Full Answer
What is the Anglo-Saxon period in literature?
Anglo-Saxon literature: Prose Old English literary prose dates from the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon period. Prose was written in Latin before the reign of King Alfred (reigned 871–99), who worked to revitalize English culture after the devastating Danish invasions ended.
What are the characteristics of Anglo-Saxon prose?
The object of prose is to instruct and inform and not to move. The prose writing of Anglo-Saxons show a tendency towards observance of the rules of ordinary speech. It is business-like, simple and straight - quite unlike the style of old English poetry. Hence this prose is much nearer to modern literature than the poetry.
How did William Shakespeare contribute to the development of Anglo-Saxon prose?
His contribution to the development of Anglo-Saxon prose is marked in a three-fold way: First, he helped the development of The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle or simply The Chronicle which was the first true specimen of Anglo-Saxon prose. Second, he initiated and encouraged the English translations of certain great Latin works.
What is Old English literary prose?
Old English literary prose dates from the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon period. Prose was written in Latin before the reign of King Alfred (reigned 871–99), who worked to revitalize English culture after the devastating Danish invasions ended. As hardly anyone could read Latin, Alfred translated or had translated the most important Latin texts.
What is the Old English prose?
What period was Latin poetry written?
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Who is called the father of Anglo-Saxon prose?
King AlfredKing Alfred (c. 849) is justly claimed to be the "father of English prose". When he came to the throne of Wessex in 871, the English learning suffered a great deal due to the repeated raids of the Danes.
How did the Anglo-Saxon prose writing start at the beginning?
Old English literary prose dates from the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon period. Prose was written in Latin before the reign of King Alfred (reigned 871–99), who worked to revitalize English culture after the devastating Danish invasions ended.
What is Anglo-Saxon literature?
Anglo-Saxon literature (or Old English literature) encompasses literature written in Anglo-Saxon (Old English) during the 600-year Anglo-Saxon period of Britain, from the mid-5th century to the Norman Conquest of 1066.
What does Anglo-Saxon poetry mean?
Anglo-Saxon Poetry (or Old English Poetry) encompasses verse written during the 600-year Anglo-Saxon period of British history, from the mid-fifth century to the Norman Conquest of 1066. Almost all of the literature of this period was orally transmitted, and almost all poems were intended for oral performance.
What are the main features of Anglo Saxon literature?
Key Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon PoetryHeroic poetry elements.Christian ideals.Synecdoche.Metonymy.Irony.
What is the history of prose?
The word "prose" first appears in English in the 14th century. It is derived from the Old French prose, which in turn originates in the Latin expression prosa oratio (literally, straightforward or direct speech).
What is the theme of Anglo-Saxon literature?
Many themes in Anglo-Saxon literature even inspired modern-day authors and those are honor, generosity, unity, and glory which are still present even in modern-day literature.
What is the best example of Anglo-Saxon literature?
Anonymous, Beowulf. Although it is celebrated nowadays as an important work of Anglo-Saxon – indeed, 'English' – literature, Beowulf was virtually unknown and forgotten about, amazingly, for nearly a thousand years.
What is the importance of Anglo-Saxon literature?
The poem Beowulf, which often begins the traditional canon of English literature, is the most famous work of Old English literature. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has also proven significant for historical study, preserving a chronology of early English history.
Who is Anglo-Saxon?
Who were the Anglo-Saxons? Anglo-Saxon is a term traditionally used to describe the people who, from the 5th-century CE to the time of the Norman Conquest (1066), inhabited and ruled territories that are today part of England and Wales.
What are the two categories of Anglo-Saxon poetry?
A large portion of poetry is missing but the fragments of it are preserved in four manuscripts. The Anglo-Saxon poetry can be roughly classified under two categories: the pre-Christian Germanic poetry or non-Christian Poetry and the Christian poetry.
10 Works of Anglo-Saxon Literature Everyone Should Read
Perhaps the oldest poem written in English, Caedmon’s Hymn was composed in the 7 th century by a goatherd and takes the form of a short hymn in praise of God. It was Bede, or ‘the Venerable Bede’ as he is often known, who ensured the survival of Caedmon’s Hymn, when he jotted it down in Latin translation in one of his books.An anonymous scribe then added the Anglo-Saxon form of the ...
Old English Literature; Anglo Saxon Period Characteristics
Introduction. Anglo-Saxons came from three powerful nations of Germans (Saxones, Angli and Iutae) to England in 600 A.D. Heroic poetry of surviving Anglo-Saxon literature tells about the Germanic origins of invaders.
Old English Period or Anglo-Saxon period in literature
The Old English period or Anglo-Saxon period in literature spans over six hundred years from 450 A.D to 1066 A.D. During the middle years of 5 th century the Roman armies withdrew from Britain and the Germanic tribes flourished expanding rapidly. The Anglo-Saxons who were hired to take care of the Picts attacking several parts of Britain revolted against their hirers for non-payment of ...
Old English literature | Britannica
Old English literature, also called Anglo-Saxon literature, literature written in Old English c. 650–c. 1100. For a description of this period in the context of the history of English literature, see English literature: The Old English period. Beowulf is the oldest surviving Germanic epic and the longest Old English poem; it was likely composed between 700 and 750.
The Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066) - Loudoun County Public Schools
Anglo-Saxon Literature and The Epic Stories were told orally in poem or song form (most people could not read or write) Stories provided moral instruction Anglo-Saxons spoke “Old English” Epic Poetry was one of the most common genres of literature during the period. Beowulf was the most famous story to come out of the Anglo-Saxon era.
What is an Anglo-Saxon?
Anglo-Saxon is a term that was rarely used by Anglo-Saxons themselves. It is likely they identified as ængli, Seaxe or, more probably, a local or tribal name such as Mierce, Cantie, Gewisse, Westseaxe, or Norþanhymbre. After the Viking Age, an Anglo-Scandinavian identity developed in the Danelaw.
What is the Anglo-Saxon language?
In scholarly use, it is more commonly called Old English. The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cultural identity.
Where did the name "Angul-Seaxan" come from?
The Old English ethnonym "Angul-Seaxan" comes from the Latin Angli-Saxones and became the name of the peoples the English monk Bede called Angli around 730 and the British monk Gildas called Saxones around 530. Anglo-Saxon is a term that was rarely used by Anglo-Saxons themselves.
How many manuscripts are there in the Old English language?
In all there are about 400 surviving manuscripts from the period, a significant corpus of both popular interest and specialist research. The manuscripts use a modified Roman alphabet, but Anglo-Saxon runes or futhorc are used in under 200 inscriptions on objects, sometimes mixed with Roman letters.
Why was symbolism important to the Anglo-Saxons?
Richards suggests that in societies with strong oral traditions, material culture is used to store and pass on information and stand instead of literature in those cultures. This symbolism is less logical than literature and more difficult to read. Anglo-Saxons used symbolism to communicate as well as to aid their thinking about the world. Anglo-Saxons used symbols to differentiate between groups and people, status and role in society.
Which group established the concept of the English language?
The Anglo-Saxons established the concept, and the Kingdom, of England, and though the modern English language owes somewhat less than 26% of its words to their language, this includes the vast majority of words used in everyday speech.
Who used the term "Anglosaxonum Rex"?
Alfred used Anglosaxonum Rex. The term Engla cyningc (King of the English) is used by Æthelred. Cnut the Great, King of Denmark, England, and Norway, in 1021 was the first to refer to the land and not the people with this term: ealles Englalandes cyningc (King of all England).
What are the scripts used in Anglo-Saxon texts?
It is believed that Irish missionaries are responsible for the scripts used in early Anglo-Saxon texts, which include the Insular half-uncial (important Latin texts) and Insular minuscule (both Latin and the vernacular). In the 10th century, the Caroline minuscule was adopted for Latin, however the Insular minuscule continued to be used for Old English texts. Thereafter, it was increasingly influenced by Caroline minuscule, while retaining certain distinctively Insular letter-forms.
Where are the most famous Anglo-Saxon riddles?
Anglo-Saxon riddles are part of Anglo-Saxon literature. The most famous Anglo-Saxon riddles are found in the Exeter Book . This book contains secular and religious poems and other writings, along with a collection of 94 riddles, although there is speculation that there may have been closer to 100 riddles in the book. The riddles are written in a similar manner, but "it is unlikely that the whole collection was written by one person." It is more likely that many scribes worked on this collection of riddles. Although the Exeter Book has a unique and extensive collection of Anglo-Saxon riddles, riddles were not uncommon during this era. Riddles were both comical and obscene.
How many lines are there in the Vercelli book?
In Vercelli are Andreas and Elene and in Exeter are Guthlac and Juliana . Andreas is 1,722 lines long and is the closest of the surviving Old English poems to Beowulf in style and tone.
Which Old English poem has received the most attention?
The longest at 3,182 lines, and the most important, is Beowulf, which appears in the damaged Nowell Codex. Beowulf relates the exploits of the hero Beowulf, King of the Weder-Geats or Angles, around the middle of the 5th century. The author is unknown, and no mention of Britain occurs. Scholars are divided over the date of the present text, with hypotheses ranging from the 8th to the 11th centuries. It has achieved much acclaim as well as sustained academic and artistic interest.
What are the two styles of Old English poetry?
Old English poetry falls broadly into two styles or fields of reference, the heroic Germanic and the Christian. Almost all Old English poets are anonymous. Although there are Anglo-Saxon discourses on Latin prosody, the rules of Old English verse are understood only through modern analysis of the extant texts.
What is the most famous work of Old English literature?
The poem Beowulf, which often begins the traditional canon of English literature, is the most famous work of Old English literature. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has also proven significant for historical study, preserving a chronology of early English history.
How many manuscripts are there in the Old English?
In all, there are over 400 surviving manuscripts from the period, of which about 189 are considered major.
What was Alfred's influence on the Anglo-Saxon prose?
Alfred had to take much labour and pain to translate the work and occasionally had to translate word by word, meaning by meaning. The literal translation, made by Alfred, had the most formative influence on Anglo-Saxon prose. Nevertheless, it was the free version that proved exceedingly impressive and original.
Who was the most famous Anglo-Saxon ruler?
He is probably the best known of all Anglo-Saxon rulers. In the political history of the Anglo-Saxons, King Alfred is a renowned name. He was a national hero who first unified the English nation and inspired in them a feeling of nationalism. His political career was full of hazards but steadiness, and he succeeded in establishing ...
What is Gregory's Cura Pastoralis?
Gregory’s Cura Pastoralis ( Pastoral Care), another eminent religious work of the time, discusses the essential principles of Christianity. The translation of the work was prompted by Alfred to strengthen the Christian spirit in the English people. Boethius’s work is highly philosophic and didactic.
What is Alfred's contribution to the Anglo-Saxon literature?
It is to him that English prose owes its origin and stupendous success. It is due to his untiring efforts that the loose, detached, unformed prose of the period became a solid, robust and graceful edifice.
What was Alfred's role in the literary movement?
The considerable part that Alfred played in the literary movement of the time is most singularly marked in his laudable enterprise to translate those classical works which seemed to him apt to civilize and improve his people.
Who is the father of English prose?
Alfred is justly regarded as the father of English prose. Whether in the works, inspired by him, or in those he himself wrote, a constant effort is a patent to give a regular, systematic and lucid style to the old elliptical, obscure and abrupt manner of the prose writing of his preceding ages. Alfred gave Anglo-Saxon prose a definite shape ...
Was the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle a literary work?
In fact, the Chronicle was far from a literary work at first, and had no literary standard at all.
Who selected the best Anglo-Saxon books and poems?
The best Anglo-Saxon books and poems selected by Dr Oliver Tearle
What is the best anthology of Anglo-Saxon literature?
For a good anthology of Anglo-Saxon literature in modern translation, we recommend The Anglo-Saxon World An Anthology (Oxford World’s Classics).
What is the name of the book that contains the two battles of 1066?
Actually, the Chronicle survives in several different manuscripts, a result of its having been distributed to various monasteries and then added to. Among other things, the Chronicle contains accounts of the two battles of 1066, Stamford Bridge and Hastings. 9. Anonymous, ‘ The Dream of the Rood ’.
How many lines are there in the poem The Seafarer?
Anonymous, ‘ The Seafarer ’. This 124- line poem is often considered an elegy, since it appears to be spoken by an old sailor looking back on his life and preparing for death. He discusses the solitariness of a life on the waves, the cold, the danger, and the hardships.
What is the poem about Beowulf?
As we’ve discussed in our detailed summary of Beowulf, this poem is part of a rich literary narrative tradition that encompasses Tolkien’s The Hobbit, the story of St George and the dragon, and even Lewis Carroll’s ‘Jabberwocky’ . It chronicles the hero’s exploits, notably his slaying of the monster Grendel – actually only the first of three monsters Beowulf has to vanquish.
What is unusual about the poem "The Vikings"?
This poem is unusual in that it commemorates not a glorious victory but a crushing defeat: in 991 the Anglo-Saxon army failed to ward off the Vikings near the town of Maldon in Essex. It’s also not exactly out-and-out propaganda for the English (even though it’s an example of history being written by the victims rather than victors): several members of the English army are described fleeing the battlefield, for instance.
Where was the first record of the poem The Dream of the Rood made?
The first record of it is an 18-feet-high cross in the church at Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, Scotland. A century or so later, in 884, Pope Marinus sent Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, a piece of the True Cross, and an expanded version of ‘The Dream of the Rood’ was made in response.
Who were the Anglo-Saxons?
The Anglo-Saxons. The Anglo-Saxons were peoples who lived in Britannia, which later came to be known as England. This was a diverse group of Germanic Peoples who migrated to Britannia during the Migration Era or Age, and spoke Old English, and used the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.
What did the Anglo-Saxons do to establish the English language?
The Anglo-Saxons established the Kingdom of England, and the modern English language owes almost half of its words – including the most common words of everyday speech – to their language. The history of the Anglo-Saxons is the history of a cultural identity.
What was the Saxon war called?
This war is called "The Saxon Wars", a religious crusade waged by Christian Frankia to force the Saxons into Christianity. A good simple overview of the Saxon Wars can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saxon_Wars Lebuini Antiqua 4, THE LIFE OF ST.
What were the four subdivisions of Saxony?
The Saxons in Saxony, was a Thingdom (their Thing was their government) and had four subdivisions: Westphalians, Eastphalians, Angrians, and Nordablingians. However, all four areas of Saxony were represented equally at the Saxon Al-Thing in Marklo, and therefore, these were truly subdivisions in a Thingdom.
What were the three classes of the Saxons?
The Heathen Saxons had no kings, and had three classes in society: nobles, freemen, and commoners. An Al-Thing was the Saxon government. Hence, Saxony was a Thingdom. The Saxons had the same religion as the Danes, their neighbors to the north.
Where did the Saxons live?
The Saxons were a Heathen Germanic Tribe who lived in Saxony. Saxony comprised the lands of modern Northern Germany and the Eastern Netherlands. (Please see the map below.) Saxony existed as a free Heathen Thingdom until it was conquered by Frankia in 804 AD, and forced into Christianity and the Christian Frankish Empire. Saxony then was its own "sub-kingdom" in the Frankish Empire, until 1806, when Napoleon destroyed the eastern part of the Empire. The Saxons themselves ruled the Eastern Empire (known as Eastern Frankia, which later became Germany) for almost 200 years. Modern Germany has three 'states' with the name Saxony in them: Saxony, Southern Saxony, and Saxony-Anhalt.
Did the Saxons have kings?
Saxons in Saxony, did not have kings. (This is an indiciation that the peoples who formed the kingdoms of Essex, Sussex, and Wessex in England, were not Saxons, as they certainly had kings, and Saxons in Saxony were staunchly against kings as "dictators.") The Anglo-Saxons in England, did have kings. The Anglo-Saxons were several different ...
What is the Old English prose?
Old English literary prose dates from the latter part of the Anglo-Saxon period. Prose was written in Latin before the reign of King Alfred (reigned 871–99) , who worked to revitalize English culture after the devastating Danish invasions ended. As hardly anyone could read Latin, Alfred translated or had translated the most important Latin texts. He also encouraged writing in the vernacular. Didactic, devotional, and informative prose was written, and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, probably begun in Alfred's time as an historical record, continued for over three centuries. Two preeminent Old English prose writers were Ælfric, Abbot of Eynsham, and his contemporary Wulfstan, archbishop of York. Their sermons (written in the late 10th or early 11th cent.) set a standard for homiletics.
What period was Latin poetry written?
A great deal of Latin prose and poetry was written during the Anglo-Saxon period. Of historic as well as literary interest, it provides an excellent record of the founding and early development of the church in England and reflects the introduction and early influence there of Latin-European culture. Introduction. Poetry.
Overview
Culture
Early Anglo-Saxon buildings in Britain were generally simple, not using masonry except in foundations but constructed mainly using timber with thatch roofing. Generally preferring not to settle within the old Roman cities, the Anglo-Saxons built small towns near their centres of agriculture, at fords in rivers, or near natural ports. In each town, a main hall was in the centre, provided with a centr…
Ethnonym
The Old English ethnonym "Angul-Seaxan" comes from the Latin Angli-Saxones and became the name of the peoples the English monk Bede called Angli around 730 and the British monk Gildas called Saxones around 530. Anglo-Saxon is a term that was rarely used by Anglo-Saxons themselves. It is likely they identified as ængli, Seaxe or, more probably, a local or tribal name such as Mierce, Cantie, Gewisse, Westseaxe, or Norþanhymbre. After the Viking Age, an Anglo-S…
Early Anglo-Saxon history (410–660)
The early Anglo-Saxon period covers the history of medieval Britain that starts from the end of Roman rule. It is a period widely known in European history as the Migration Period, also the Völkerwanderung ("migration of peoples" in German). This was a period of intensified human migration in Europe from about 375 to 800. The migrants were Germanic tribes such as the Goths, Vandals, Angl…
Middle Anglo-Saxon history (660–899)
By 660, the political map of Lowland Britain had developed with smaller territories coalescing into kingdoms, and from this time larger kingdoms started dominating the smaller kingdoms. The development of kingdoms, with a particular king being recognised as an overlord, developed out of an early loose structure that, Higham believes, is linked back to the original feodus. The tradit…
Late Anglo-Saxon history (899–1066)
A framework for the momentous events of the 10th and 11th centuries is provided by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. However charters, law-codes and coins supply detailed information on various aspects of royal government, and the surviving works of Anglo-Latin and vernacular literature, as well as the numerous manuscripts written in the 10th century, testify in their different way…
After the Norman Conquest
Following the Norman conquest, many of the Anglo-Saxon nobility were either exiled or had joined the ranks of the peasantry. It has been estimated that only about 8% of the land was under Anglo-Saxon control by 1087. In 1086, only four major Anglo-Saxon landholders still held their lands. However, the survival of Anglo-Saxon heiresses was significantly greater. Many of the next generation of the nobility had English mothers and learnt to speak English at home. Some Anglo …
Life and society
The larger narrative, seen in the history of Anglo-Saxon England, is the continued mixing and integration of various disparate elements into one Anglo-Saxon people. The outcome of this mixing and integration was a continuous re-interpretation by the Anglo-Saxons of their society and worldview, which Heinreich Härke calls a "complex and ethnically mixed society".