prehistoric britain

PREHISTORIC BRITAIN THE IBERIANS Stonhenge

700 BC THE CELTS

55 BC THE ROMANS first invasion43 BC first settlement410 BC withdrawl

THE ANGLO SAXON• 410 AD The Romans left

• The Celts alone asked Germanic Anglo-Saxon mercenaries for help

• 455 AD invaded England

Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from?

• The Anglo-Saxons left their homelands in

- northern Germany - Denmark

- The Netherlands

and rowed across the North Sea in wooden boats to Britain.

Who were the Anglo-Saxons?

• Mixture of Germanic tribes - the ANGLES - the SAXONS - the JUTES

• divided the country in 7 Kingdoms

• The Anglo-Saxons were warrior-farmers

• loved fighting and were very fierce.

• tall, fair-haired men, armed with swords and spears and round shields.

• small villages• Anglo-Saxons houses

were huts made of wood with roofs thatched with straw

• The biggest house in an Anglo Saxon village was the Hall, the Chief's house.

He lived there with his warriors.

OLD ENGLISH• Union of the Anglo-Saxons languages

• They were illiterate

• runic alphabet

OLD ENGLISH / GERMAN ORIGINS• The first Anglo Saxon Villages

named after the Chieftain (Leader of the village).

• These places often have the letters 'ing' of 'folk' somewhere in their name, often at the end.

• The first part of the name was most likely to have been the name of the local chieftain.

• The people who lived in the 'village' of Hastings were 'Haesta's people'. Haesta was the chieftain.

• The people who lived in the 'village' of Reading were 'Redda's people'.Redda was the chieftain .

OLD ENGLISHInfluenced by Latin

AD 600 Christianization - people baptised - churches built

THE VIKINGS AD 800• The Vikings came from

Scandinavia

- Denmark

- Norway

- Sweden

• Sailors and raiders, the Vikings came across the North Sea

• farmers, fishermen, trappers and traders. Viking craftsmen made beautiful objects out of wood, metal and bone;

• Viking women were skilful weavers, produced fine, warm textiles.

• King Alfred, Saxon king of Wessex, fought them in a great battle, but he could not drive them right away and had to let them have part of the country, called Danelaw.

• Place names ending in –by– by meant farm or homestead (village). These places mark the earliest Viking settlements. • Derby - A village where deer are

found

• eg. Derby, Rugby, Whitby, Selby, Grimsby

Aglo- Saxon prose and poetry

• Oral tradition

• Scops and Bards

• Historical memory created by repetition

• Written tradition

• Christian Scribes

• Foundations of literature

Anglo Saxson Poetry / 4 Manuscripts

• Beowulf Manuscript

• Junius Manuscript

• The Exeter Book

• Vercelli Book

• Categories - pagan - Christian

• Language - Latin - Old English

PAGAN POETRYEPIC

• Reminds of pre-Christian oral tradition as for

- metre - themes

ELEGY• Theme loss - of a lord - of a friendship - of a beloved one

• First person narrative• Melanchonic and elegiac

tone

-- mith / heroes

- struggle against evil-dignity of sacrifice

Formal Elements• KENNING

• CAESURA

• ALLITERATION

• Cutting edge /sword

• Pause in a line of poetry

• Repetition of consonants sounds