Download Early Britain

Early Britain
From Roman Britain to
Anglo Saxon Anglelonde
Essential Questions
• What caused England to enter the Dark
Ages?
• How was Roman England different from
Anglo Saxon England?
• What characterizes Anglo Saxon poetry?
• How do we know anything about the Anglo
Saxons?
• From about 50 AD until 420 AD, Rome
ruled much of England. The Roman
towns were modern and refined.
In such a cultured lifestyle, books
were plentiful, theater was
common, life was good.
The ruins of an
amphitheater at
Verulamium, England
hint at the wealthy,
advanced culture of
Roman Britain.
Did you know that. . .
Romans had central heating in
their homes?
The had hot and cold running
water?
Nearly all citizens could read and
write?
In the early 400’s, the Romans deserted Britain because
barbarians were attacking Rome. All outlying settlements
(like Britain) were abandoned. So who was left in Britain?
• Native Britons of Celtic origin
• Descendants of the Roman citizens
• Slaves of various nationalities
• A few wealthy Roman citizens
And none of them stood a
chance against the Angles, the
Saxons, or the Jutes.
The invaders burned, raped, and pillaged.
But eventually, they brought
their families and they stayed.
The Anglo Saxons were different
from the Romans:
• They were not Christians
• They had no written language
• They were not as culturally advanced
A Roman villa in Britain
A Saxon farm in Britain
The Dark Ages
The advanced, educated culture of the
Romans was replaced with a harsh
lifestyle where simply surviving was
sometimes the most one could hope for.
In other words, the culture was “darkened.”
440-1066 AD
Anglo
Saxon
England
The Angles
The Saxons
The Jutes
England during the Dark
Ages was really many small
kingdoms, each one ruled by
a powerful warrior chieftain
who set himself up as king.
These kings fought each
other, trying to conquer
bigger chunks of land for
their kingdoms.
Finally, one king managed to
claim the biggest part of
England for himself—Alfred.
Alfred the Great
•
•
•
•
•
He encouraged
education
He created walled
towns called
burghs
He defeated the
Vikings
He established the
Danelaw
He commissioned
the Anglo
Saxon
Chronicles
and insisted it
be written in
the
vernacular—
the spoken
language of
the common
people.
Anglo Saxon Literature
The beginnings of English literature fall into
two broad categories:
• the poetry of the pagan
Anglo-Saxons
• prose of their Christianized
descendants.
Early poetry possessed four characteristics
which mark not only Anglo-Saxon
literature but also the English literature of
subsequent centuries. These
characteristics are:
• a love of adventure
• a sense of the importance of honor
• an awe of natural beauty
• a delight in word play (puns and
riddles)
There are four sources
from which we have
derived all existing
Anglo-Saxon
literature:
1. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
A year by year account of English history commissioned by Alfred the
Great.
It is important:
• Historically because it gives us some
insight into life during the
Anglo Saxon era.
• Linguistically because Alfred insisted
it be written in the
vernacular, that is, in
English and not Latin which
promoted English as the
national language.
• Literarily because it is one of only
four surviving manuscripts
from the Anglo Saxon era
449-1154.
2. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People
by Bede
This is the only one of the sources
for which we have an author.
Originally written in Latin (the
language of the church and the
educated) by the Venerable Bede, it
covers the religious history of
England from the invasion of Julius
Caesar through 731. It was
translated into Old English in the
890’s at the order of King Alfred. It
includes descriptions of the physical
nature of England (flora and fauna)
as well as stories about various AS
kings and their conversion to
Christianity.
3. Beowulf
Beowulf is the oldest
piece of English
literature. The
only copy is a 10th
century manuscript
but it is generally
dated to the 8th
century. The story
takes place in 6th
century
Scandanavia. It is
an epic poem.
4. Exeter Book
Copied by a scribe from a prior manuscript between 950-990. It was given to
Exeter Cathedral by Leofric, the first bishop of Exeter Cathedral, shortly
before his death. The book is the largest extant (existing) collection of
Anglo-Saxon riddles and poetry.
Anglo-Saxon Poetry Terms
Alliteration – the repetition of the first consonant sound
in a single line of poetry. Generally, the stressed syllables
on either side of the caesura used in alliteration. E.g.
“thrust//broke through the bone-rings”
Caesura – a pause in the middle of a single line of the
verse. Each half line of poetry has two stressed syllables
and a varying number of unstressed syllables. The pause
in the middle gave the singer a chance to “catch a breath.”
These are often denoted by a comma or period in the
middle of a line.
• Epithet - an identifying word or “tag”
identifying a person and often used in place of
an actual name or title People are seldom
mentiond only by name, but usually with an
identifying metaphor: Hrothgar is a ringgiver, a gold-friend; Beowulf is Ecgtheow’s
son.
• Kenning – a “condensed metaphor” or twoword metaphor (often hyphenated, but not
always) used to replace a concrete noun. The
poet had a “word hoard” of formulaic phrases:
whale road, swan road, sail road are all
examples of kennings which refer to the sea.
Repetition – repeating the same idea in successive
lines, expressed in different words, gave the poet time
to formulate the next step in the story.
A Geatish bowman
Relieved one of them of life and waveContending: his hard arrow bit deep
Into its heart…
It was quickly assailed in the waves
With boar-spears sharply barbed
Oral Tradition: Anglo Saxon
literature was recited—there
were no written versions so
each new “telling” probably
changed the work in some
way.
Scop: The storyteller, bard.
A scop knew many different
tales and they were long
stories, too. He used the
characteristics of AS poetry
to help him remember the
lines.
So, although much of the
Anglo Saxon literature
was created before
Christianity came to
England, the written
versions often have
Christian references.
Why would that be?
In a time when monks
were trying hard to convert
the Anglo Saxon people to
Christianity, inserting
Christian ideas into their
stories was a natural
strategy.
So let’s look at some Anglo
Saxon literature. . .