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

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barrons and lords servant

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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

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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