Old English History

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Old English History

• 449 to 1066

Anglo-Saxon Period or The Dark Ages
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Inhabitants include

•  
• Iberians
•  
• Celts
•  
•  
• Romans
•  

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Germanic Tribes (Jutes, Angles, Saxons)

• 449 AD to 1066
• settled in Kent
• brought with them
• 1) heroic ideals and set of traditional
  heroes
• 2) Old English Language
• 3) literature melancholy, stern, dangers

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King Alfred the Great of Wessox

• 1) 849-899 / reigned 871-899
• 2) was able to unite the three tribes and push
  Danish invaders (Vikings) to the N.E. part of
  England
• 3) rebuilt his kingdom restored England to a
  learning, leading facility and reestablished
  just law
• 4) Greatly influenced OE Literature
• (see more in OE Literature)

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• Germanic tribes of England lived peacefully for
  two hundred years (850-1066)

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Meanwhile . . .

• Christianity came to England, again
• 2nd or 3rd c. (314 AD)
• from the North (Celtic Christianity of Ireland,
  known as the center of Christ)
• from the South (St. Augustine and monks landed in
  KentCanterbury St. Augustine was the first
  Archbishop of Canterbury)
• wrote in Latin
• wrote about scripture and theology
• set up monasteries (Northumbria),which became
  important learning centers
• monks spent their days copying manuscripts in
  cloistered settings
• Caedmon1st English religious poet

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Two Great Men of the Church

• St. Augustine, Archbishop of Canterbury

• Caedmons prayer invites us to Cradle a sense of
  wonder in every person

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Bede the Venerable

• 1) most outstanding writer
• 2) wrote about Caedmon
• 3) prolific writer
• 4) foremost scholar of his time
• 5) regarded as the greatest ecclesiastical
  authority until Reformation
• 6) Father of English History
• 7) Wrote The Ecclesiastical History of the
  English Church and People
• 8) began translating Gospel of St. John into
  Latin
• 9) lived 673-735
• 10) Regarded as a prodigy (in later times may
  have been considered a Renaissance Man

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And then came the . . .

• Vikings (Danes), meanest and most hated

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and finally, the Normans

• Edward the Confessor Dies, (1-5-1066) leaving no
  heirs and a three-way rivalry for the crown
• Harold Godwinson, advisor to Edward, very
  powerful in England, brothers-in-law
• William, Duke of Normandy, distant cousin to
  Edward, swore he received word of his succession
  by Harold, himself claimed to have the Churchs
  support
• Harald Hardrada of Norway claims extended
  beyond Edwards ownership of throne

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William was the Conqueror

• Harold had assumed the throne, but William
  invaded and won in what is known as The Battle of
  Hastings

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Battle of Hastings

• Norman Conquest (1066), lead by William the
  Conqueror of France, marked the end of the
  Anglo-Saxon (Old English) time period

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End of Anglo Saxon/Old English Period

• "King Harold is killed". Scene from the Bayeux
  Tapestry depicting the Battle of Hastings. Harold
  grasps the arrow lodged in his eye.

• William the Conqueror,
• Duke of Normandy

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Bayeux Tapestry

• 230 feet long
• Contains 50 scenes leading up to the Battle of
  Hastings
• Embroidered on linen with colored woolen yarn
• commissioned in the 1070s
• currently displayed in Bayeux, Normandy, France

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At this time, look at the map of the Roman
Invasion and the charts of the Indo-European
Languages and the Germanic Tribes
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A-S Levels of Society Earldorman
--nobility -- king Thane --wealthy but
owed allegiance to King Geneat --(means
companion) owed land and allegiance to
earl, thane, king Peasants --owed rents
or services to those who owned land farmed
Theows and Thralls --(serfs and slaves)
prisoners of war performed menial
tasks on the land or in homes of
upper class
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OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE

•  
• Characteristics
• melancholy
• stern
• haunted by sea and dangers
• shortness of life
• eager to depict and praise acts of heroism
• heroic traditions and exploits
• elegiac traditions
• fatalismdominant mood
• old pagan heroic tradition was later mixed with
  Christianity
• Little literature available

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Caedmon and Bede contributors of Old English
Literature (Bede, below)

• Caedmonfirst English religious poet
• Bede (673-735)most outstanding writer
• 1) wrote about the life of Caedmon in The
  History of the English Church and People
• 2) sang it, as most lyrics were
• 3) began translating Gospel of John into Latin
• 4) child prodigy
• 5) wrote 40 books, considered the last word on
  their subjects for centuries (saints, grammars,
  biblical, commentaries, literary criticism,
  scientific treatises)
• 6) without him we would know little about
  English History up to the Norman Conquest

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Anglo Saxon Poetry

• poetry was memorized and recited by scops
• not written down, thus not read
• riddles, caesuras, kennings, alliteration,
  repetition, variation, simple, but full of
  imagery
• few surviving pieces (Exeter Books, Beowulf,
  among few)

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Anglo Saxon Riddle
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Beowulf

• 1) name means bear
• 2) Beowulf was an actual Swedish warrior
  in early 6th c.
• 3) poem refers to historical events that date
  as early as 516 520
• 4) composed around 700 AD (Bedes
  day)
• 5) 3,182 lines long
• 6) anonymous author / recited, not read
• 7) written in Old English around 1000 AD
• 8) oldest surviving in any modern European
  Language

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9) Epic poem

• long story on a serious theme, narrating the
  adventures of a hero
• one central heroic character
• set in distant past
• mood is noble, religious, dignified, and sublime
• includes formal, genealogical introductions
• warrior heroes, perilous journeys, monsters,
  eternal struggle of good versus evil

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10) Scandinavian setting 11)
offers glimpses of Scandinavian feuds between the
Geats and Swedes, Frisians and Danes, but
mostly reflects English life as was in 7th c.
12) monster-battles 13) story is an
allegory initiation into adulthood
testing ones courage as an adult honorable
conquest by ones death 14) told with
concreteness, adventure, detail, and sympathy
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15) Beowulf embodies the characteristics of an
epic hero

• embodies outstanding chars of race
• involved in a struggle against opposing forces of
  nature
• represents his people through good deeds, linked
  together in a narrative
• represents a heroic ideal
• honesty, integrity, courage, loyalty
• sadness, fear
• symbolic role as a fighter of monsters

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Alfred the Great (849-899) / aka King Alfred

• As a Literary Figure . . .

• continued the translation of the Gospel of
  St. John into Latin (began by Bedesee below)
• 2) produced great booksset of translations
  Europes classics such as Bedes English History
  and Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
• 3) considered the Father of English Prose
• 4) helped to bring respect for the English
  Language to England
• 5) Responsible for starting the first public
  schools
• 6) All of this while he was nearly
  single-handedly saving the Germanic Tribes from
  Danish invasion!!! (see notes on OE History)