Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Anglo-Saxon Age and Literature: Everything you need to
know to crack this topic in DU MA English Entrance
Examination:
Anglo-Saxon timeline:
Anglo-Saxon period flourished from 449A
...
to 1066A
...


How Anglo-Saxon invaded Britain:
• From 55 BC to 410 A
...
, Britain was ruled by its original inhabitants called
Britons
...
D, three Germanic tribes invaded the country- Angles, Saxons and
Jutes
...
Hence, the name Anglo-Saxon came into being
...
These tribes
migrated to Britain
...
D
...
This region later came to be known
as England
...

However, all these languages were together referred under the umbrella term of
"Old English"
...


The Viking Rule:
• The Vikings were the colonisers originating from Scandinavia (xomprising
of countries like Denmark, Norway and Sweden) who took control of Britain
and other regions
...

• The last viking invasion happened in 1066A
...
when the Viking ruler,
William the conqueror, who was the ruler of Normandy (a province in

France) conquered Britain
...
The Norman ruler defeated the
last Anglo-Saxon ruler, King Harold the Great, in the famous Battle of
Hastings
...

• England was constantly at war with the Vikings, so people did not have time
to write anything great in literature
...

• There was absence of printing press in England
...

• The literature was popular through the mode of oral transmission and hence,
all the literature is lost
...


Anglo-Saxon Poetry:
• Anglo-Saxon poetry was either heroic poetry or religious poetry
...
It was written by Germanic tribes who had pagan
beliefs
...
It was
written by Britons who were Christians
...
Augustine (a bishop) to spread Christianity in England
...
It is the story of a warrior
called Beowulf who meets and defeats a monster called Grendel
...

b) The story also highlights the tribal life of the ancient days
...


c) An important line from the poem is “Came on the dark night gliding, a shadowy
prowler”
...


Anglo-Saxon Poets:
•

Some of the great religious poets of this age were Caedmon and Cynwulf
...
He has written a poem
called Caedmon’s Hymn in which he has written praises of God
...

• Cynwulf was another major poet who has written many religious works such
as Elene, Juliana, The Fates of the Apostles, Christ and The Dream of the
Rood
...
This work is a historical account of the
Anglo-Saxons' conversion to Christianity
...
His other works are: a) On Times- It was the treatise on
chronology
...
c) Historia Abbatum or Lives of the Abbots- It was a historical
work
...


Manuscripts written in Anglo-Saxon Age:
• Most of the works were written in manuscripts
...
The Wife’s Lament is also known as
Dior’s Lament
...

b) Junius Manuscript- It contains four long poems on biblical themes such as
Daniel, Christ and Satan, Exodus, Genesis
...

c) Vercelli Manuscript- It contains works such as Andreas, Dream of the Rood and
two poems of Cynwulf
...
It also contains The Wonders of the East, a poetic

translation of Judith, The Life of Saint Christopher and Letters of Alexander to
Aristotle
...
This manuscript is
believed to be still extant
...


King Alfred the Great:
a) He was the ruler of Wessex, which was the largest province in Anglo-Saxon
England
...

c) Most of the translations of Anglo Saxon Literature was done by King Alfred the
Great
...
It is a historical account of Britain from its Pagan times to 1066
...

e) He wrote a poem called, “The Lays of Boethius”
...


King Aelfric:
a) He was a priest in the Anglo-Saxon era
...


Features of Anglo-Saxon writing include:
a) riddles
b) allusions
c) allegory

d) litotes
e) kennings
...




---