1. Anglo-Saxon Literature

2. The Celts Literature began in England with the Celtic Druids
Druids would memorize and recite poems for special occasions

3. The Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon performers known as scops recited poems for entertainment
“The Anglo-Saxon scop was a professional or semi-professional tribal poet who celebrated cultural values by singing epics on occasions of great ceremony and festivity.”
- Dr. Kelly Taylor

4. The Anglo-Saxons Recitation often accompanied by a harp
Idea of ominous fate, or wyrd, found throughout works
Contain a mix of Christian and pagan ideas
Only about 30,000 lines of Anglo-Saxon verse still exist

5. Poetic Devices
No end rhyme; main thought or idea often runs over from line to line
Lines contain caesuras, or mid-line pauses
Poems use alliteration - the repetition of initial consonant sounds
Poems contain kennings - compound metaphorical phrases that rename concrete nouns (“sea road” = ocean)

6. Types of Poetry
Divided into two main categories –
heroic and elegiac

7. Heroic Poetry
Heroic = retells the achievements of warriors involved in great battles
Most important heroic Anglo-Saxon work = Beowulf

8. Beowulf Beowulf = national epic of England Author = unknown
Includes values of warrior society including dignity, bravery, and strength in battle

9. Elegiac Poetry
Lyric poem that mourns the loss of someone or of the past
Famous example of Anglo-Saxon elegiac poetry = “The Seafarer”

10. “The Seafarer” Author = unknown
Speaker = sailor reflecting on his life
Includes values of time period but also evidence of changing way of life

11. Links Reading of “The Funeral of Scyld Scefing” from Beowulf
The Beowulf Project
Reading of Grendel’s Approach to Herot