Chapter I Anglo-Saxon literature and culture

Caedmon's Hymn (historical relevance)

650, marks the beginning of the middle age.

Tudor dynasty+ print culture with William Caxton (historical relevance)

Marks the end of the middle ages, happens in 1485

1) Anglo Saxon period

2) Anglo Norman period

3) Late medieval period

these 3 stages form together the middle Ages. No need to know the dates.

Is middle age England a period of purity?

No, and it has never been ; the MA are characterized by cultural exchanges succeeding invasions

What are the six main invasions, also called influences of the English middle Ages?

1) Celtic heritage

2)Roman invasion and retreat

3) anglo-saxon settlement.

4) re-christianization of Britain

5) Viking raids

6) Norman conqueat

Speaking of Celtic culture, how can we describe them briefly?

1) diversity of

2)not United between Celtic tribes

3) gradually pushed to the periphery of England, causing these regions populated with celtic “ the Celtic fringe”

Henry VI (ca 1400)

first english-speaking king to ascend the throne since 1066

Speaking of the celtic culture, what is their main two legacies?

• linguistic legacy

• Cultural legacy

features of the linguistic legacy (3)

Gaelic language in Ireland

Gaelic language in scotland

Welsh in Wales.

features of the celtic cultural legacy ? (2)

There will be strong ties between Welsh, Irish, and Scottish in MA literatures, almost as if tere was one cultural tradition (not the case)

The second legacy are the motifs of fantasy, the magic (practiced by druids), stonehenge

On top of that, the motifs will be reactivated in later texts.

The main legacies of the roman settlement (3)

• Infrastructures, mainly roads and stone architecture (e.g. Hadrian’s Wall)

• Latin as the official language.

• Roman Alphabet introduced as efficient writing system.

References to roman ruins in old english/MA Literature

elegy

genre of poetry, expressing the feeling of loss and mourning, either through the death of a loved one or the awareness of transience and mortality.

the main legacies of the Anglo-Saxon invasions (3)

• The seven kingdoms established (Wessex, Mercia, Northumbia)

• West-Saxon dialect

• Germanic worldview

ca 40-400

Roman settlement

ca 450-600

Anglo-Saxon invasions

Germanic worldview

• brave warriors

• blood vengeance

• kinship ties

• King rewarding its most loyal followers, thus creating cohesion

• danger of nature & other humans

• linked to the genre of elegy

Alfred the great

(870-900)

• important king

• promotes education & the production of vernacular texts,

• military leader, united AS to fight the Vikings

Viking invasions

• go from 800-1066

• AS defeated at Battle of Maldon 1000 1066:

• Battle of Stamford Bridge → 1066: Battle of Hastings AS victory,

• end of Viking Age.

Battle of Maldon

ca 1000, Battle where the Viking defeated the Anglo-Saxons

Battle of Stamford Bridge

1066, the Anglo-Saxons defeated the Vikings, thus ending the viking invasions.

Battle of Hastings

• 1066,

• after the victory at stamford, the Anglo-Saxons rush to hastings to fight the anglo-Normans

• defeat of the Anglo-Saxons.

• Start of the Anglo-Norman period.

(re)christianization from West and South

600-700

Hiberno-Scottish mission

• 600-700

• UK/EU

• Mission : introduce christianity to royal houses but also common people

• Women forming/leading communities (double) monastic houses.

Gregorian mission

• 600-700

• South of England

• Mission : introduce christianity to royal houses but also common people

• Women forming/leading communities (double) monastic houses.

Hild(a) of Whitby

• Anglo-Saxon abbess and a key figure in early Christianity in Britain.

• founded her own monastic community

Legacy of the christian missions (600-700), (2)

1. literacy & Latin manuscripts at monasteries (scriptorium)

   • texts on animal skins + ‘miniatures

     • Mix of Greek, Roman spelling/Latin text & Celtic/Germanic motif → appeal to everyone

2. Christian worldview yet 2-way interaction with heroic values

   • warriors christianized, Christ/saints as warriors

Old english

• language of Germanic settlers in British Isles

• ca 450-1150.

• only equivalent of 30 novels, ‘hapax legomenon’ common.

hapax legomenon

A hapax legomenon is a word or phrase found only once in a specific manuscript, text, or language, such as in Old English writings. It refers to a rare word that does not appear again in the same corpus.

In old english, there are only 30 novels written in OE, explaining the phenomenon.

Features of old english

1. Mix of latin alphabet and a few unique letters þ =(th), ð = (th), æ = ash (cat),

2. typical consonant clusters: hw > wh, hr, hl…

3. Letters pronounced as written :

4. Core vocabulary still used in everyday english.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

year-by-year record of the nation’s affair.

Started by Alfred the great’s time (9th century)

Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People

• 650

• not a chronicle but a providential history: unfolding of God’s plan.

• The history has one direction, which is to unfold god’s plan.

• Yorkshire cowherd (Cædmon) learns to sing at a feast after a dream vision in which an angel asks him to sing about the Creation, 9 lines = his “Hymn”,

• earliest surviving poem in any form of English language

• Debate about the nature of the text

Debate about Caedmon’s Hymn

• allegorical text of this individual “reflect the reluctance of the Anglo-Saxons people to embrace Christianity?

Caedmon’s Hymn features typical of OE

• (letters, consonant clusters, inflections, compounds)

• also embodies the typical features of OE literature (see the second course)

3 noticeable features of Caedmon’s Hymn

1. often presented as an “oral fragment” miraculously survived yet Bede’s text only preserves Latin paraphrase + OE poem in margins may be a later translation of B’s text, not “true original”

2. presented as if literature created by a remarkable individual from outside monastery closely tied to liturgy & famous monastery timing → not a coincidence? see synod of Whitby ca 650 “should church in England follow Irish or Roman example?” so this miraculous story comes at the right time and place

3. erasure of role of Whitby & abbess Hild. Erases nuances. AS women ruled, owned land, no forced marriage…