The Anglo-Saxon Period

449-1066

Centuries of Invasion

The Anglo-Saxon period is often called The Dark Ages

Serious literature

Scarce humor

Heroic Struggles

Only the Strong Survive

Early Britain

A. Rome ruled Britain for over 300 years.

B. Roman forces finally left Britain around 410 A.D.

C. Numerous present day towns ending in “caster” and “chester” have origins in Roman occupation.

Anglo -Saxons

A.D. 449 - Angles, Saxons, other Germanic people invade Britain for several decades

Britons believed to be led by a Christian named Arthur were forced to retreat

Germanic tribes organize heptarchy (7 kingdoms)

The main part of Britain becomes Angle-Land, or England – Spoke: Old English

Vikings

Alfred the Great – Defeated the Danes who were invading Angle-Land

1. Founded the first public schools.

2. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, first historical record of written English.

3. Managed to temporarily unify Britain by defeating the Danes.

The Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest ended Anglo-Saxon dominance in England.

This was in 1066.

The Spread of Christianity

Started as Pagans

– Believed in WYRD - fate

As they settled they became less violent, more secure, more civilized

Christianity opened up a bright new possibility for the Anglo-Saxons

Christianity Takes Hold

A. Monasteries became centers of intellectual, literary, artistic, and social activity

B. The Venerable Bede

1. Father of English history.

2. Wrote the earliest recorded histories of the English people.

The Epic Tradition

A. Spreading of Anglo-Saxon Tradition

1. The written literature began to evolve with the coming of the church

2. In Mead Halls songs were preformed

a. For entertainment purposes

b. Stories sung of heroes and heroic legend

Relflections on Common life

Scops also sang shorter, lyric poems

– More everyday reality

Most Old English Poems are Anonymous

A Changing Language –Old English

Britain's 5th century invaders united into a nation called English

Their closes related Germanic dialects evolved into a distinct language called English

Now called Old English

A Different Language

Half of our basic vocabulary comes from Anglo-Saxon language

A modern Speaker would not be able to understand Old English

Grammatically, the language was more complex than modern English.

The Growth of English

English could grow, change, and adopt new words as the need arose.

Christianity brought Latin words (like your root words, you’re welcome)

Vikings brought words like skills, die, crawl, and rotten

The Norman invasion in 1066 will expand the language even more with French words

III. Anglo-Saxon Lives

A. The Code

1. Brought loyalty and honor to the king

2. Strict codes of conduct and behavior

3. Love of action and adventure

B. Although illiterate and crude, the Anglo-Saxons had an innate intellectual curiosity and an appreciation of beauty.

Alliteration

the occurrence of the same letter or sound at the beginning of adjacent or closely connected

words.

Caesura

(in Greek and Latin verse) a break between words within a metrical foot.

(in modern verse) a pause near the middle of a line.

any interruption or break.

"an unaccountable caesura: no deaths were reported in the newspapers"

Blood Feud

a lengthy conflict between families involving a cycle of retaliatory killings or injury.

WereGold

Weregild (also spelled wergild, wergeld, weregeld, etc.), also known as "man price", was a value placed on every being and piece of property in the Salic Code.

Price to end a feud