The Anglo-Saxon Period 449-1066

Islands Invaded

The relatively small group of islands now known as Great Britain have been invaded and settled many times: first by ancient people we call the Iberians, then by the Celts, the Romans, the Angles and Saxons, the Vikings, and the Normans. Whatever we think of as British today owes something to each of these invaders.

http://www.cis.edu.vn/en-us/showarticle.aspx?id=511

Land of the Angles

The language of the

Anglo-Saxons gave this

land its name-Engla land,

or England. During this

period a distinct form of

English literature

developed and helped to

define the English national

character.

History of the Times

The collapse of the Roman Empire left Britain, its northernmost province, vulnerable to invasion. Angle and Saxon invaders imposed their warrior culture on the island for six centuries. Divided at first into clans, the Anglo-Saxons were later united under Alfred the Great.

http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/bios/alfred.html

The Warrior King

This period of English history is distinguished by the role of the warrior-king and his close-knit group of followers. Before the ninth century, when King Alfred united the Anglo-Saxon clans, England was the site of nearly constant invasions and battles. Not until Alfred led the Anglo-Saxons against the invading Danes did England became in any true sense a nation.

The Influence of Christianity

During this period, the spread of Christianity also helped unify the Anglo-Saxons. Although it was introduced to Britain at the end of the Roman occupation, Christianity took centuries to establish itself as the main religion. Ireland's Christian monks and missionaries from continental Europe began to spread their beliefs to England during the fifth century.

http://www.osmungifts.com/irish-celtic-wall-cross/

Pagan or Country Religion

Elements of pagan religions persisted throughout Britain, especially in more remote areas, yet by the late seventh century Christianity had almost entirely replaced other systems of belief. Christianity offered Anglo-Saxon people the hope of a more palatable afterlife, a comfort considering their difficult earthly existence. It also provided a common system of morality and conduct that helped to unite the different local groups throughout Britain.

http://magickblog.stormjewelsgifts.com/magickal-articles/celtic-paganism-and-the-tree-of-life/

Literature of the Times

Little evidence survives of Anglo-Saxon oral poetry, which was primarily used for telling stories and reciting magic. True English literature did not develop until Caedmon, an illiterate cowherd, began composing his own religion-inspired poetry in his native tongue. Before the sixth century there is no evidence that the Anglo-Saxons composed anything in their own language. http://www.earlybritishkingdoms.com/adversaries/bios/caedmon.html

Poetic Devices

When Old English poetry did finally blossom, it became distinctive in several ways. Alliteration, or the use of repeated consonant sounds, gives the poetry a musical quality. Bards, whom the Anglo- Saxons called scops, relied on sound devices to help them remember their tales, and they repeated phrases and images that audiences would expect and understand.

Unique Descriptions

Single ideas are often repeated throughout a poem to create a layered effect in which each appearance adds a new depth of meaning to the whole. The kenning, a metaphor expressed as a compound noun-such as "whale-path" for the sea-is also Anglo-Saxon in origin and represents the literature's unique power of description.

The Anglo-Saxon Bard

For the Anglo-Saxons, creating poetry was as important as fighting, hunting, farming, or loving. For the non-Christian Anglo-Saxons, whose religion offered no hope of an afterlife, only fame and its commemoration in poetry could provide a defense against death. Perhaps this explains why the Anglo- Saxon bards, gifted with the skill to preserve fame in the collective memory, were honored members of society.

Great Epics

Anglo-Saxon literature

shares common themes

and ideals of conduct. The

epic poem Beowulf reflects

a society that esteemed

loyalty, strength, and

courage; and considered

fame and glory the noblest

end of a warrior.

http://suvudu.com/files/2011/02/Beowulf.jpg

First Manuscripts

Many people consider the epic

poem Beowulf to be the shining

star of Old English literature. It

was composed during the early

eighth century, first recorded

in writing nearly three hundred

years later, and printed in 1815.

The only surviving manuscript

is from around the year 1000.

http://geopolicraticus.wordpress.com/2009/09/24/buried-treasure/

Tales of Heroes

In meter, style, and theme Beowulf adheres to the Germanic heroic tradition, yet it represents the core values of Anglo-Saxon culture. Another example of Anglo-Saxon literature is The Exeter Book, the largest collection of Old English poetry in existence. It was first compiled in writing around 975, includes nearly one hundred riddles, and exhibits other, diverse styles of early poetry.

http://www.suffolkskald.webs.com/

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

Historical poems were another important genre of the time. These poems served as a historical record and were collected in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a chronological account of events that begins with the Anglo-Saxon period and extends to Norman-controlled England. The seven manuscripts remain a primary source of early English history.

http://www.suffolkskald.webs.com/

Historical Highlights

The Romans invade Britain in 55 B.C. and create a four-hundred year period of political stability.

King Alfred and his descendants unite Anglo-Saxon England in the late ninth century.

William the Conqueror defeats the Anglo-Saxons in 1066 and introduces feudalism to Britain.

In 1215, English barons force King John to sign the Magna Carta in an attempt to curb the king’s power.

In 1348 and 1349, the Black Death, or bubonic plague, reduces England's population by a third.

Literary Highlights

The brooding fatalism of pagan Anglo-Saxon culture gives the first British epic, Beowulf, its melancholy tone and stress on earthly heroism.

The bards, or scops, ensure stories have an important position in early British culture.

Christian monks copy ancient manuscripts, preserving classical and Anglo-Saxon texts.

Chivalry gives rise to a new form of literature, the romance.