ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD449-1066

Politics

A period of invasions Romans withdraw (c.410) Angles, Saxons, and Jutes begin

raids/invasions (c. 449-600) Viking Danes (Norsemen, Northmen)

attack, settle (c. 787-1017) Normans-French invade (1066)

Culture

Society organized by tribes and clans; nobles and bondsmen

Developed military organization called the comitatus1. Tribal “kings” gathered and supported warriors = pact of loyal dependency2. Mead halls provided social life3. Scops (skops) served as poets, historians, entertainers

Originally pagan, most had converted to Christianity by 700.

Mainly farmers, warriors, artisans

Literature

Invaders brought a rich oral tradition of folk epics with them from the Continent

Lyric poetry and riddles reveal their personal lives and everyday world

Monastic writers preserved and censored Anglo-Saxon literature

Prose writing was limited to histories, chronicles, and government documents

Oral literature recited by Scops, with memorized and established formulas, patterns

Didactic (instructional): addressed moral, religious, ethical concerns

Poetry Lines do not rhyme Rhythm of line depends on number of beats, or accented syllables.

Number of unaccented syllables in line may vary, some long and others short, but all lines are similar in having the same number of beats, (Scops would hurry through long lines and sustain short ones.)

Each line has a caesura, a pause, after the second beat, so each half of a line has two beats.

Fate has swept our race away Alliteration is an important factor, usually binding together the two

halves of a line Kennings, phrases that are an elaborate and indirect way of naming

nouns, are also a frequent and distinctive ornament; sometimes unusual wording to challenge audience, sometimes a common synonym. Kennings may be hyphenated compounds, prepositional phrases, or possessives

ring-giver = kingshepherd of evil = Grendelsoul’s prison house = body

Epic Poem

Celebrates deeds of heroes Has heroes who reflect cultural values of audience Contains episodes important to history of nation or race Contains element of the supernatural Good triumphs over evil