The Anglo-Saxon Period 449 A.D. – 1066 A.D.

Language Families

Languages can be classified by their genealogy Languages can be classified by their genealogy. Below is a simplified map of the English language’s genealogy. http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/language.html

Before the Anglo-Saxons Come to the British Isles You read a play about me. I am a Roman, and I shall bring great things to Britain! Before the Anglo-Saxons Come to the British Isles Umm…Thanks for all the cool stuff that you brought us! Too bad you couldn’t stay longer! (sarcasm) In 55 B.C. Julius Caesar asserts Roman rule over the British Isles and the peoples who live there, the Britons, Picts, and the Gaels who had an oral tradition of literature where they passed on history, stories, and beliefs by word of mouth.   When Britain became a province c. 45 A.D., the Roman’s introduced cities, fine stone roads, written scholarship, and Christianity. In the early 400s Rome came under attack though, so the Romans abandoned Britain.

The Anglo Saxon Period 449 A.D. – 1066 A.D. We’re Germanic tribes, and that island over there looks pretty nice to us. We’re thinking about heading over there. We’re gonna take our pagan beliefs with us. Go ahead and try to stop us. We’re warriors, and we have wyrd on our side! 449 A.D. – 1066 A.D. Around 449 A.D. the Germanic tribes of the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians invaded the British Isles.   Anglo-Saxon is the term used to describe the people and culture of the British Isles from 449- 1066. Angle-land = England. Early Anglo-Saxon invaders were seafaring warriors. They practiced a pagan religion marked by a strong belief in wyrd, or fate. Anglo-Saxons believed that their heroes were fated to prevail in battle. With the introduction of Christianity in the sixth century, the Anglo-Saxons became more “civilized.”

Development of the English Language and Literary History The Germanic dialects of the Anglo-Saxons grew into the English language. This language spoken between 450 and 1100 is known as Old English. It is different from the English we speak today. It is: harsher in sound. written phonetically, with no silent letters. grammatically more complex. written in the runic alphabet. Literature was generally passed down orally rather than being written down. Scops, or oral poets, sang the poetry of the day to crowds of Anglo-Saxons gathered in mead halls. They would perform epic poetry, long narrative poems on serious subjects that traced adventures of a great hero, and lyric poetry, short poems in which a single speaker expresses personal thoughts and feelings.

The Growth of Christianity and Literary History I’m a monk. Because I’m a member of the religious sect, I’m educated. Since there isn’t such a thing as a printing press yet, I get to copy down manuscripts. I probably wrote down Beowulf. I didn’t come up with the story myself though. Sometimes I doodle on the manuscripts when I write things down. Today you call those illuminated manuscripts. The Growth of Christianity and Literary History In 597 Augustine, a Roman missionary, established a monastery in Canterbury and Christianity spread quickly. The Roman alphabet started to replace the runic alphabet.   Before printing scribes copied manuscripts by hand. Christian monks may have written down Beowulf, an epic tale of a legendary hero of the northern European past.

The Danish Invasions In the 790s, the Danes or Vikings came to Britain. The Danes’ rule ended with the Norman Conquest in 1066 when William the Conqueror from Normandy was crowned king of England.

What is an Epic? An epic is a long narrative poem that celebrates a hero’s deeds. Other epics you might know would be The Odyssey, The Iliad, The Epic of Gilgamesh. Kennings are poetic synonyms found in Germanic poems, such as Beowulf. A kenning is a descriptive phrase that takes the place of a noun. For instance in Beowulf, the phrase “sin-stained demon” is used in place of Grendel’s name. Another great kenning is whale-road which refers to the sea.

Slimy salamanders slide silently over the sandy shore. Preparing to Read Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words. The Anglo-Saxons used it a lot. It’s kind of like how you think poetry should rhyme; they thought poetry should have alliteration. Why do poets use it? Emphasize particular words or images Heighten moods Create musical effects Slimy salamanders slide silently over the sandy shore.

Build Background Beowulf is a Geat warrior who crosses the sea to help the Danes. The action of Beowulf probably took place shortly after the year 525.   The written version of Beowulf that has survived is probably from between the eighth and tenth centuries, after Christianity spread to the Anglo-Saxons. It was written in Old English.

55 B.C. Julius Caesar comes to Britain 449 A.D. Germanic tribes come to Britain c. 525 A.D. Action in Beowulf probably occurred 597 A.D. Christianity comes to Britain 700-900 A.D. Beowulf is written down. 1066 A.D. The Normans (French) come to Britain

Old English Middle English Modern English 450-1100 AD Beowulf Canterbury Tales Modern English 1500-Present Shakespeare, Us

Ages of English Timeline http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/launch_tl_age s_english.shtml