Super Short Summary - Chapter II - Anglo Saxon Period

[alert-success] HEL - William J. Long [/alert-success]

[alert-warn] UNIT II : ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD[/alert-warn]

[alert-primary] Super Short Summary [/alert-primary]

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         Our literature begins with songs and stories of our Teutonic ancestors on the North Sea. The Jutes, Angles, and Saxons conquered Britain in the fifth century and founded England. First a Jutes tribe led by Hengist and Horsa landed. Most historians accept 449 as the date.

• These ancient warriors and seafarers had deep and noble emotions. 
• Their poetry shows their duality. 
• Its subjects were the sea, plunging boats, battles, adventure, brave deeds, warrior glory, and home. 
• Their poetry had a martial rhythm from accent, alliteration, and line breaks. 
• The poetry is generally earnest, sombre, and religious. 
• A careful reading of the few remaining fragments of Anglo-Saxon literature reveals five striking characteristics:

1. a love of freedom, 
2. strong religious convictions
3. a belief in Wyrd, or Fate, 
4. reverence for womanhood
5.  a devotion to glory as a warrior's ruling motive.

 IMPORTANT ANGLO-SAXON WORKS

1. Beowuf is the first English epic. It describes Beowulf's exploits and death.
2. Widsith is an old English composition . It consists of 150 verses. It recounts Widsith's wanderings. Widsith tells of his wanderings, singing in feudal halls where men loved his songs and gave him gifts. Widsith recounts the hero's travels.
3. Waldera is another Old English composition. 63 lines. These lines recount Walter's exploits.

4. Deor: Another early poem. Deor's Lament or Deor's Complaint. It's a minstrel's manly lament. A scholar calls it the first English lyric. Deor's chief's household. He's happy until a rival unseats him. But the singer tells himself to keep going. This poem emphasises stoic resignation. Lyrical. 

5. Judith: It's great Anglo-Saxon religious poetry.

6.Ruin: It's an elegy. A traveller mourns a deserted city.

7. The Wanderer: It's also an elegy. The Wanderer expands Ruin's mourning to the human world.

8. The Seafarer: It's an elegy. The Seafarer describes sea dangers and beauty.

9. The Wife’s Complaint & The Husband’s Complaint:These pieces deal with love-passion. 

10. Wulf & Eaduacer: Another Anglo-Saxon composition. Early dramatic monologue.

Important Anglo-saxons

Caedmon is the first English poet.
Cynewulf is unknown. Anglo-Saxon poet.
King Alfred invented English prose. He drove Danish from England. In Wessex, he wrote prose. The greatest Anglo-Saxon king.
Aelfric was religious. His grammar is well-known.
Bede was a monk and scholar at Jarrow. He wrote in Latin.
Aldhelm and Wulfstan were important Anglo-Saxons.

Northumbrian literature flourished between 650 and 850. In the year 867 Northumbria was conquered by the Danes, who destroyed the monasteries and the libraries containing our earliest literature.

 The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is the most important piece of prose from this time period. Alfred changed and added to it, and it was kept going for more than two hundred years. It is the oldest history book written in the language of any European country. 

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