Anglo-Saxon Background449-1066

a.k.a The Old English Period

The Heroic Age

Ancient Tribes in England…Celts (800-600 B.C.)

-Brythons (Britons)

-Gaels (Ireland)

Romans (55 B.C.)

Anglo-Saxons (from Germany approx. 400 A.D.)

Norse and Danes (Vikings 9th Century)

Anglo-Saxon Migration…

Anglo-Saxons

War-like peopleDeep-sea fishermen and farmersEnjoyed the pleasures of eating and drinking (feasts)Regarded women as mysterious, magical beings to be worshippedFierce love of individual freedomSimple languageHonor in burials

Anglo-Saxon Warrior Culture

Warrior culture Heroic Code: warrior/lord relationshipEngravings on helmets, swords, and shieldsImportance of reputation/identityHonor (funerals/celebrations)

Silver Inlayed

Iron Pommel and Grip

Typical Anglo-Saxon Sword

Anglo-Saxon Warrior Sheilds…

Paganism/Christianity

Around A.D. 400Christian monks settle in Britain

Christianity & Anglo-Saxon culture co-exist

By A.D. 699British pagan religions are replaced by Christianity

The Scop (long “o”)

Court singer

Historian

Genealogist

Teacher

Composer

Critic

Warrior

Reporter

“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…. He

was a man of repute, the equal of thanes.”

Exeter Book

Major collection of Old English Poetry—no illustrations.

Author unknown

Depicts Anglo-Saxon culture

“The Seafarer,” “The Wanderer,” “The Wife’s Lament”

Written between 950-990 A.D.

Housed at Exeter Library in Exeter, England.

When English books were rare all the "literature" in a particular part of the country might be all put together in one book. The great book we know as the "Exeter Book" was given to the library of Exeter Cathedral by the first bishop of Exeter, Leofric, who died in 1072.

The Exeter book contains many riddles referring to things like a

‘thief-guest who was no wiser for having swallowed words’ (a

bookworm)

Anglo-Saxon Literature

Began as oral tradition (scop)Verse

Heroic: Recounting the achievements of warriorsElegiac: Lamenting the death of loved ones and lost of the past.An elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.

Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon Poetry…

The lines do not rhyme

Reflect the contrast between Christianity and paganism

Each line contains two halves, separated by a Caesura

The use of kennings

The use of alliteration

Instruct a moral lesson

Types of Anglo-Saxon Poetry

Exeter Book

“Beowulf”

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles

Anglo-Saxon riddles (Exeter Book)

Anglo-Saxon Poetry

Lyrical in Form:Expresses the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker.

Two types: Heroic: Detailing the deeds of a hero.

Elegy: Mourning the loss of someone or something.

Anglo-Saxon Poetic Devices…Kenning: two-word metaphorical name for something

“whale’s home”=sea“bird’s nest”=messy hair

Caesura: sound break in the middle of a line of poetry, indicating a pause for breath in the reading

Anglo-Saxon words…

Wergild (eye for an eye; death price)Wyrd (fate)Word-hoard (well-reasoned boast; eloquence)Comitatus (code of honor in battle; brotherhood)