THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD (410-1066)
Other name: THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
*first time we have English literature-
CONTINENTAL ORIGIN- poems were
composed on the continent.
-“BEOWULF”
*the best known English poem,
*the story is about great hero Beowulf, who
sailed the Baltic sea from Geatland to Zeland,
to help king Hrothgar(the king of Danes)
fight with monster Grendel. He killed monster
and got reward by king. Grendel- eats flesh,
savage, demon- has super natural powers-
sword couldn't harm him.
Beowulf was wounded in his throat.
* 2 parts: 1st B. Kills G; 2nd B king of geats
he fight with dragon
*the action: takes place in Scandinavia,
not in Britain,
*characters: are not British
^Germanic and Scandinavian tribes brought
the poem up to Britain
*The poems of that period were mostly
composed as songs.
^COLLECTIVE AUTHORSHIP- O.E.P. is
the age of anonymity. There were other songs
prizing Beowulf, which were put together.
Most of them were composed by BARDS/SCOPS.
^in this century we can observe a mix of pagan
and Christian elements
*Beowulf's funeral is pagan, but there is also
Christian addition.
^ the lg in O.E.P was limited with vocab. Many
dialects.
4 MAJOR MANUSCRIPTS :
1.Beowulf manuscript /Cotton M.
2.The Junian M.
3.The Exeter M.
4. The Vercelli M. “The Dream of the Rood”
OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE:
*gloomy
*shows warriors, sailors who fight
*nothing humorous, no love and lovers
*not divided into stanza
*not rhymed
*it's heavily ALLITARATED
*pause- CAESURE- divide verses into 2
(half line- HEMISTICH
*two stresses in each line
*lots of REPPETITIONS
*KENNINGS-> ornaments
1.POETRY: (a)pagan, secular; b)religious,
Christian)
a)POGAN POETRY:
#EPIC POEM- long narrative poem, large
in characters(nobleman not ordinary ppl), events,
settings(not one place), effects(monsters).
It played important to shape national identity .
History is mixed with fantasy.
Primary-oral- “Beowulf”, “Iliad”, “Odyssey”
Secondary-Literary= “Aeneid” -Virgil; “Paradise Lost”
J.Milton
QUASI-HISTORICAL poem= “Widsith”
# ELEGY- a poem of lament or mourning for
the dead, sorrowful mood expressing the feeling of loss.
-“The Seafarer”
*monolog of seafarer who enumerates + and -
of sea or dialog between old, experienced titled
sailor and young man who wanted to go to see
or dialog between titled hero and landsman.
*Hero tells how his life was difficult, how he
suffered by-storms, he claims that life in the sea
is more interesting because it brings you close to GOD.
*similar reflections as “Wonderer” life is transient ,
we should think about God to secure our Salvation ,
we should live modesty- prepare to death.
*the poem ends with a prize of God , “Amen” seems
to be taken from the prayer.
-“The Battle of Maldon”
*poem represent war poetry(describe real battle
between Viking and Saxon settlers).
*setting: estuary of river Panta called Black Water
(Kingdom of Essex- were the Vikings landed and
faced Saxon defenders
*the leader of Saxon, mentioned in the poem is
Byrhtnoth
*the Vikings demands the ransom from Saxons
*Vikings send the messenger to the Saxons to
give a letter which ask for money without fight
*war starts-> little of saxon soldiers alive
~first breath of the spirit of chivary
^riddles=describe normal life with round abou
terms
^charms=belong to folklore, pogan and Christian
elements mixed up
b) RELIGIOUS POETRY:
- “The Caedmon's Hymn”
#HYMN- solemor song of praise it's religious
-addressed to God and can be also patriotic song
-it has only nine lines
-“The Genesis Poem”
*creation of the world
*author unknown
*consist of 2 parts
A earlier
B later
Both parts differs in meter style and vocabulary
Subject: Satan ; Adam and Eve
-“The dream of the Rood”
*religious poem, full of pathos
*man had a dream where he saw a Rood which told it's story.
*described: Jesus crucifixion
*after the dream the poets woke up and says that it made
him a better Christian
2.PROSE
(often IMITATIVE)
^Bede- name of priest “The Venerable”
^King Alfred the Great (the father of English prose)
~was a translator from Latin-> English
*started Anglo-Saxon chronicle
*AELFRIC- he wrote mostly homilies
-“A Colloquy on the Occupation”
THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD (410-1066)
THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
-“BEOWULF”
EPIC POEM
ELEGY
-“The Seafarer”
-“The Battle of Maldon”
HYMN
-“The dream of the Rood”