ANGLO- SAXON ERA The Beginning of English Literature

Early Anglo-Saxon culture 1.Polytheistic, Worship elements of nature A.Pagan 3. Notable deities Tiu = god of war & sky (Tuesday) Woden = chief deity; god of magic and death (Wednesday) Thuron – god of thunder (Thursday) Fria = Woden’s wife; goddess of fertility (Friday) 2. Life is in the hands of fate (Wyrd = Goddess of Fate)

C.Beliefs and Values Bravery Loyalty Strength Generosity Love of Glory B.Oral— history, religious ideas, stories passed on by word of mouth

Anglo-Saxon culture by the time of the writing of Beowulf A.Christian, but with pagan remnants: 597 Christianity comes to the Anglo-Saxons B.Literate—clergy and some nobility only Escomb Church, County Durham, late 7 th century

Education & Written Language Education & Written Language –Monks recorded & duplicated stories by hand –Not much left to record because forgotten –In transcribing literature of native tradition, the monks often added Christian elements or changed pagan elements Christian Influences

Beowulf A.Composed and passed down orally ca. 715, 750? B.Committed to writing sometime before the 10 th century C.Essentially lost after Norman Conquest; first listed in 17 th century but not read or studied D.Badly damaged by fire in 1731

Epic Poetry: Characteristics  Form – Long narrative poem  Tone and language – Presents a serious subject through formal, elevated language  Protagonist – A figure of national, global, or cosmic significance who embodies the best of his culture  Plot – Involves a great journey or a great battle or both that the hero undertakes on behalf of a people, a nation, or even the world  Setting – Place: vast, global or cosmic – Time: an idealized heroic past

VI.Beowulf: Time and Place Set in Denmark and Geatland 6 th Century Herot – Mead Hall

1.Alliterative verse  Set number of strong beats per line but no set meter  Repetitions of initial consonant sounds  Unrhymed 2. Parallelism  Repetition of a grammatical pattern 3.Caesura  A pause in the middle of a poetic line indicated by a gap 4. Kennings  Compound metaphor  Examples: “Swan’s road” for sea “Ring giver” for king E.Characteristics of Anglo- Saxon Poetry

 A scop would perform the poems at victory celebrations.  He would be accompanied by a musician called the gleeman.  The celebrations would be held in large banquet halls called “mead-halls”  Mead was an alcoholic beverage made from honey and drunk by AS warriors.  An Anglo-Saxon warrior was also called a thane.

The English language from the middle of the 5 th to the 12 th century; also called Anglo-Saxon language Text of Beowulf [332] oretmecgas æfter æþelum frægn: asked of the heroes their home and kin [333] "Hwanon ferigeað ge fætte scyldas, "Whence, now, bear ye burnished shields, [334] græge syrcan ond grimhelmas, harness gray and helmets grim, [335] heresceafta heap? Ic eom Hroðgares spears in multitude? Messenger, I, Hrothgar's [336] ar ond ombiht. Ne seah ic elþeodige herald! Heroes so many ne'er met I [337] þus manige men modiglicran, as strangers of mood so strong. [338] Wen ic þæt ge for wlenco, nalles for wræcsiðum, 'Tis plain that for prowess, not plunged into exile,