Old and Middle English literature

Important Historical and Cultural Events of the Anglo-Saxon Period

• 6th-11th century

• Romans left England in the 5th century (410) → Anglo-Saxon tribes conquer Britain

• St. Augustine brings Christianity to England

  • baptizes the king

  • Pagan → Christianity - tried to convince them that Christianity is closely related to their culture

    • Halloween

    • multiple gods vs. one god

    • respecting nature

    • tree of life

  • 601 | the anglo saxons relapsed after the first gen of christian kings died

  • Irish Christianity was largely influential in Britain

• 625 | Ship-burial at Sutton Hoo → parallel to what we read in the first 52 lines of the poem Beowulf

• 793-95 | Viking raids on Lindisfarne, Jarrow and Iona → end of the first period of Anglo-Saxon culture and literature in Latin

• 1066 | The Norman Conquest

  • brought about French inlfuence on the language (mostly vocabulary)

Old English Literature

• language: Germanic roots, with Latin and Norse influences

• almost all texts are studied as literature (historical texts, religious prose, scientific, theological and philosophical writings included)

• small group of actual contemporary readers/listeners (they were not reading for enjoyment but for practical reasons)

• based on oral tradition → found in manuscripts (codices)

  • Exeter Book

  • Vercelli Book

• alliterating line: the next syllable begins with the same consonant of the previous word ended on (e.g.: narrow nightwatch)

  • it was easy to remember in oral tradition

• ceasura: the line in the middle of the verse = pause (indicates where to breath)

• kenning: figurative phrase (metaphor) used instead of a common noun → makes to poem more engaging for the listereners

OE Prose

• Rich collection of prose of Anglo Saxon/ Old English lit. compared to other European languages in the first millenium

• translations of Latin works but added their own ideas → updated the text

• chronologically organized

OE Poetry

• germanic people have been producing it since forever

• oral tradition

• later→ versifying biblical stories and saints’ lives

• none of them are purely pagan

• all old english poems are preserved in 10th century manuscripts

• genre:

  • Heroic poems: Beowulf, The Battle of Maldon, The Battle of Brunanburh

  • Elegiac poems: The Seafarer, The Wanderer

  • Meditative religious poems: The Dream of the Rood 

  • Biblical phrases, verses on saints’s lives, charms

Heroic Poetry

• part of common germanic heritage

  • characteristics of the germanic heritage: legends, verse making, style, verse form (4-stress alliterative lines) 

• Shorter heroic lays and long epic are transformed by Christian literacy

• They were only preserved by chance → Beowulf survived in a book about monsters

Beowulf

• Longest complete germanic primary epic from the early middle ages

• 3182 lines

• Topics include:

  • the image of the ideal germanic king/ war leader

  • conflict between the requirements of the ideal and the possibilities of life

  • fate

  • individual glory and the good of the community

• Story:

  • Beowulf → young Geatish hero

  • nephew of king Hygelac, comes to the aid of the Danish and their King Hrothgar, and defeats the monster Grendel (no weapons)

  • Grendel’s mother seeks revenge against him and attacks Heorot but ultimately she too is slayed by Beowulf

  • Beowulf becomes king and reigns peacefully until a thief steals a cup from a dragon’s hoard and the dragon burns Heorot

  • Beowulf now an old man confronts and defeats the dragon but succumbs to his injuries sustained in the battle

  • He names Wiglaf (whoever that is) as his heir and requests a monument to be built in his honor

• Some of the characters are known from historical sources although not the hero

• Composed in the 8th-10th century

• shares both christian and pagan elements

• heroic poems also preserved the memory of leaders in oral form and aimed to set an example for what a good leader should be, also provided entertainment to the war band after battles during celebrations

• stylistic characteristics: 

  • scenes depicting formal events, imagined world, elaborate poetic speeches, slow narration, everydays are not featured, women have a marginal role just as love does

  • Compounding: the usage of multiple modifiers to describe a single noun

  • Kenning: form of compound where at least one element is metaphorical

  • Variation: simple syntax is being loaded with synonyms

  • 4-stress alliterative line: consisting of 2 half lines with a caesura between them, alliteration connecting the 2 halves. Only used in Old English poetry

Important Historical and Cultural Events of the Middle English Period (1066-1450)

• Begins with the Norman Conquest.

• Language: Middle English (fusion of Anglo-Saxon and Norman French)

• Rise of the feudal system and courtly culture

• Literature becomes more varied: religious texts, romances, lyric poetry, allegories, fabliaux

• life ~ pilgrimage

  • people are familiar with death because it surrounds them

The Romance (Middle English)

• Middle English romances are narrative poems focused on the adventures, virtues, and inner struggles of noble or chivalric figures

• The term “romance” originally referred to works written in the vernacular Romance languages (lke Old French), rather than Latin

• English romances were heavily influenced by French and Breton originals but evolved into distinct forms, often incorporating Christian, Celtic, and folkloric elements

Characteristics

• Chivalric Ideals: Honor, bravery, loyalty, courtesy, especially toward women

• Quest Motif: The hero often undergoes a journey or trial to prove worth

• Supernatural Elements: Magical creatures, enchanted objects, or mystical lands are frequent

• Moral Testing: Characters face internal and external challenges that reveal their moral or spiritual quality

• Love and Courtship: Romance often portrays idealized love, but also explores betrayal, loyalty, and virtue in romantic relationships

• Christian Influence: Many romances blend secular knightly themes with Christian morality or symbolism
  

Examples

• Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Sir Orfeo

Lyric Poetry (Middle English)

• Emerged c. 1250 onwards, distinct from earlier Old English verse

• Lyric poems were typically short, musical, and emotional, meant to be sung or recited with instrumental accompaniment

• Reflect the rise of individual voice and personal devotion in poetry

• Influences: French troubadour poetry, Latin hymns, and folk songs

Secular Lyrics

• Themes: Romantic love, courtship, springtime, longing, separation, and often playful or sensual tone

• Focus on personal emotion, often using natural imagery (birds, blossoms, rain)

• Sometimes dramatized as a dialogue between lovers or as monologues of yearning

Religious Lyrics

• Often directed to Christ or the Virgin Mary, reflecting deep devotion

• Topics: Nativity, Passion, sin, repentance, and salvation

• Frequently use the Virgin Mary as a courtly lady figure—blending courtly love with spiritual reverence

• Aimed to guide the soul, encourage meditation, or express penitence

• example: The Dream of the Rood - combines heroic epic tone with Christian symbolism, the Cross speaks as a loyal warrior, bearing Christ in battle

Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)

• Considered the father of English literature

• Wrote during a cultural golden age (with Langland, Gower, and the Gawain poet)

• Worked in public service, traveled widely, and was influenced by French, Latin, and Italian literature

• He helped elevate English to a literary language alongside Latin and French

• used vernacular language (spoken)

  • wrote in Middle English vernacular NOT in Latin or French

• first poet to be buried in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey

The Canterbury Tales

• Framed narrative: Pilgrims traveling to Canterbury to visit the shrine of St. Thomas Becket

  • structural parallel with Bocaccio’s Decameron

  • pilgrims are departing from Tabard Inn → Canterbury Cathedral

• Each pilgrim tells tales for entertainment → social cross-section of medieval life (social criticism)

  • nobles

  • clergy

  • merchants

  • peasants

• Genres used: romance, fabliau, exemplum, saint’s life, sermon, beast fable, allegory

• Written in Middle English in iambic pentameter, mostly in rhymed couplets

• collection of 24 stories

• over 17.000 lines

• first person to talk is the Knight → everything he says is undermined by the Miller, who is the next to speak

• characters are in constant interaction

The Wife of Bath’s Tale

Prologue

• the Wife of Bath had 5 husbands → establishes herself as the authority on marriage

• argues that Old Testament figures (Abraham, Jacob, Salomon) had multiple wifes

• even if virginity is important, someone must be procreating so that virgins can be created = virginity is overrated

• sexual power as an instrument → controls her husbands

• 3 good and 2 bad husbands

• experience is her guide

• backs up her arguments with quotations form Scripture ~ churchmen, scholars

  • most of them are not relevant to her point though

  • mockery of churchmen

• the first feminist charcater?

• she lets her true feelings shown → begins to react to her own story

• sensitive about her age → psychological depth, becomes more realistic, sympathetic, compelling

• retains deep fondness for the 1 man she could not control

• calls attention to her habit of lying twice in her speech

Overview and some analysis

• days of King Arthur - faries, elves → these creatures are gone & their spots have been taken by friars and mendicants

  • the friars rape women and cause dishonor

• a knight rapes a young maiden

  • the court decrees that the knight should be put to death by decapitation

• Arthur’s queen & other ladies ask the king to give the knight another chance to save his own life

  • the queen presents the challenge: within one year, discover what women want most in the world and report his findings back to the court → a quest = purification

• the knight asks every woman he meets, but everyone answers differently

• the knight meets an ugly old woman → pldeges himself to her & they travel together to the court (she promises him that she knows the answer to the question)

  • the knight tells the answer in front of the court → what women desire most is to be in charge of their husbands and lovers

• the old lady asks the knight to marry her → the knight is forced to consent ~ similar to how the knight raped the maiden - the knight is raped in a sense

• they marry in a small, private wedding → go to bed the same night = most intimate moment

• the knight is repulsed by his wife → the old lady offers 2 options for the knight:

  • he can have her be ugly but loyal and good

  • he can have her young and fair but also coquettish and unfaithful

• the knight leaves the choice to her → gives her what women most desire: authority

  • she becomes both young and good

• trasnformation of the old hag to a young maiden was well-known in folk legend and poetry

• The Wife of Bath only arrives at the conclusoon that “beauty is within” accidentally

• the old hag might represent the Wife of Bath herself

  • she has aged but is capable of display vigor and inner beauty of her youth

• superficiality of the knight

• golden age of King Arthur → was more perilous and more full of opportunity for women

  • matriarchy - the queen decides

Analysis

• prologue - vernacular Middle English

  • vivid conversation with the other characters

• challenges the Bible based on her experience

• stereotypes of women: talkativity (giving opinion on things she does not have knowledge about)

• challenges male authority

• argues that procreation should also be pleasurable

  • unexpected of Medieval times women

• takes on the role of a married woman and challenges the role of the whore (women who married multiple times)

• down-to-earth attitude

• protofeminist

• equality, authority

The Miller’s Tale

• A comic, bawdy tale following the noble Knight’s Tale

• Set in Oxford; tells the story of John the carpenter, his young wife Alison, and her suitors Nicholas and Absalom

• this story’s main character is a good-looking and poor boy, Nicholas who fell in love with his landlord’s (Carpenter John) wife, Alisoun

• Alisoun is a beautiful, young lady 

• Nicholas persuades Alisoun to spend the night with him, even though she tries to be loyal to her husband (Nicholas only must tell a few nice words to convince her)

• Nicholas also persuades John that he is sick and when John visits the ill, he convinces John that he had a vision about a second flood, that is coming on Monday

• John believes him and he wants to spend the night in a tub which is hanging on the ceiling on his barn

• Absolon, who is a young parish clerk is also in love with Alisoun 🡪 he appears in the window when Nicholas and Alisoun lie together

• Absolon begs for a kiss, but Alisoun does not love him 🡪 she sticks her rear end out the window in the dark and Absolon kisses that 🡪 he gets mad

• Absolon goes back to the town to get a red-hot poker and begs for another kiss 🡪 this time Nicholas sticks his rear end out the window but instead of a kiss, Absolon brands him on the buttocks

• Nicholas cries for water because it is burning him 🡪 John (who is sleeping in a tub) hears that and thinks that the flood is here so he cuts the rope which connected the tub to the ceiling and breaks his arm

• Nicholas and Alisoun make everybody think that the carpenter is crazy
  

Themes

• Sexual mischief, trickery, and social inversion

• Mockery of courtly love and learned men

• Morality and justice are overturned

Style

• Colloquial, humorous, fast-paced

• Filled with puns, double meanings, and farce

• Contrast to Knight’s elevated tone