Introduction to Old English Literature PDF

INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LITERARY STUDIES 14 / 10 / 2024  INTRODUCTION …  The first literature in any culture is ORAL. The classic Greek epics of Homer, the Asian narratives of Gilgamesh and the Bhagavad Gita, the earliest versions of the Bible and the Koran were all...

INTRODUCTION TO ENGLISH LITERARY STUDIES 14 / 10 / 2024  INTRODUCTION …  The first literature in any culture is ORAL. The classic Greek epics of Homer, the Asian narratives of Gilgamesh and the Bhagavad Gita, the earliest versions of the Bible and the Koran were all communicated orally, and passed on from generation to generation – with variations, additions, omissions and embellishments until they were set down in written form, in version which have come down to us.  INTRODUCTION …  In English, the first signs of oral literature tend to have three kinds of subject matter: RELIGION, WAR, AND THE TRIALS OF DAILY LIFE – all of which continue as themes of a great deal of writing.  THE MIDDLE AGES the time span from the collapse of the Roman Empire (the 5th century) to the Renaissance and Reformation 1485, (the beginning of the Tudor dynasty, marks the end of the Middle Ages in England).  THE MIDDLE AGES 1) ANGLO-SAXON (OLD ENGLISH) LITERATURE (5th-11th cent.); 2) ANGLO-NORMAN LITERATURE (11th-13th cent.); 3) MIDDLE ENGLISH LITERATURE (14th and 15th centuries)  ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE  The Anglo-Saxon invaders, who began their conquest of Britain around 450 (mid-5th cent.), spoke an early form of what we know call Old English. In form and content Old English literature has much in common with other Germanic literatures with which it shared a body of heroic as well as Christian stories.  The main characters in BEOWULF are pagan Danes and Geats, and the only connection to England is a vague allusion to the ancestor of one of the kings of the Angles.  ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE  Allusion- a reference to something literary, mythological, or historical that the author assumes the reader will recognize.  INTRODUCTION …  From the 1st to the 5th century, England was a province of the Roman Empire and was named Britannia after its Celtic-speaking inhabitants, the Britons. They adapted themselves to Roman civilization. When the Romans withdrew from the island during the 5th century, the island was vulnerable to Germanic invaders who belonged to 3 related tribes (the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes).  The Anglo-Saxon occupation extended over decades of fighting against the native Britons.  INTRODUCTION …  The Britons had become Christians in the 4th century.  Before Christianity there had been no books.  In the centuries that followed the conversion, England produced many distinguished churchmen, like BEDE (Latin Ecclesiastical History of the English People – the story of the conversion and of the English church) and ALCUIN (8th century).  INTRODUCTION …  The Anglo-Saxon invaders brought with them a tradition of oral poetry (from the 5th century on).  All the texts in the oral tradition in Anglo-Saxon literature are POETRY.  Most poems are short; Beowulf is the only long epic poem. (epic = an extended narrative poem celebrating martial heroes)  (martial= = relating to fighting or war)  INTRODUCTION…  The earliest records of the English language are in manuscripts produced at monasteries and other religious establishments, beginning in the 7th century. Literacy was mainly restricted to munks and nuns; most of Old English literature deals with religious subjects and is mostly drawn from Latin sources.  Christian monks and nuns were, in effect, the guardians of culture, as they were virtually the only people who could read and write before the 14th cent.  INTRODUCTION…  The world described in Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry shares many characteristics with the heroic world described by Homer. Nations are represented as groups of people related by kinship (blood relationship; family connections, family ties) rather than by geographical areas, and kinship is the basis of the heroic code.  INTRODUCTION…  The tribe is ruled by a chieftain who is called king, a word that has ‘kin’ for its root. He leads his men in battle and rewards them with the stolen goods; royal generosity was one of the most important aspects of heroic behaviour. In return, these men are obligated to fight for their lord to the death, and if he is killed, to avenge him or die in the attempt. Blood vengeance is regarded as a sacred duty, and in poetry, everlasting shame awaits those who fail to observe it.  INTRODUCTION…  The world of this heroic poetry was already remote from the Christian world of Anglo-Saxon England. Nevertheless, Christian writers like the Beowulf poet were fascinated by the distant culture of their pagan ancestors and by the conflict between the heroic code and a religion that teaches that we should ‘forgive those who trespass against us’ and that ‘all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.’  ANGLO-NORMAN LITERATURE:  The changes already in progress in the language and culture of Anglo-Saxon England were greatly accelerated by the Norman conquest of 1066. The conquest resulted in new forms of political organization and administrations, architecture, and literary expression.  At the time, not only England but all of Western Europe became fascinated with a legendary hero named Arthur.  INTRODUCTION…  The Normans, who took possession of England after the Battle of Hastings (1066), were, like the Anglo-Saxons, descendants of Germanic adventurers, who at the beginning of the 10th century had seized a wide part of northern France.  The presence of a French speaking ruling class in England created exceptional opportunities for linguistic and cultural exchange. FOUR languages coexisted in the realm of Anglo-Norman England (English, Latin, French, Celtic languages)  INTRODUCTION…  Attraction to Celtic legends  Marie de France (12th century) – romance (Lanval)  Thomas of England, Marie and Chretien de Troyes were innovators of the genre that has become known as ‘romance’. (the word roman was initially applied in French to a work written in the French language.)  BEOWULF  The oldest of the great long, epic, poems written in English and the best known long text in Old English.  Some scholars assume it was written in the first half of the 8th century, and some say it was written in the 10th century.  The author is anonymous!  BEOWULF  Although the poem itself is English in language and origin, it does not deal with native Englishmen, but with their Germanic ancestors, especially with two Scandinavian tribes, the Danes and the Geats, who lived on the Danish island of Zealand and in southern Sweden.  BEOWULF  The historical period the poem concerns (if it refers to history at all!) is some centuries before it was written, a time after the invasion of England by Germanic tribes in the middle of the 5th century, but before the Anglo-Saxon migration was completed.  The poet’s references to quasi-historical and legendary material show that his audience was still familiar with many old stories which were present in other Germanic languages.  BEOWULF  It is believed that the author of Beowulf is a poet who was Christian, and that his poem reflects well-established Christian tradition.  The monster Grendel is said to be a descendant of Cain.  BEOWULF  Beowulf is a classic hero who comes from afar. He has defeated the mortal enemy of the area – the monster Grendel – and has thus made the territory safe for its people (the people and the setting are Germanic). It starts with a mention of ‘olden days’, looking back, as many stories do, to an indefinite past (‘once upon a time’), in which fact blends with fiction to make the tale.  BEOWULF - represents the beginning of heroic tradition, emphasizing strength and the territorial imperative. - Beowulf suggests what a hero is, and how important the hero is as a focus of public attention and admiration. - Irish poet Seamus Heaney translated Beowulf into modern English  BEOWULF  plot = the sequence of events that make up a story;  sub-plot = a part of the story which develops separately from the main story