HI

I
STORI
CALBACKGROUNDOFENGLI
SHPERI
OD
TheOl dEn gli
shp eriodext endsf rom450ADt o1100AD. Th i
sper i
odi sreferr
edtot he‘home
oftheEn gli
shp eop l
e’con si
stin
goff ourGer man i
ctr i
beswh i
char e:Thej u
tes,Angl
es ,
Celts
andSaxon s. Theset r
ibesinh abi
tedt heIs l
andb ythe7t hcen t
ury. TheCel t
swh ower e
ori
gi
n als
et t
lersont heIslandb ytheJ u
tes ,Angles,andSaxon s, wh ower emor efi
erce,the
Celt
sh avinglostt heirbar b
aricch aracter i
sti
csasar esul
tofcon t
actwi thRomancivil
izati
on.
Ther emainingtribeslatergr oupedan dr egroupedp oli
ti
cal
lytof orms uchk i
ngdomsas
Nort
h umb i
a,Mer ci
a, Eas tAn gli
a,Ken t,Es sex,Sussex, andWes s ex,all
ofwh icharereferred
toasAn glo-Saxon .Th eAn glo-Saxonp eri
odisk nownast hedar kagesmai nlybecause
wri
ttens ourcesf ort heear l
yyear sofSaxoni nvasionares carce.
OldEngl
i
shli
ter
atur
eont h
eot herhan
dconsi
ststhewor
kst
hatwer
ewrit
tendur
ing
t
hisper
iod.
Therewasn opros
edu r
ingthi
speri
odan
dt h
edramath
atwasact
edduri
ngthi
s
p
er i
odwasbasedonrel
igi
on.

FEATURESOFOLDENGLI
SHLI
TERATURE
Duri
ngt hi
sp eri
od,ther eh asbeenot h
eri nvas i
onan dmigrationofdi ff
eren ttri
bes ,
li
ke
theDan ishinvasi
ononEn glan dfromDen mark .Th eseinvasi
onss hap edthel i
teratu r
esdu ri
ng
thi
ser acau si
ngaf ocu sonagen re,poetry,ch aracteri
zedwi t
ht hecel ebrati
onofwar r
ior
s
andadven t
urersan dtheh er oes.Th i
scon tentmak esu pthemaj ors ubj
ectmat teri nmos t
OldEn gli
shpoet r
y.Incelebr ati
ngt heseh eroes ,t
h ewr it
ersofOl dEn gli
shp oetrywer efond
ofp ayingatt
en ti
ont ohowt heseh eroesover camei nsurmountab l
ech all
enges .Th eyalso
celebratedthevi ct
oryofgodoverevi landvi rt
uess u
chasb r
aver y,couragean den durance.
Thiswar ri
or-l
ikeattri
buteisdep i
ctedi nanep icp oem, Beowu l
f,wh enBeowu lfkil
ledGr endel
forterrori
zin
gt heDan esan dalsowh enh ekill
edGr endel
’smoth er.Hisb r
aver ytocon f
ront
thewari son eoft hep r
omi nen tcharacteri
s t
icsofOl dEn gl
i
shp oetry.
Attheen doft h esixthcentury, t
heAn gl
o-Saxon saccep tedCh r
ist
ian i
tyafterPope
Gregor ysen tSai
n tAu gustin
et oBritainin597AD. (TheRoman sh adi nt
rodu cedCh ri
sti
ani
ty
totheCel tscen t
u r
iesear l
ier.)Thi
sgaver i
set os omer eli
giouswr it
ings.However ,Angl
o-
Saxon swer eCh rist
iansb uth adnotb eenforaver ylongt i
me. Priortocon ver ti
ngto
Ch r
isti
ani
ty,theyh adb eenp agans.Th i
scon versi
onf romp agan i
smt oCh r
istiani
tymixedalot
ofelemen ts.ManyAn glo-Saxon ssti
llheldont otheirbeli
efs ,
buts implytri
edt oreconci
l
e
theseb el
iefswithCh r
isti
an i
ty.Thi
ss ameat titudeisap parentinBeowu l
f.Wef r
equentl
ysee
themess u chasf atean df ame, whi
char estrongp aganb eli
efs.Yetami dth es ethemesar e
referencest oGodan dt hep oweroft heLordt otryan dexp l
ainwh ythesecon ceptsare
compat
ibl
ewithaCh ri
sti
anli
fe. Thepoetsdur
ingth
isperi
odmadeu seofbibl
i
calr
efer
ence.
Caedmonwason eoftherel
igiouswrit
ersoftheti
mewh owrotet h
eCaedmonh ymn,the
ni
neli
neall
it
erat
ivevernacularp r
ais
epoemi nhonourofGod.Anotherwri
terdur
ingt
his
peri
od,
Cyn ewul
f,whoset h
emei sthecont
inu
ingevangel
i
calmi
ssionofth
ech ur
ch.
Somepoetrywasalsobas edonhis
tori
calevents.Wi
thah is
toryofin
vasionsand
occupati
ons
,manywr i
ti
ngsofthiseraarechroni
cles,an
dh i
stor
icalr
ecords.Somear ei
n
theformsofpoet
ryanddes cri
bevariou
sb at
tl
es,forexample,"
Th eBattl
eofMal don
".Th
e
themesarewar,conquestandbravery.
Almostallofth elit
eratur
eoft hisperiodwasorall
yt r
an s
mitt
ed,an dalmos tal
l
poemswer eintendedf oror alper
forman ce.Asar esul
tofthis,Angl
o-Saxonpoet rytends
tobeh i
ghl
yrhythmical
,mu chlikeoth
erf ormsofver sethatemer gedfromor altr
aditi
ons.
However,Anglo-Saxonp oetrydoesn otcreaterhythmthroughthetech n
iquesofmet er
andrhyme,derivedfromLat inpoetr
y,t h
atareu ti
l
izedbymos totherWes t
ernEu ropean
l
anguages.I
nstead,An glo-Saxonpoetr ycreatesrhyth
mt hroughau ni
ques ystemof
al
li
ter
ati
on

Migrati
onison eoft hemaj orfeatur
esdu r
ingt heOl dEngli
s hper i
od,duetothef act
th
att heAn glo-Saxon scamef romtheeas t
ernpar tofEu ropetot heIsland,l
aterknownas
England.Th i
smi grationtranspiredwh entheCelti
cl eader,Vorti
ger n,call
edtheJ ut
es,a
German ictribe,fromJ ut
eland, tohelpinfi
ght
ingagai nstthei
ren emy, thePictsandScot s.
TheJ utesagr eedt oh el
pb asedont hep r
omisebyt heCeltstogi vethemani sl
andcall
ed
Thames .However ,
th eGer man ictr
ibesareori
ginall
yn omadan dwar -l
i
k einnatur
e.The
Jut
escamean dcon qu eredthePi ct
san dScots,bu tin
s t
eadoft ak i
ngth ep r
omisedis
land,
th
eyi nvitedt hei
rs i
ster -
tri
bes( Angl
esan dSaxons )an dpursuedt heCel tstotheedgesof
th
ei sl
an dofCor nwall,Wales, Scott
ishHighl
ands.Th eGer man i
ct ri
bescon ti
nuedtomi grat
e
unt
iltheirfi
n alsettl
emen ti
n547AD. However,thi
scon questovert heCel tsbytheGer manic
tr
ibescanb er eferredt oast heAn gl
o-Saxoncon qu est.

WRI
TI
NGSTYLESDURI
NGOLDENGLI
SHPERI
OD
Vi
rt
ual
l
yal
lOl
dEn
gli
shp
oet
ryi
swr
it
teni
nas
ingl
emet
re,
afou
r-s
tres
sli
ne
wi
thasynt
act
ical
break,orcaes
ura,b
etweenthesecondandthi
rdst
res
ses,
andwith
al
l
iter
ati
onli
nki
ngt
hetwoh al
vesoftheli
ne;t
hisp
att
ernisoccasi
onal
l
yvari
edbysi
x-st
res
s
l
in
es .
Th
erear
epoet
icf
igu
rescommon
lyf
oun
dinOl
dEn
gli
shp
oet
ry.
Someoft
hep
oet
ic
devi
cesi
nth
epoemsh
owever
,ar
e:Ken
nin
g,al
l
it
erat
ion
,li
tot
es,
sel
edr
eam,
var
iat
ion
.
KENNI
NG
I
tisap hrasethatdes cri
beson et hi
ngint ermofan ot
h eri.
e,amet ap horicalexpressi
onthat
i
slocat edwi t
hmet ap hori
cmean i
ng.Beowu l
ff r
equentlyu s
esk enni
n gs, makingthemon eof
themos tcharact
er i
sti
ct ypeoff i
gu rat
ivelangu ageinthep oem. Forexamp le,theseais
oftencal l
edthe‘wh aleroad’li
kewi se,i
nt hep oem’sman yviolentscen es,bloodidfrequent
ly
referredt obythek en ni
ng‘battl
e-sweat ’.Therear eot h
erk en ni
ngsi nt hepoeml ike‘wave
ski
mmer ’(shi
p),r
ing-giver’(‘
Hrothgar’,
thek i
n g),‘
hoard-keep er’(
dragon ),etc.kenni
ngsgive
alon gtextli
keBeowu lfas enseofcoh esi
onan dfl
ow. Ken ni
n ghowever , makest h
ingsmore
exciti
ngan dp oet
ic.Th eSeaf arerison eoft heb estexamp lesofk enn i
ngp oems .Here,
“wh al
e-p at
h,”“whale-road,”and“ wh al
e'sacre”r efertot h
eocean . “Breas t
- h
oard”refersto
theh eart.
AngloSaxonli
ter
atu
reu sedmetaphorinthei
rwr i
ti
ngs.Theyusedthi
sasawayt oexp l
ai
n
cert
aincust
omsoft heirl
ifeti
me.Oneexamp lei ntheep i
cpoemofBeowulfi
stheydes cri
be
oneoftheb at
tl
esasa" stor
mofs pears"whichen l
igh
ten st
hereader
softhepoemt hatthei
r
batt
lesdur
ingtheAnglo-Saxonerawer eun p
r edict
abl
e. Usi
ng"
s t
ormofsp
ears"act
sasa
metaphorbecausei
tisar epr
esent
ationofwh atth
es i
tuati
onseemedtobe,n
otwh atit
real
l
ywas .

ALLI
TERATI
ON
I
tisap oeti
cdevicethatsi
mp l
ymean stherepetit
ionoft h
es ames oundatthebeginni
ng
ofwor dsthatarenextt oeachotheroratleastcl
oset ogether.I
nBeowu l
f,al
l
it
erati
onisthe
dominantstyleofthep oemwh i
chen h
ancedt heexperi
en ceoft h
er eader.
Forexamp l
e,
“Herottremb l
ed,wonderful
l
y,bui
lttowit
hstandtheblows ,t
h estr
uggli
nggreatbodi
esb eati
ng
titsbeauti
fulwall
s”.
Itissust
ain
edt hr
oughouttheprogres s
ionofthep oemasitsstru
cture,i
t
predatesmor emoder nend-r
hymesan dalsoincl
udetheu seofcaes ura,whi
chisthepau se
midli
neinap oem.
Th
erearenumerousexampl
esofal
l
it
erati
onscat
ter
edt
hrou
ghou
t'TheSeaf
arer
,'s
uch
as“
Jour
ney'
sjar
gon”inl
in
et woand“
mews ”and“
mead”inl
i
netwent
y-t
wo.
There’salli
ter ati
onallthr oughou tCaedmon ’sHymnan dman ycommont r
en dsass een
i
nBeowu lf.Th efirs t,“
Praisewet heFashi
on ern owofHeaven ’sfab ri
c,
”h asalli
terat
ionto
descri
beGodwh oi sdescribedast hefashi
on erofHeaven ’
sf abri
c. I
nBeowu l
f,h edoesn’t
hesi
tatetop rai
s eGodan dgi vet hankstohim. Thes econ dli
n e,“Themaj estyofh ismight
andhismin d’
swi s dom, ”als
oh ash eavyall
it
erat i
on.I
t’sfu r
therp utti
n gemp hasisont hepower
ofGodan dwh ath e’scapab l
eof .
Th ethi
rdli
n e,“Wor koft hewor l
d- warden,wor kerofall
wonders,
”wes eeak enningf orGod, “worl
d-war den,”wh ichisver yp opu l
arinAn gl
o-Saxon
cul
tureandi sallovert hepoemofBeowu l
f.Beowu l
fu ses, “
Th eAl mightymak ing,theearth,
shapi
ngthes eb eau t
ifulp
lai
n smar k edoffbyocean s, th
enp roudlys ett
ingthes unan dthe
moont oglowacr os sthelan dan dlighti
t(l
in
e7) ,
”todes cr
ibet hemak i
ngoft heEar th.Much
l
ikeCaedmondi dinh i
sh ymn .I
tal
socon tain
sal l
i
terat
ionaswell.Thenextli
ne,“Howh ethe
LordofGl oryever l
asti
n g,”does n
’tcontainan yall
i
terat
ionreal
l
yorn onethatwes eei nthe
previou sl
ylinewh ereit’
sob vious.He’sk nownas“ t
heLor dofHeavenan deart
h”inBeowu l
f.
Then extli
n eis“Wr ough tfi
rstfortheraceofmenHeavenasar oof
tree,
”andh ass ome
al
li
terat i
oni ni
t.Sof ar
, almos teveryli
necon t
ainsall
i
terat
ionwhichwasver ycommoni n
An gl
o- Saxonp oetryan dwr iti
ng.Thelastline,“Thenmadeh eMiddl
eEar t
htobet heir
man sion,”talksaboutth ecreat i
onofmanan dthei
rdomainonEar th.
Again,al
l
it
erationis
seen. Literaryelementsi nb othpi
ecesar ever ys i
mil
ar.
VARI
ATI
ON
Therepeat
ingofasi
ngl
eideaindi
fferentwor
ds,wi
theachr ep
eti
ti
onaddi
nganewl
evel
ofmeanin
g.Thatthes
evers
et ech
n i
queschangedl
it
tl
edu r
ing400year
sofli
ter
ary
pr
oducti
onsuggest
stheext
remecon servat
ismofAngl
o-Saxoncul
tur
e.

LI
TOTES
Th i
slessonop enedwi t
hanexamp leofli
totes.Litotesisanu nderstatemen tth
atu sesa
doublen egativeoranel emen tofirony.I
ronyiswh enanau t
horhi
gh l
ightssomet h
ingt hatis
unexp ected,s ometi
mesf orh umorousordr amat i
cef fect.Theseli
ter ar
yel ementsar e
commoni nep icpoetry.Theep i
cp oemBeowu l
fu sesman ylit
otesth atdrawat t
ent i
ont o
Beowu l
f'
sh eroicqual
iti
esan dsomeoft hethemesi nthep oem.AfterBeowu l
fkil
l
sGr endel
,
heisal soas kedt oki
l
l Grendel'
smot herbyt h
eDan es .Wh entheyar eas ki
nghim,theyu s
e
anu nderstatemen ttop ers
uadeh im:'
'I
tisn'
tfar, n
ori sitap l
easants pot
!'
'Inthi
squ otati
on,
theyar edes cr i
bi
ngwh ereGr endel'
smoth erislocatedi nanironi
cman ner.
Unfor
tunat
ely,Beowul
ffi
ndshimsel
finadistr
essi
ngs i
tuat
ioni
nthe'
'u
n p
leasan
tspot,
'
'but
managestof i
ndas wor
dandk i
l
lGrendel'
smother.Whenth ep
oemu sesthi
sunder
statement
,
i
tdrawsattenti
ontothepl
acethatBeowu l
fissuppos
edt ogoanddemon st
rat
esthegreat
featheovercameindefeat
ingGrendel
'smother.

PROMI
NENTWRI
TERSDURI
NGOLDENGLI
SHPERI
ODS.
Mostol
dEngli
shp
oetar
eanon
ymous
,twelvearekn
ownbynamefrommedi
eval
sources,
bu
tonlyfou
rofthos
earek
nownbyt
heirvern
acul
arwor
kst
ou st
odaywi
thanycer
taint
y.

VENERABLEBEDE
 Hel
i
vedforth espanof61year s.Heiswel l
knownasanau t
hor,t
each er,and
s
ch ol
ar,andhi
smos tfamouswor kEccl
esiast
esHistoryoftheEngli
shpeople,
gai n
edh i
mt he
t
it
le"Th efat
herofEn gl
is
hHistory"
.Bedewasmor eoveras kil
l
edlin
guistandtransl
ator,and
h
iswor kmadetheLatinandGr eekwrit
ingoftheearlychur
chf at
hersmu chmor eaccess i
bl
e
t
oh isf
ellowAngl
o-Saxons,whi
chcon tr
ibut
eds i
gni
fi
cantl
ytoEn gl
i
shCh ri
sti
ani
ty.

SAI
NTAUGUSTI
NE
Heli
vedf r
om13Novemb er354to28Au gust430.Hiswriti
ngi
n f
luencedthe
devel
opmentofwes t
ernphi
losop
h er
,andthewes t
ernCh r
ist
iani
ty,andhei sviewedasone
ofthemosti
mp ort
antchur
chfathersoftheLat
inchurch.Hi
sman yimport
an tworksi
ncl
ude:
Thecit
yofGod, onchri
sti
andoctri
ne,con
fessi
onl,andcatholi
cch u
rch,theeas t
ern
ort
hodoxchur
ch,andtheAn gl
i
cancommu ni
on.
CYNEWULF
Heison eoft hetwelveoldEn gl
ishpoetsknownb yname,andoff ourwh oseworkis
knownt osur
vivet oday.Knownf orhisreli
gi
ouscomp ositi
on,Cynewulfisregardedason eof
thepre-emi
nen tfigur
esofAn gl
o-SaxonCh ri
sti
anp oetry.Poster
ityknows .ofhisn ameby
mean sofrun
ics ignat
uresth atar
einterwovenintot hef ourpoemswh ichcomp rise
recogni
zedcorp us.Thesep oemsar e:Thef at
eoft heAp ostl
es,Jul
i
ana, El
ene, andCh r
istI
I
alsoknownasAs censi
on .
Cyn ewu l
fmayal sobetheau thorofseveralotherwor k
sincl
udin
g
"TheWan derer,""Guthl
ac,
""Th ePhoenix,
""Physi
ologu s
,"" TheRuin,
""Wu l
fan dEadwacer "
and"Th eWif
e'sComp lai
nt(Lamen t
)"

CAEDMON
Hei sth eear li
estpoetwh osen amei skn own. ANor thumb r
ianwh ocar edf ort h
ean i
mal
s
atthedou blemon asteryofWh i
tbyAb b eydu ringtheab bacyofs t
iti
lda,hewasor iginall
y
i
gn orantof" t
h eartofs ong"butlearnedt ocomp oseonen ightinth ecou r
seofa
dream, accor dingtot he8thcen t
uryh istori
anBede. Hel aterb ecameazeal ou smon kan dan
accomp l
ishedan dinspi
rati
onalCh r
isti
anp oet .Caedmon '
son lyk nowns urvi
vingwor kis
Caedmon '
sHymn ,
thenine-l
i
nealli
terativever n acul
arp r
aisep oemi nh on ourofGodwh i
chhe
reportedlyl earnedt os i
nginhisini
ti
al dream. on eof12An gloSaxon sp oet.G. A. Les t
er
(1974)ar gu edt hattheCædmonh ast hediffer enceb etweenb ein
gt h ef i
rstEn gl
i
s hp oet
recogn i
zedb yn amef r
omwh omwor kh aslas tedofh i
st woi mportan tseven th-centu r
y
con t
emp oraries,Aldhelmposs i
bl
yh eadedh im, buthisEngli
s hver sesh aven otli
ved.

ALFREDTHEGREAT
HewaskingofthewestSaxonsfr
om871to866andki
ngoftheAngl
o-saxon
sfr
om
886t
o899.
Afterascen
dingt
hethrone,
Alf
reds
pen
tseveral
yearsf
igh
tin
gvik
ings
i
nvas
ion
s.Heal
sofou
ghtforh
isk
ingdomagai
nstt
hevi
ki
ngsat
temp
tatcon
ques
t,b
ecomi
ng
t
hedominan
tru
leri
nEngl
and.

HOMER
Hewast hereputedau
thoroft
heil
l
iadandth
eOdyssey,t
hetwoepi
cpoemth
atare
t
hefoundat
ionalwork
sofancientGr
eekl
iter
atu
re.
Hei
sregardedasoneoft
hegr
eates
tand
mos
tinf
luenti
alwri
ter
sofallt
ime.
I
l
lad-setduri
ngTrojanwar,
thetenyearsi
egeoftheci
tyofTr
oybyacoal
i
ti
onofmy
cenaeanGr eekki
n gdoms.
i
tfocus
esonaqu arr
elbet
weenkin
gAgamemn
onandthewar
ri
or
Ach i
l
leslast
ingafewweek sduri
ngthel
astyearofth
ewar
Th
eOdyssey-
focu
sesont
het
enyearj
our
neyh
omeofOdys
seu
s,k
ingofi
thaca,af
ter
t
hefal
lofTr
oy.

REFERENCES

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