LECTURE 1
OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE
Plan
1. Historical background. The Making of England
2. Beowulf: The Oldest English Epic
3. Old English Poetry: The Seafarer. The Wanderer
4. Early Christian Literature: Bible story in Old English Verse. Caedmon, Bede, Cynewulf, King Alfred
1. Historical background. The Making of England
England was a dwelling place of men long before the dawn of history. Its preliterary history begins, about the close of the Bronze Age, with the occupation of nearly the entire island by the Joidels, a Celtic-speaking people from Europe. Later they were expelled by the Brythons, another Celtic-speaking people from the Continent. Some of them left traces that have lasted to our day – monuments, graves filled with rude implements, a few inscriptions. In the course of centuries they were absorbed by stronger races, sweeping in waves from the continent – the Celts, the Romans and, later, by the hordes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes. The old Greek and Roman culture was long in reaching the races that one day were to form the nations of modern Europe. Britain was a colony of Rome of Caesar’s invasion (55bc). The Roman legions withdrew at the beginning of the fifth century leaving a few Latin words in Old English, a few monuments to remind of colonizers who drained marshes, built roads, established a great export of trade. When the Romans left, they were forgotten by the Celts, who swarmed back from Scotland and Wales and who were conquered in the last half of the fifth century by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes who were at last to lay the foundations of the English nation.
Anglo-Saxon or Old English period (from the 5th century to 1066) in the history of English literature is characterized by oral transmission, emphasis on strength, fame and glory, somber view of life which to Anglo-Saxons was a struggle against both nature and man. According to their belief Wyrd, the goddess of destiny ruled every man’s life.
In this period of migrations and the clashing of tribes, there was little national feeling or culture.
But these tribes had ballads and legends from which literature was to be made. There were no books; wandering minstrels visited various tribal centers and praised the reigning chief in song.
Many influences went into the making of English literature. Celtic legends, partly pagan and partly Christian, influenced the development of the story of King Arthur and his Knights. Anglo-Saxon legends made up the texture of Beowulf. The history of English literature is not merely a chronicle of authors and their works. Thousands of songs have perished; only a few books have survived.
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