Old English Language History PDF

and English literature Timeline history of English 55BC 450 AD 6th c. 8th – 11th 1066 1500-1800 1800 - today Roman invasion (5th c.) Christianity Viking invasions Norman inva...

and English literature Timeline history of English 55BC 450 AD 6th c. 8th – 11th 1066 1500-1800 1800 - today Roman invasion (5th c.) Christianity Viking invasions Norman invasion Early Modern Modern English (Latin) Germanic migration (Latin, Greek, (Scandanavian (French, Latin). English (Old English, Hebrew) languages Anglo-Saxon) Old Norse) human, animal, dental, decimal, digital, library, manual, solar, military, science, station, lunar, factory above, again, apple, bad, good, cake, eat, drink, beef, pork, veal, feet, arm, continue, liberty, boy, girl, justice, journey, people, house, hand very English The language we know today developed from Anglo-Saxon, the language brought by invading Germanic and Viking tribes. The natives of Briton were called Celts and spoke Celtic language, which today still survives in modern versions of Welsh, Irish gaelic and Scottish gaelic. Most basic words in English today are descendent from Anglo-Saxon: man, woman, work, eat, house. The Vikings spoke a language similar to the Anglo-Saxons (all Germanic languages). They added words such as give, take, leg, dirt 3 waves of migration that influenced the English language Before the Romans arrived – Native Celts Celts oppressed by Romans Roman Empire crumbles, Romans pull back to Angles, Saxons, Jutes 5th Rome. c. Celts cannot hold back Picts, Scots, ask Germanic tribes for help. Germanic tribes aid and invade, push Celts back to Wales, Ireland. Christianity 6th Add to the lexicon. c. Christian missionaries arrive. Add to the lexicon. Vikings invaders. Add to lexicon. Old English. 1066 Norman invasion. Middle English Goodbye Romans Vikings 8th-11th c. Germanic invasions 5th c. Arrival of three Germanic tribes: Angles Saxons Jutes Around 430AD, the ambitious Celtic warlord Vortigern invited the Jutish brothers Hengest and Horsa (from Jutland in modern-day Denmark), to settle on the east coast of Britain to form a bulwark against sea raids by the Picts, in return for which they were “allowed” to settle in the southern areas of Kent, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Other Germanic tribes soon began to make the short journey across the North Sea. The Angles (from a region called Angeln, the spur of land which connects modern Denmark with Germany) gradually began to settle in increasing numbers on the east coast of Britain, particularly in the north and East Anglia. The Frisian people, from the marshes and islands of northern Holland and western Germany, also began to encroach on the British mainland from about 450 AD onwards. Still later, from the 470s, the war-like Saxons (from the Lower Saxony area of north-western Germany) made an increasing number of incursions into the southern part of the British mainland. Over time, these Germanic tribes began to establish permanent bases and to gradually displace the native Celts.  The coming of Christianity St. Augustine and his 40 missionaries from Rome brought Christianity to the pagan Anglo-Saxons of the rest of England in 597 AD. They introduced the more rounded Roman alphabet (much as we use today), which was easier to read and more suited for writing on vellum or parchment than the runes. Latin was only a minor influence on the English language at this time, being largely restricted to the naming of Church dignitaries and ceremonies. The Celts and the early Anglo-Saxons used (priest, vicar, altar, mass, church, bishop, pope, nun, an an alphabet of runes, angular characters originally developed for scratching onto gel, verse, baptism, monk, eucharist, candle, temple an wood or stone. d presbyter came into the language this way). Timeline history of English Stages in the development of English The Anglo-Saxon The Viking settlements Kingdoms 5th c. 8th c. Old English About 400 Anglo-Saxon texts survive from this era, including many beautiful poems, telling tales of wild battles and heroic journeys. The oldest surviving text of Old English literature is “Cædmon’s Hymn”, which was composed between 658 and 680, and the longest was the ongoing “Anglo- Saxon Chronicle”. But by far the best known is the long epic poem “Beowulf”.  Old English Also called Anglo-Saxon English Anglo-Saxons were Germanic tribes Roman Britannia. They loved war and fought fierce battles but enjoyed singing and merry-making. Religion  Characteristics: reflect their belief in the importance of war, bravery, courage, heroism, immortality and glorious death. sad events or cruel situations more common than happy Anglo-Saxon events believed that fate determines all poetry Types: Personal and elegiac poems, lyrics and epic poems  A poem written in response to the death of a person. What is an Form – the speaker expresses grief and sorrow, then praise and admiration of the dead and finally Elegy? consolation and solace. Example: “In Memory of W.B. Yeats” by W.H. Auden  A long, serious poem that tells a story about an What is an important event, like war, often about adventures of a brave man fighting an enemy on the battlefield. Epic? Examples: the Ancient Greek Illiad, the Odyssey, Dante’s Divine Comedy, John Milton’s Paradise Lost.  A poem originally meant to be sung. Expresses What is a poets thoughts and feelings. lyrical poem? Examples: The Wanderer, The wife’s complaint  Largely use made of: Alliteration – two or more consecutive words beginning with the same sound. Example: love’s labour’s lost Linguistic Rhyme – when two or more lines end with the same sound. Example: characteristics Metaphors – direct comparison of two opposite things Example: Juliet is the sun (Shakespeare’s R&J) OLD ENGLISH - famous works 1. Beowulf Summary epic: Beowulf, hero of the Geats in Scandanavia comes to the aid of King Hroogar of Denmark, whose mead hall has been under attack by a monster known as Grendel. After Beowulf kills him, his mother attacks the hall and is then also defeated. Victorious Beowulf goes home to Geatland in Sweden and later becomes king of the Geats. Fifty years later, he defeats a dragon but is fatally wounded in the battle. After his death, he is buried in a tumulus, a burial mound in Geatland. A Mead hall  Activity l.710 – 714 Grendel reaches Heorot Then under veils of mist came Ða com of more | under misthleoþum Grendel Grendel gongan, | godes yrre bær. from the moor; he bare God's anger, mynte, se manscaða | manna the criminal meant to entrap some cynnes, one sumne besyrwan | in sele þam of the race of men in the high hall. hean· Questions 1. What is one way that OE is similar to modern English? 2. Can you see any words that are the same to today or close to the same as today’s English? 3. What are some unique letters that are used? 4. What does it sound like to you? Difference between OE verse and modern English Old English verse pattern is made up of half-lines, each of which contains two stresses, but not a fixed number of syllables. With a caesura between the halves; a sentence may end mid- line. Lines do not rhyme; internal rhyme is a rare device for special effect. Stressed words alliterated, but not in the modern sense. 2. Genesis A and Genesis B Gensis B is concerned with the beginning of the world and the fall of the angels and the fall of man. Eve is tempted by a serpent. Satan is a central character with a monologue, similar to John Milton’s 17th c epic, Paradise Lost. Genesis A begins before biblical Genesis – with the creation of heaven and the angels and Satan'. Eve is motivated by the desire to be more god-like. 3. Caedmon’s hymn Now the words of the Father of Glory must honour the guardian of heaven, the might of the architect, and the minds of his purpose, the work of the Father of Glory – as He is the beginning of wonders (and He) established, the eternal Lord, He first created for the children of Earth Heaven as a roof, the holy creator Then the middle-earth, the guardian of mankind, the eternal Lord, afterwards appointed, for men among the Lands, the Lord Almighty.  First English poet Who was Caedmon? A poor, illiterate farmhand at Whitby, a monastry founded in 657. One night an angel came to him in a dream and told him to sing praises to God. Caedmon refused, claiming that he could not sing but the visitor would not leave. He requested Caedmon to sing of God’s creation. To Caedmon’s surprise he sang beautifully in praise of God’s creation. He fixed the song in his mind and from this divine inspiration he began to write religious poetry. King Alfred the Great King of Wessex 871 – 899 Translated Latin into Old English – ideals of Christianity Improved Education and established the first English public schools