Anglo-Saxon literature + Beowulf.pptx

THE ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE

BIRTH OF ENGLISH LITERATURE

7th century

1. Anglo-Saxon invasion
2. spread of Christianity in England

Genres:

• epic and religious poetry
• elegy and chronicles (prose)

POETRY

Old English

EPIC POETRY

RELIGIOUS POETRY

ELEGY

poems characterised by

• sense of melancholy
• tone of lamentation
• strong sense of fate, accepted with resignation
• deep presence of nature, often sad and gloomy.
• themes of loss and grief
• new element: women

• Values: bravery, heroism
• Human condition
• Hero
• Remote past
• Supernatural creatures:

Beowulf

• Centered around religious subjects
• Inspired by Christianity

dragons

dwarves

elves

tolls

STYLE AND LANGUAGE OF ANGLO-SAXON POETRY

• Alliteration = figure of speech that consists in the repetition of the same consonant sounds in consecutive words or belonging to the same verse

(eg. Tyger Tyger, burning bright - Blake, The Tyger)

• Kenning = combination of 2 words to create compound metaphors

forerunners of English compound words (e.g. sky-candle = sun)

PROSE

Latin = language of culture and Church Old English (during King Alfred reign)

• translations some Latin works into Old English (e.g. Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum)
• wrote Anglo-Saxon Chronicle = collection of annals in Old English about the history of the Anglo-Saxons

WHAT ABOUT DRAMA?

• Not an age of drama playhouses didn’t exist, the old Roman theatres were no longer in use and there are no surviving texts that can testify the existence of a tradition of Anglo-Saxon drama.

• Middle Ages, when some liturgical representation of the events related to Christ’s death and resurrection started to be enacted in churches

BEOWULF

• Anonymous epic poem, contained in a manuscript currently kept by the British Library

• 11th century
• earliest long secular poem in (Old) English

Plot

Characters

Language

Themes

Plot

Text button

Characters

Language

• written in 3,182 lines
• alliteration , creating a pleasing musical effect
• kennings, also used for characters’ names: Beowulf probably comes from “bee-wolf” that is bear, to emphasises the hero’s strength
• Solemn tone
• No rhymes except occasional internal ones
• Although B. comes to us in written form, it employs many of the verbal habits of oral composition --> in composing B., the author certainly intended it to be heard

Themes

Evil vs Good

Heroic code

Supernatural

Nature

Christianity

Death

Complete the second sentence so it has similar meaning to the first.

1. Only the roof wasn't damaged by the attack of the demon. (BUT)Everything .........................was damaged by the attack of the demon. 2. Beowulf and Grendel banged against the wall while they were fighting (DURING) ..................., Beowulf and Grendel banged against the wall 3. Beowulf said they were honoured to fight that battle (HONOUR) Beowulf said it........................to fight that battle

• troll
• by lineage, it is a demon descended from Cain
• Grendel is a member of “Cain’s clan, whom the creator had outlawed / and condemned as outcasts.” (line 106–107)
• outcast: confined to live in the swamp, excluded from the revelry in the mead-hall.
• behind Grendel’s aggression: loneliness, jealousy and resentment.
• he has many animal characteristics and a monstrous appearance, he seems to be guided by human emotions and impulses
• “[m]alignant by nature” and that he has “never show[n] remorse” (line 137).

Dragons

• the biggest Anglo-Saxon monsters
• they had a passion for gold
• often slept on large quantities of treasure in burial places
• they were often symbols of greed

Dwarf

Ugly, often angry, sometimes evil creatures

Trolls

Incredibly strong, giant creatures similar to humans

Elves

Lived underground, could influence people’s dreams and were responsible for nightmares