The Beginnings of English Literature

Historical background of earliest Britain

In the Iron Age, people known as the Britons, a group speaking a Celtic language, occupied what is now the British Isles. As the Roman Empire expanded northwards, Rome began to take interest in Britain and finally conquered Britain in 43 AD, which became the Ancient Roman province of Britannia.

Later on, another Celtic group coming from Northern Spain, the Gaels, arrived to Britain and occupied Ireland. Some Irish Gaels, the ‘Scoti’, finally arrived to what nowadays is known as Scotland.

After the fall of the Roman Empire, over a period of 500 years, the Britons of the South and East of the island were assimilated or displaced by invading Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, and Jutes). The Gaels were confined to Ireland and Scotland.

By the 5th century, the basic human heritage of Britain is constituted by Britons, Gaels, Romans, and Germanic people. Britain was a multilingual and multicultural society. Old English (also known as Anglo-Saxon ) was the main language in Germanic Britain. In other parts of Britain other Celtic languages were spoken: Cornish, Welsh, Gaelic, and Manx, among probably others. Latin was preserved as language of the church and administration.

The Celtic Heritage: The Ulster Cycle and Cuchulain

The Ulster Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster (Northern Ireland). The stories are set in and around the reign of king Conchobar mac Nessa. The most prominent hero of the cycle is Conchobar's nephew ‘Cúchulainn’.

The stories are written in Old and Middle Irish Gaelic, mostly in prose, interspersed with occasional verse passages. They are preserved in manuscripts of the 12th to 15th centuries, but in many cases are much older: the language of the earliest stories is dateable to the 8th century, and events and characters are referred to in poems dating to the 7th.

Cúchulain is the central character of the Ulster (Ulaid) cycle Cúchulain is the central character of the Ulster (Ulaid) cycle. He was the greatest of the Knights of the Red Branch, i.e., the warriors loyal to Conor (Conchobar mac Nessa), who was reputedly king of the Ulaids of northeast Ireland at about the beginning of the 1st century bc. Cú Chulainn, born as Sétante, the son of the god Lug (Lugh) of the Long Arm and Dechtire, the sister of Conor, was of great size and masculine beauty and won distinction for his exploits while still a child.

Lady Augusta Gregory, an Irish writer, put these stories in Contemporary English in 1902 (Cuchulain of Muirthemne). The version we present here is based on hers. There we shall learn how Chuchulain got his name. Let’s listen to an audio of the story.

The Anglosaxon Heritage: Beowulf

Origins —Unknown author, possibly one Christian author in Anglo-Saxon England —Unknown date of composition (roughly 8th-11th Century AD)

Language: Old English Old English is the name given to the germanic language spoken in the southern part of the island of Britain before the Norman Conquest in 1066 c.e. (and for about 100 years after the Conquest).

This language is the ancestor of the Modern English spoken today, although it is quite different in appearance and sound at first glance. Most of our records of the Old English language date from the period between about 875 c.e. and about 1100 A.D., and there is very little evidence indeed of the precise state of the language before the Christian missionary efforts at the end of the 6th century c.e., or about the stages by which Old English had become Middle English by about 1250 A.D.

A fragment of Beowulf’s manuscript

In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, fights three adversaries: Grendel, who has been attacking the mead hall in Denmark called Heorot and its inhabitants; Grendel's mother; and a dragon. The last battle takes place later in life, after returning to Geatland (modern southern Sweden), where Beowulf has become king. In this battle, Beowulf is fatally wounded. After his death, he is buried in a barrow in Geatland by his servants.

Geats and Danes Beowulf was a war leader of the Geats, a group of people in what is now southern Sweden Hrothgar was king of the Danes

Literary Devices Allusion: Biblical, Germanic oral tradition, Norse myth and legend, historical Anglo-Saxon kings (eg. King Offa of Mercia) Alliteration (the repeated occurrence of a consonant sound at the beginning of several words in the same phrase) Epic poetry: a long narrative poem written in elevated style which celebrates the deeds of a legendary hero. Kenning: two-word metaphorical name for something (eg. whale-road=sea)

An example of alliteration in Beowulf Swa sceal geong guma         gode gewyrcean, fromum feohgiftum         on fæder bearme, þæt hine on ylde         eft gewunigen wilgesiþas,         þonne wig cume, leode gelæsten;         lofdædum sceal

Epic characteristics of Beowulf Epic hero– a character with a trait or characteristic that is valued by his society (Beowulf) Quest– A journey through which the character or the reader learns something (Beowulf’s journey to Danemark) Valorous Deeds– Brave actions (Grendel’s slain by Beowulf) Divine Intervention– The hand of God (or gods) help the hero, proving his value. Great events– The hero has a hand in something important in the history or mythology of a culture.

Some key concepts in Beowulf: the Warrior Code Comitatus: Germanic code of loyalty Thane: warrior who swears loyalty to the king for whom they fought and whom they protected Kings: generous, protected thanes Reputation: thanes were expected to be loyal, brave, courageous; kings were expected to be generous and hospitable Wergild: “man-payment”; a fee paid to the family of a slain man to atone for his murder and to prevent the family from seeking revenge.