Buchara state university m. Bakoeva, E. Muratova, M. Ochilova english literature

As soon as Romans left, Britain had to defend the country
from Germanic tribes cal led Angles, Saxons and Jutes. The Anglo-
Saxons were advanced people and by the time they conquered
Britain, they already had their own letters called “runes”, but still
no written literature existed yet; the stories and poems composed
at that time passed from one generation to another verbally. Songs
and tales sung and told by people when at work or at war, or for
amusement (folk-lore) became wide-spread. There were also

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professional singers called“bards”. They composed songs about 
events they wanted to be remembered. Their songs were about 
wonderful battles and exploits of brave warriors. These songs 
were handed down to their children and grandchildren and finally 
reached the times when certain people who were called “scribes” 
wrote them down. (The word “scribe” comes from the Latin 
“scribere”-“to write”).
Many old English poems glorified a real or imaginary hero and 
tried to teach the values of bravery and generosity. Poets used 
alliteration (words that begin with the same sound) and kennings 
(elaborate descriptive phrases). They also used internal rhyme, in 
which a word within a line rhymes with a word at the end of the 
line.
The first major work o f English literature is the epic poem 
“Beowulf’.
“ BeowulP’
The beautiful Anglo-Saxon poem “Beow ulf’ may be called 
the foundation-stone of all British poetry. It tells of times long 
before the Angles and Saxons came to Britain. There is no mention 
o f England in it. The poem was composed around 700 by an 
unknown author. This was about seventy years after the death of 
Mohammed and in the same age as the beginning o f the great 
Tang Dynasty in China.. Three hundred years later, about the year 
1 0 0 0
, the manuscript, which still survives, was written down by 
an unknown scribe. The poem presents the legendary history of 
the Anglo-Saxons, and its author might have been descended from 
the original tribes of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes who invaded Britain 
from the European continent in the fifth century: Those people 
spoke the Germanic language in which the poem is written. 
“Beowulf’ is 3182 lines long, approximately 80 or 90 pages in 
book length. The narrative itself falls into two halves: the first part 
takes place in Denmark where, coming to the aid of King Hrothgar, 
Beowulf fights the monster Grendel and Grendel’s mother. The 
second part is set in Southern Sweden where, after the death of

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King Hygelac and his son, Heardred, Beowulf has ruled in peace 
and prosperity for 50 years before being called upon to combat a 
dragon that has been terrorizing the country after having its 
treasure hoard looted. “Beowulf’ blends a fairy-tale narrative with 
considerable historical material. (Sweedish and Danish kings really 
ruled in the VI century).
The manuscript o f “Beowulf’ is in the British Museum, in 
London. It is im possible for a non-specialist to read it in the original, 
so it has bsen translated into modern English in the 20th century.