UNIT 1: From Legend to

History (AD 449 – 1485)

Background – Anglo Saxon Culture• Expert seafarers (sailors) who sail

the ocean to raid or settle other lands

• Many converted to Christianity after 500’s–But, kept a pagan belief in the power of

fate, and retold Germanic and Scandinavian tales of heroes and monsters

• Men dominated society, and women had few rights

Background – Anglo Saxon Culture (cont.)

• Anglo-Saxon warrior–Definition of home• Follower of a lord or king NOT as a

citizen of a nation–Loyalty goods (bread, fruit, riches

won in raids) and security

Background – Anglo-Saxon Literature

• Entertainment (5th – 11th Century)–Few were literate–No movies

Traveling storytellers (scops)*Memorized, adapted, and passed on

an oral tradition of stories and songs

Background – Anglo-Saxon Literature (cont.)

• The Exeter Book–Collection of texts that include pieces

from this oral tradition

–Put together by monks (~A.D. 871 – 899)

Anglo-Saxon Poetry - Themes

• Exile (a prolonged stay away from home that is forced upon the exiled person)– “The Seafarer” tells the tale of a sailor whose

passion for the sea causes him to undertake dangerous, lonely voyages.

– The struggles of a warrior who must find a new place in the world after his lord dies is described in “The Wanderer.”

– In “The Wife’s Lament,” a woman whose husband has sent her away describes her misfortune.

Lyric Poem

• Definition: A poem that expresses the thoughts and feelings of a single speaker

Anglo-Saxon lyrics

• Written for easy memorization and recitation

Elements of Anglo-Saxon Lyrics

1. Lines with regular rhythms, usually with 4 strong beats

2. Caesuras3. Kennings4. Assonance5. Alliteration

Caesuras

• Definition: Rhythmic breaks in the middle of lines, where the reciter can pause for breath

• Examples: ↓– Oft to the wanderer, weary of exile– Cometh God’s pity, compassionate love

↑

Kennings

• Definition: Two-word metaphorical phrase used in place of people, places, and things

• Example: – Sea = “whales’ home”– Lord = “gold-lord”– Sword = “wound-hoe”

Assonance

• Definition: The repetition of vowel sounds in unrhymed, stressed syllables

• Used to make the poem entertaining and memorable• Used to connect ideas • Example– “bAtter these rAmparts”– I, fInd– The silken sad uncERtain rustling of each pURple

cURtain

Alliteration

• The repetition of initial consonant sounds in accented syllables• Used to make the poem entertaining and

memorable• Used to connect ideas• Examples:– He, Who– Muse, Moldering– Sally sells sea shells down by the seashore.

Elegy

• A lyric poem mourning the loss of someone or something–The Seafarer–The Wanderer–The Wife’s Lament

• What did the speakers in this grouping of poems lose?