literature: Old English period

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

the Old English Period

about 500-1066

history

• (500 AD) foundation of the English nation and language as we know it.
• (410 AD) Roman troops withdrew to the Continent
• (793) Vikings destroyed the monastery at Lindisfarne
• (871) Alfred the Great defeated the Danish

poetry

• people were illiterate. Only monks could read and write
• alliterations and regular rythm used for mnemonic reasons
• kenning
• variation

poetry

• people were illiterate. Only monks could read and write
• alliterations and regular rythm used for mnemonic reasons
• kenning
• variation

alliteration

two or more words within the same line begin with the same letter.

Meotodes meahte and his modgepanc

the Measurer's might and his mind-plans

kenning

a figurative name for a thing, usually expressed in a compound noun.

swan-road = sea

variation

the repeating of a single idea in different words, with each repetition adding a new level of meaning.

heaven-kingdom's Guardian    holy Creator

the measurer                                   mankind's Guardian

Glory-father                                     Master almighty

eternal Lord

          genres

• epic poems: narrative poems on great subjects like kings and heroes, fighting, glory and honour
• didactic poems: meant to teach the reader about religious matters or about the way to behave
• historical chronicles: about wars and battles, and kings

Caedmon- Hymn of Creation

late 7th century (Bede's Historia Ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum)

illiterate Northumbrian cowherd

a dream

4 surviving manuscripts

• The Beowulf Manuscript
• the Exeter Book
• the Junius Manuscript
• Vercelli Book

There are also a few historical poems in the Anglo-Saxon chronicle

Exeter Book: riddles

In the Exeter Book there are some riddles or enigmata. They use double-entendre, whereby one answer is suggested but another is meant.

A curiosity hangs by the thigh of a man, under its master's cloak.

It is pierced through in the front; it is stiff and hard and it has a good standing-place.

When the man pulls up his own robe above the knee, he means to poke the head of his hanging thing that familiar hole of matching length which he has often filled before.

religious verse

• the Dream of the Rood &  The Wanderer
• the cross (personification)

the Dream of the Rood

As this is quite a long poem (too long to copy to LessonUp) we read this poem from the reader. Answer the questions.

Then listen to the explanation of the poem (next slide)

the Wanderer

• comitatus tradition (relationship lord and followers )
• honour
• christianity
• elegy: poem that laments the loss of worldly goods, glory, or human companionship

now read the poem in the reader and answer the questions

Beowulf

• Swedish prince
• Grendel
• Hrotgar's court (Denmark)
• ancient treasure guarded by dragon
• epic of Germanic hero
• religious

Beowulf

Read the fragment in the reader and answer the questions