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ANGLO-SAXON ERA

ANGLO-SAXON ERA. The Beginning of English Literature. Pagan. Polytheistic, Worship elements of nature. Early Anglo-Saxon culture. 2. Life is in the hands of fate ( Wyrd = Goddess of Fate ). 3. Notable deities Tiu = god of war & sky (Tuesday)

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ANGLO-SAXON ERA

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  1. ANGLO-SAXON ERA The Beginning of English Literature

  2. Pagan • Polytheistic, Worship elements of nature Early Anglo-Saxon culture 2. Life is in the hands of fate (Wyrd = Goddess of Fate) • 3. Notable deities • Tiu = god of war & sky (Tuesday) • Woden = chief deity; god of magic and death (Wednesday) • Thuron – god of thunder (Thursday) • Fria = Woden’s wife; goddess of fertility (Friday)

  3. Bravery Loyalty Strength Generosity Love of Glory Beliefs and Values • Oral—history, religious ideas, stories passed on by word of mouth

  4. Anglo-Saxon culture by the time of the writing of Beowulf • Christian, but with pagan remnants: 597 Christianity comes to the Anglo-Saxons • Literate—clergy and some nobility only Escomb Church, County Durham, late 7th century

  5. Christian Influences • Education & Written Language • Monks recorded & duplicated stories by hand • Not much left to record because forgotten • In transcribing literature of native tradition, the monks often added Christian elements or changed pagan elements

  6. Composed and passed down orally ca. 715, 750? Beowulf • Committed to writing sometime before the 10th century • Essentially lost after Norman Conquest; first listed in 17th century but not read or studied • Badly damaged by fire in 1731

  7. Epic Poetry: Characteristics • Form • Long narrative poem • Tone and language • Presents a serious subject through formal, elevated language • Protagonist • A figure of national, global, or cosmic significance who embodies the best of his culture • Plot • Involves a great journey or a great battle or both that the hero undertakes on behalf of a people, a nation, or even the world • Setting • Place: vast, global or cosmic • Time: an idealized heroic past

  8. Beowulf: Time and Place • Set in Denmark and Geatland • 6th Century • Herot – Mead Hall

  9. Alliterative verse Set number of strong beats per line but no set meter Repetitions of initial consonant sounds Unrhymed Parallelism Repetition of a grammatical pattern Caesura A pause in the middle of a poetic line indicated by a gap Kennings Compound metaphor Examples: “Swan’s road” for sea “Ring giver” for king • Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon Poetry

  10. A scopwould perform the poems at victory celebrations. • He would be accompanied by a musician called the gleeman. • The celebrations would be held in large banquet halls called “mead-halls” • Meadwas an alcoholic beverage made from honey and drunk by AS warriors. • An Anglo-Saxon warrior was also called a thane.

  11. The English language from the middle of the 5th to the 12th century; also called Anglo-Saxon languageText of Beowulf[332] oretmecgas æfter æþelum frægn:asked of the heroes their home and kin[333] "Hwanon ferigeað ge fætte scyldas,"Whence, now, bear ye burnished shields,[334] græge syrcan ond grimhelmas,harness gray and helmets grim,[335] heresceafta heap? Ic eom Hroðgaresspears in multitude? Messenger, I, Hrothgar's[336] ar ond ombiht. Ne seah ic elþeodigeherald! Heroes so many ne'er met I[337] þus manige men modiglicran,as strangers of mood so strong.[338] Wen ic þæt ge for wlenco, nalles for wræcsiðum,'Tis plain that for prowess, not plunged into exile,

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