The Anglo-Saxon Period!11

The Anglo-Saxon Period!11 The Anglo-Saxon Period (449—1066) Old English Literature(449A.D. ~ 1066) 1)History background: The making of the England: Jutes, Angles and Saxons invaded Albion and combined into one United Kingdom-the England. Their dialects gradually grew into a single language called Anglo-Saxon, or Old English. The transition from tribal society to feudalism 2) Main literature: poetry 3) Main writers: Caedmon, Cynewulf, Venerable Bede and Alfred the Great. 4) Main work: The Song of Beowulf <<贝奥武甫>> Historical background • Before410 A.D., Britain had been a Roman province. After the fall of the Roman Empire (410 A.D.), the aboriginal Celtic population was conquered by the Teutonic Tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes who named the central part of Albion Anglia, or England. About 449 Jutes left Denmark, landed in the Isle of Thanet. And Angled and • Saxons followed. • Angles, an important Teutonic tribe furnished their new home England. The dialects gradually grew into a single language called Anglo-Saxon, or Old English. Literature characteristics The literature of this period is divided into pagan literature and Christian literature. • The former represent poetry and in form of oral sagas. • The later represents the writings developed under teaching of the monks. • The poetry was copied by the monks and has the religious coloring. • Most of works can not find its scribe. • Caedmon, the father of English song, is the first known religious poet of England. He wrote a poetic Paraphrase of the bible • Cynewulf produced the didactic poem The Christ • Alfred the Great (848-901) wrote The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. This book records the main happenings of the Anglo-Saxon period. It is the best monument of the Old English prose. Representative achievement of Anglo-Saxon period—The Song of Beowulf • The Song of Beowulf is England’s national epic. It was written by an unknown scribe at the beginning of the 10th century and was discovered in 1705. It reflects events which took place approximately at the beginning of the 6th century. • The epic consists of 3182 lines and is to be divided into two parts. • The main plot: Writing Features of the Poem: • 1) It is not a Christian but a pagan poem. The whole poem presents us an all-round picture of the tribal society and Christian culture. Part 2 • 2) The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants are very notable in this poem. Each line is divided into two halves, and each half has two heavy stresses. • 3) The use of the alliteration is another notable feature. Three stresses of the whole line are made even more emphatic by the use of alliteration. • 4) A lot of metaphors and understatements are used in the poem. For example, the sea is called "the whale-road" or "the swan road"; the soldiers are called "shield-men"; the chieftains are called the "treasure keepers"; human-body is referred to as "the bone- house”; God is called "wonder-wielder”; monster is referred to as "soul-destroyer". Literary terms: • Alliteration: a repeated initial consonant to successive words. e.g. 1.To his kin the kindest, keenest for praise. 2.Sing a song of southern singer Epic: It is, originally, an oral narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur. Typically, an epic includes several features: the introduction of supernatural forces that shape the action; conflict in the form of battles or other physical forces combat; and stylistic conventions such as an invocation to the Muse, and set speeches couched in elevated language. They summarize and express the nature or ideals of an entire nation at a significant or crucial period of its history. Eg: Iliad 《伊利亚 特》，Odyssey《奥德赛》 Paradise Lost 《失乐园》，The Divine Comedy《神曲》。 Part 2