Old English /Anglo-Saxon period

Years: 449-1066

Content

Strong belief in fate Juxtaposition of church and pagan

worlds Admiration of heroic warriors who

prevail in battle Express religious faith and give moral

instruction through literature

Style/genres

Oral tradition of literature Poetry dominant genre Unique verse form

Caesura Alliteration Repetition 4 beat rhythm

Effect:

Christianity helps literacy to spread Introduces Roman alphabet to Britain Oral tradition helps unite diverse

peoples and their myths

Historical context:

Live centered around ancestral tribes or clans that ruled themselves

At first the people were warriors from invading outlying areas; Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Danes

Later they were agricultural

Key Literature/Authors:

Beowulf Bede

Beowulf (epic poetry)

Long Narrative Larger than life hero Embodies values of the Anglo/Saxon

society Includes elements of myth, legend,

folklore, & history Has a serious tone

Uses more formal, almost grand language

Beowulf (epic poetry) Alliteration Irony Elegy: mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a

funeral song or a lament for the dead.  Epic Personification Foreboding or foreshadowing Heroic code  Symbolism Gleeman: an old English performer Scop: an old English poet Kenning: metaphorical compound noun ex. Body = bone-frame

Beowulf: alliteration

Alliteration was widely used in the Germanic epic and in Middle English poetry before end rhyme gradually took its place. Here’s an older translation of the beginning:

Beowulf: alliteration Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kings

of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,awing the earls. Since erst he layfriendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,till before him the folk, both far and near,who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,gave him gifts: a good king he!

Beowulf: cultural characteristics• Bravery in battle • Bards or poets were used to elevate heroes of the tribes 

and were usually as important as the warrior themselves• Faith in God to intervene positively with fate • Influence of old pagan religion • Warfare was the order of the day • Amassing a fortune in battle • Reverence for womanhood—precursor to chivalry—is

expected • Openhanded hospitality is the order of the day • Truth is highly cherished virtue • Great love for personal freedom

Beowulf: heroic code The invading Anglo-Saxon tribes were dominated by

codes and customs which included a warrior class that was ruled by a tribal chieftain a body of personal retainers, or warriors, bound to the

chieftain by kinship the custom of gift-giving a personal code of honor which included the concept of

blood vengeance.  This code demanded that a warrior must either kill another person who injured or killed a kinsman or get compensation money for the injury or death           

a warrior must defend his lord to the death