ðon him ðearf siæto ymbhycgenne ær his hiniongehwæt his gastæ godes oððe yflesæfter deað dæge doemed wiorðe.
Beda Venerabilis from an medieval manuscript
Anglo-Saxon Poetic Conventionsð Elegiac mood: the transitoriness of life
ð Ubi sunt: Where are they??? ð Heroic mode: active, loyal to kinship group, boastfulð The inevitability of Wyrd: fateð Figures of speech
ð Kennings: two words as metaphor for one: hron-rāde whale-road – sea; hord-cofan word-hoard – mind, thoughts
ð Litotes: ironic understatement -- "That [sword] was not useless / to the warrior now." (Beowulf)
ð Variation: parallel appositive phrases – see “Cædmon’s Hymn”ð Alliterative verse: alliteration is used as the principal device
to unify lines of poetry
Beowulf Prologue: Alliteration
Wisdom Poetryð Lyrical: expressions of feelings, meditations on
lifeð Emphasis on transitoriness of fame, glory, kinship,
life itself: ubi sunt themeð Boethian in exploration of fickle fortune
Boethius: author of The Consolation of Philosophyð Most found in Exeter Book: “The Ruin,” “The
Wanderer,” “The Seafarer,” “The Wife’s Lament,” “The Husband’s Message”
ð King Alfred: author of “Lays of Boethius”
Heroic Court Poetryð Narrative oral compositions handed down from
generation to generationð Interactive: warriors in the audience were given their
turns to boast: to proclaim their self-worth in a stylized solo declamation, which all recognized as a beot or gilph (boast).
ð Celebrations or commemorations of cultural heroes and historic events
ð Sung at court feasts which also included mead drinking, gift giving, harp playing and displaying of trophies
Anglo-Saxon Heroic Poems
ð Beowulf (c. 700-1000)ð Fragments: The Fight at Finnsburh and
Waldere ð The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains various
heroic poems inserted throughout. ð 937: The Battle of Brunanburh celebrates the victory
of King Athelstan over the Scots and Norse. ð Five shorter poems: Capture of the Five Boroughs
(942); Coronation of King Edgar (973); Death of King Edgar (975); Death of Prince Alfred (1036); and Death of King Edward the Confessor (1065).
The Scop
ð Court singerð Historianð Genealogistð Teacherð Composerð Criticð Warriorð Reporter
“The Anglo-Saxon scop was a professional or semi-professional tribal poet who celebrated cultural values by singing epics on occasions of great ceremony and festivity…. He was a man of repute, the equal of thanes.”
Anglo-Saxon Scops
Artemesia Gentileschi
, Judith Slaying
Holofernes, 1612-13ð Judith as model of psychic
liberation -- female who acts- confrontation of sexes from female point of view
Artemesia Gentilesch
i, Judith and Her
Maidservant
1613-1614
Artemesia
Gentileschi, Judith Slaying
Holofernes, 1620
Artemesia Gentilesch
i, Judith and Her
Maidservant with
the Head of
Holofernes, c. 1625