1. UNIT 1: From Legend to History (AD 449 – 1485)

2. Background – Anglo Saxon Culture
Expert seafarers (sailors) who sail
the ocean to raid or settle other
lands
Many converted to Christianity after 500’s
But, kept a pagan belief in the power of fate, and retold Germanic and Scandinavian tales of heroes and monsters
Men dominated society, and women had few rights

3. Background – Anglo Saxon Culture (cont.)
Anglo-Saxon warrior
Definition of home
Follower of a lord or king NOT as a citizen of a nation
Loyalty  goods (bread, fruit, riches won in raids) and security

4. Background – Anglo-Saxon Literature
Entertainment (5th – 11th Century)
Few were literate
No movies
Traveling storytellers (scops)
*Memorized, adapted, and passed on an oral tradition of stories and songs

5. Background – Anglo-Saxon Literature (cont.)
The Exeter Book
Collection of texts that include pieces from this oral tradition
Put together by monks (~A.D. 871 – 899)

6. Anglo-Saxon Poetry - Themes
Exile (a prolonged stay away
from home that is forced upon
the exiled person)
“The Seafarer” tells the tale of a sailor whose passion for the sea causes him to undertake dangerous, lonely voyages.
The struggles of a warrior who must find a new place in the world after his lord dies is described in “The Wanderer.”
In “The Wife’s Lament,” a woman whose husband has sent her away describes her misfortune.

7. Lyric Poem
Definition: A poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker

8. Anglo-Saxon lyrics
Written for easy memorization and recitation

9. Elements of Anglo-Saxon Lyrics
Lines with regular rhythms, usually with 4 strong beats
Caesuras
Kennings
Assonance
Alliteration

10. Caesuras
Definition: Rhythmic breaks in the middle of lines, where the reciter can pause for breath
Examples: ↓
Oft to the wanderer, weary of exile
Cometh God’s pity, compassionate love ↑

11. Kennings
Definition: Two-word metaphorical phrase used in place of people, places, and things
Example:
Sea = “whales’ home”
Lord = “gold-lord”
Sword = “wound-hoe”

12. Assonance
Definition: The repetition of vowel sounds in unrhymed, stressed syllables
Used to make the poem entertaining and memorable
Used to connect ideas
Example
“bAtter these rAmparts”
I, fInd
The silken sad uncERtain rustling of each pURple cURtain

13. Alliteration
The repetition of initial consonant sounds in accented syllables
Used to make the poem entertaining and memorable
Used to connect ideas
Examples:
He, Who
Muse, Moldering
Sally sells sea shells down by the seashore.

14. Elegy A lyric poem mourning the loss of someone or something
The Seafarer
The Wanderer
The Wife’s Lament
What did the speakers in this grouping of poems lose?