English history 3
In 911, another group of Germanic, Scandinavian people invaded the Northern province of France:
the Normans: (Northman)-----) Norse -----)Normandy
very adaptive people: they learnt French language and customs, and are Christianized.
Then they decided to invade England:
The Norman Conquest: 1066
William the Conqueror led the Norman invasion; he conquered England after the Battle of Hastings and
called himself the king of England.
Feudalism replaces the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy
King the master
| |
barrons and lords servant
|
knight vassals
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serfs
master gives trust, authority, and power to his subject
subject offers his services and his loyalty to his master
The Language:
1066---------300 years
Anglo-Norman (The Norman dialect of French spoken by the new rulers)
official language
language of the upper and ruling class
literary language
(the English natives continue to speak in English.)
From 1200, works appear with a mixture of the 2 languages; this is Middle English: English
language mixed with French words
Old English
|
Middle English: softer and smoother than Old English
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Modern English
The Danish Invasion and King Alfred
8th century-----200 years
Germanic invaders from Denmark and Norway: Vikings
their target was Northumbria: cultural center of England
the monasteries and libraries; they were after the gold and jewels ornamenting the manuscripts
King Alfred fought with them for 15 years made them go back
Alfred the Great: 871-99
king of Wessex
I- A great warrior: saved England from further destruction by the Danes
II- Contributed to English culture, literature, and learning:
A- pioneer of popular literacy and education
building the first schools for people
importing teachers from Europe
B- helped the development of English language
1- encouraged writing in English
2- translated works from Latin to Old English
3- Supervised translations from Latin to English
C- Ordered Anglo-Saxon Chronicle to begin (9-12th century)
An account of important events written in English
during his reign the cultural center of England shifted to Wessex
With Alfred, the poetic period of England ends and an age of prose begins
D- helped to preserve many works
before the invasion: ordered his men to make copies of Northumbrian books before the invasion.
after the invasion: he rewarded those who brought him the remainder of Northumbrian books.
E- welcomed European scholars in his court and set them to teach, translate, or write
III- brought peace, unity, and political stability
Old English Prose
Deeply influenced by the Church and Christianity
597: the English church produced hundreds of educated church; they wrote many books
non-fiction: history, religious, etc.,
they are educational
mostly written in Latin, the language of the church
Bede: first historian of the English people
Ecclesiastical History of the English People (in Latin)
information about the Old English period, the conversion and the English Church
Characteristics of Old English poetry
1- Much less verse than prose
2- Influence of the Church and Christianity
A- Literacy (knowing reading and writing) was limited to churchmen-----------) Large number of
Christian works:
the first Christian poets:
a- Caedmon
an illiterate shepherd inspired to compose poetry in a dream; turned the stories of the Bible to verse.
b- Cynewulf
B- mixture of pagan and Christian elements
a- In the originally oral heroic poems
597
oral folk epics are written down, often by monks in monasteries
pagan story, heroic values Christian allusions and values
b- In the new Christian poems written after 597
Christian stories and values
form and style belongs to pagan time, so are some of the values
epic genre
pagan, heroic values
heroic actions, characterization and mood
formal style
Reasons:
1) Some of these Christian poems were written by the missionaries trying to convert the Anglo-Saxons.
2) Some were written by the newly-converted Anglo-Saxons; the only form of poetry they knew was
heroic.
3- Didactic
oral times: after the Conversion:
pagan heroic virtues pagan and Christian values
4- Woman and romantic love almost absent
5- Atmosphere or mood: gloomy and dark
reasons:
subject: epics deal with a grim, harsh life of war, often with the prospect of defeat
the warrior has to so overcome so many problems & endure so much sorrow and continue striving
suggests the transience of life and the emptiness of worldly life and all worldly pleasures
6- Tone: speaker's attitude (idea and feeling) towards the story and the audience
serious, sad, and respectful
7- Upper class influence and taste
characters: kings and heroes
style and language: ornamented with figurative language
difficult, formal, and elevated
8- a kind of ironic understatement: litotes: one says sth by negating the opposite
a terrible place---------) not a pleasant place
9- Cacophony (caco: ugly; phone: sound)
harsh, discordant sounds; difficult to pronounce
e.g.: strength, strangle, stretch, scratch
reason: several consonants surrounding few vowels
10- Old English poetry continued to have the characteristics of oral poetry:
A- oral transmission
........................................ 597...........................................
oral transmission ...............................oral transmission continued because:
1- people were mostly illiterate.
2- manuscripts were costly and time-consuming.
B- Anonymity
anonymity ........... 597 ........... anonymity continued
composers’ names were forgotten literate poets writing their poems
after years of oral transmission rarely wrote their names in the work.
Reason: in oral cultures, the name of the poet is unimportant: the works is important, not the creator, and
it is believed that the work belong to the community.
C- Alliteration
e.g.: red rose, merry minstrel
597
Alliteration helped ..... Alliteration continued to be used .... Alliteration remained a part
in remembering the words because oral transmission continued of English language and literature
Verse form in Old English poetry: old alliterative verse
Accent / stress and alliteration
--------'------'-------. ||------'------'--
Each line is divided into 2 half-lines by a natural pause
Each half-line contains 2 strong stresses;
these stressed syllables are also variously linked by alliteration:
Cain's 'clan, | | whom the 'creator had 'outlawed
and 'condemned as 'outcasts.| | For the 'killing of 'Abel...
So 'Grendel 'raded || and 'ravaged the 'realm
11- Kenning
-----'w------w' -- || sea
(whale's road)
a formal, compound metaphor substituted for a noun
the need for alliteration------------) kenning
-----'l ------'l|| ------ ‘body
('life-case)
beowulf: bee-wolf (kenning for the bear)
With time, it became the favorite technique of Old English poets, who use it even when the words
alliterated and there was no need for a kenning. e.g. body=====) bone-case
sea=====) swan's path
t
12- Riddles
one of their favorite pastimes: short poems which were riddles
in the kennings: a riddle-like quality
in coining new words; e.g. rod-fasten for crucifixion
The Medieval Period
Medieval Period: 1- The Old English / Anglo-Saxon Period: 450-1066 A.D.
2- Middle English Period: 1066- 1485 A.D.
The Anglo-Saxon / Old English Period: 450-1066 A.D.
The Roman Dominance:
55 B.C.
Roman Invasion, led by Julius Caesar
43 A.D.
Roman Conquest, led by Emperor Claudius
The Romans named the country Britannia and the inhabitants Britannic
The original inhabitants were from the Celtic race: The Celts
The Romans brought Christianity with them, along with the basis of an urban life: roads, their
wonderful architecture, villas, public buildings, baths, garrisons, governors, etc.
410: Roman forces are withdrawn
The Anglo-Saxon Conquest: 450 A.D.
3 Germanic tribes coming from the North East of Europe--Denmark and North Germany--invade
Britain: The Angles, Saxons, and the Jutes
They were from the Germanic race.
great seamen, sailors, fishermen
great warriors
pagan: several gods and goddesses
tendency towards political division / disunity
largest independent political unit: family
chief / head
gradually several families united and formed a band
a head / chief
then several band united and formed a tribe
king / chief
---------) the coexistence of several tribes each with its own king
They divided Britain into 7 kingdoms: Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy
The Deep impact of the Anglo-Saxons on English culture:
Name of the country
Angla-lond------) Angla land-------) England
Names of the days of the week: Names of Germanic Gods :
Woden's day
Thor's day----Thursday
Frigg's day----Friday
Teus's day-----Teus
English language is rooted in the Germanic language.
the difference between British and English when talking about the Anglo-Saxon period:
British: the original Celtic inhabitants
English: the Germanic settlers
Their literature: Oral
genre: epics/ heroic poetry
narrative poem describing the great actions and braveries of a hero in battle as he tries to save his
people
The life and values of the Anglo-Saxons are reflected in their epics:
the sea-------a long voyage on sea
war--------main subject: war between 2 tribes; long passages describing the hero's battle with
enemies or monsters
the "heroic ideal" or code of behavior, embodied in the king; the men tried to imitate him-----seen
in the character of the epic-hero and taught by the epic
the heroic code:
strength
warlike courage and skill
endurance of sorrows and hardships
generosity
kinship: individual------ relatives
the King--------his men (the word king comes from kin, meaning a relative)
devotion, trust and loyalty, revenge or "man-price"
The King defended his people with all his might, even at the cost of his life-------the hero often
loses his life while saving his tribe or nation
Heroism was very important for the Germanic people:
reasons: material advantages
a special Paradise for heroes
some of them believed in no after life: heroic acts: a substitute for immortality-----) eternal fame
their heroes brave actions------) epics
epics were composed and sung by The minstrel / bard
played the lyre
primary minstrel or scop: could compose poetry
secondary minstrel: gleeman: could sing and play the lyre
multiple functions of the minstrel:
historical function: he preserves an account of past events and figures
artistic function: he turned historical events into poems
cheered up the warriors and gave them the courage and motivation to go on fighting
didactic function: they taught the heroic values to the young men through their stories
Beowulf:
the first, greatest and longest of Old English poems
a Scandinavian legend
Denmark------------Sweden
King Hrothgar
monster: Grendel
a story------) an oral poem------) written poem
The Anglo-Saxons had an alphabet, called runes, but never used it for writing more than a few words
The Conversion to Christianity
597 A.D. : the beginning of the Anglo-Saxon conversion
Saint Augustine arrives in Kent
Pope Gregory sent them.
They taught the Latin alphabet to the Anglo-Saxons so that they could read the religious texts.------)
the beginning of writing