A Critical History of English Literature, Volume 1

These flashcards cover key figures, literary movements, and works discussed in the provided English Literature notes, focusing on Anglo-Saxon and Middle English periods.

Who are considered the founders of what we can properly call English culture and English literature?

The Anglo-Saxon invaders.

What name referring to foreigners who were not part of Germania was used by the Anglo-Saxons to refer to the Celtic people?

"Welsh"

What is the language known as in which surviving Anglo-Saxon literature, detailing Germanic origins, is written?

Old English or Anglo-Saxon.

What type of verse characterizes Anglo-Saxon poetry?

Alliterative and stressed, without rhyme.

What are the names of the individuals credited with re-establishing the Christian church in Northumbria?

Aidan and his followers from Iona.

What are the names of the four manuscripts that contain nearly all of Anglo-Saxon poetry?

MS Cotton Vitellius A XV, The Junius Manuscript, The Exeter Book, and The Vercelli Book

What is the name of the Anglo-Saxon poem that is considered to be the autobiographical record of a scop?

Widsith

Which Anglo-Saxon poem is the only complete extant epic of its kind in an ancient Germanic language?

Beowulf

what are the two main parts that Beowulf falls into?

The first deals with Beowulf's visit to the court of King Hrothgar of Denmark, where he slays the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother. The second takes place fifty years later, when Beowulf is king of the Geats and faces a dragon.

What type of poem is Dew, and what is its subject?

An elegiac poem is the complaint of a minstrel who has been supplanted by a rival.

What two fragments make up the remainder of what we have of older Anglo-Saxon heroic poetry?

The Fight at Finnsburh and Waldhere.

What is the name of the technique seen in the name of Cynewulf's poems?

acrostic

What themes are handled in Christian poetry?

The Advent, the Ascension, and the Last Judgment.

What is the oldest surviving English poem in the form of a dream or vision?

The Dream of the Rood

What is the name of the Old English poem that describes a ruined city?

The Ruin

What event is celebrated in The Battle of Brunanburh?

The victory of Athelstan of Wessex and Eadmund against the combined forces of Olaf the Norseman, Constantine, king of Scots, and the Britons of Strathclyde.

What historical event does The Battle of Maldon describe?

One of the clashes between English and Danes that resulted from the latter's attacks on England, leading to Cnut (Canute)'s conquest in 1012.

What is King Alfred of Wessex known for in the history of English literature?

His program of translations from Latin into English, including works by Gregory the Great, Orosius, Bede, and Boethius.

What language replaced English at court after the Norman Conquest?

Norman French

What effect did the Norman Conquest have on Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse?

The rhymed verse of French replaced the Anglo-Saxon alliterative tradition, though there was a remarkable revival of alliterative verse in the fourteenth century.

What year did the English lose Normandy?

1204

Who translated Higden's Polychronicon from the Latin in 1385?

John of Trevisa

What language was introduced into the law courts in 1362?

English

Who translated the Dialogues of Gregory the Great?

Bishop Werferth of Worcester

Who was the great English scholar of the Benedictine reformation of the tenth century, known for his sermons and translations?

AElfric, abbot of Eynsham

What is the most popular of AElfric's works with the modern reader?

A set of Simple Latin dialogues (Colloquy) intended to teach Latin to boys in a monastic school.

What is the name of Geoffrey of Monmouth's work that first elaborated the Arthurian story?

Historia Regum Britanniae

What is another name for fabliau?

breton lais

What tradition do the satirical, amorous, irreverent, bacchanalian, and sometimes indecent lyrics belong to?

Goliardic tradition

What is the source of influence that allows the adaptation of the heroic style to biblical subjects?

The religious style from the earlier scop.