Poem Analysis: A Gentle Parent's Love

History of English Language

• French, Italian, and Spanish are languages derived from Latin, known as Romance Languages in English.
• German, Dutch, and Flemish are West Germanic languages, derived from Proto-German.
• English is also a West Germanic language.
• A large percentage of Modern English vocabulary is derived from French and/or Latin, approximately 60%.

Historical Event: The Battle of Hastings

• The historical event that influenced English vocabulary is the Battle of Hastings in 1066, which led to the Norman Conquest of England.
• William of Normandy won the battle, and it marked the beginning of an Anglo-Norman elite in England.

Old English

• Old English refers to the language spoken before the 1066 Norman invasion.
• It is a Germanic language developed from the language of Germanic tribes that settled in Britain between the 5th and 7th centuries.
• Old English is largely unrecognizable as English due to its grammatical structure and vocabulary.
• It has little Latin influence despite the Roman occupation of Britain.
• Old English uses word endings (inflections) and some prepositions to convey meaning.

Old English Writing

• The earliest Old English writing did not use the alphabet, but instead used runes.
• Later, a modified alphabet was introduced by Irish Christian missionaries.
• Runes were used from the 5th to the 9th century, after which they fell out of use in England and gained a mysterious and magical image.

J.R.R. Tolkien and Old English

• J.R.R. Tolkien was a professor of Old English at the University of Oxford.
• He drew inspiration from Old English poetry and Anglo-Saxon culture for his books, including The Lord of the Rings.
• The people of Rohan in The Lord of the Rings speak Old English, and Aragorn introduces them with lines from the Old English poem "The Wanderer".

Old English Literature

• Much of Old English prose is Christian, including saints' lives, homilies, and translations from the Latin Bible.
• A notable exception is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a history of the Anglo-Saxon peoples written in the late 9th century.
• The chronicle was written under the reign of Alfred the Great, who launched an educational program in Old English, leading to many translations of Latin books into Old English.

Old English Poetry

• Old English poetry does not rhyme, but instead uses alliteration, where the alliteration must always happen on stressed syllables.
• The earliest manuscript of Old English literature dates back to around the 7th century.
• Kennings, compound words or expressions that convey an object using two or more words in a figurative way, are a characteristic feature of Old English poetry.

Features of Old English

• Old English has many kennings, which convey an object using two or more words in a figurative way.
• Examples of kennings include "whale-road" for the sea and "ring-giver" for a king.
• Old English poetry does not use rhyme, but instead uses alliteration and kennings to convey meaning.