Anglo American Literature - History

Origin

Bede, an Anglo-Saxon monk who wrote The Ecclesiastical History of the English People, gave the precise date of the first arrival of the Anglo-Saxons in 449AD with the three tribes: Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who themselves came from different parts of Germany and Denmark.

• Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded Britain, and the area they conquered was called England (From Angle-land).

The name 'Anglo-Saxon' comes from the fusion of the names of two of these peoples. The terms 'English' and 'England' come from a further shortening, all coming from the name of a small district in northern Germany, Angeln.

Language

The language that Anglo-Saxons used was Old English

Oral Tradition

Before the production of paper became popular, history and literature are passed down through storytelling.

Scops: In England, there are court poets who entertain people. They compose and perform their own works of poetry, and sometimes, they also serve as historians who preserve the history of the Germanic peoples.

Religion

The Germanic tribes that invaded Britain brought Paganism (5th century)

Missionaries from Italy & Ireland brought Christianity to Britain (End of 6th century)

Anglo-Saxon Literature

“Old English”

The purpose is to pass down the tribal history and values to an illiterate population.

Themes that are valorous heroes are often depicted and where violence and gore can also be observed.

• They believed that a good king has a lot of victories in battle, which meant that they experienced violence and gore.

Poetry

Beowulf  is an Old English poem known to be the ^^oldest surviving Germanic epic.^^ Beowulf uses languages such as alliteration, kenning, and archaic words. Two of the most popular poets during this time are Cynewulf and Caedmon.

Prose

Old English prose works include legal writings, religious texts, medical tracts, and translations from Latin and other languages.

• A historical record during the reign of King Alfred (871-899) called the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is also notable.
• Other popular prose are the legends about King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table read through Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte Darthur (1485)
• Sermo Lupi Ad Anglos which is an impassioned call to his countrymen to repent and reform in 1014 after Aethelred had been driven out by the Danish invasion of King Sweyn.