Old English

FROM 4TH CENTURY TILL NORMAN CONQUEST

CHRONOLOGICAL EVENTS DURING THE PERIOD
410 Romans left Britain
450 Anglo Saxons and jutes invasions
600 King Arthur’s reign
597 Saint Augustine Christian mission at Canterbury
793 Viking invasions (they are from DANISH AND NORWEGIAN)
802 United England under King Egbert of Wessex
885 King Alfred ‘s ruling by separation of England
900 Danish invasions
917 England’s Recovery of all territories
1013 Danish conquest
1066 Death of English king Edward, electing Harold, son of Godwin, Norwegian forces defeated at Stamford bridge
1066 NORMAN CONQUEST---William of Normandy defeated Harold at Hastings

IMPORTANT BYTES
 Latin was dominant during this period
 Most of the literature was of oral discourse
 Anglo Saxon language eventually by mixing with Icelandic, Viking, Latin and French, Germanic and Celtic became English language.

LITERATURE DURING THIS PERIOD

Around 670
Around 7th century
Around 9th century
Around 10th century
Around 12th century
CAEDMON’S HYMN, ,the dream of the rood
The dream of the Rood (Rood means cross)
Northumbrian Cynewulf wrote The Exeter book, The Vercelli book(Italy),
The fates of Apostles and Christs Ascension
Deor’s lament or the seafarer, The wanderer, The Exeter Book(has deor and seafarer preserved in Exeter
cathedral in Devon)
Venerable Bede’s ‘’’Latin ecclesiastical history of English people and the Anglo Saxon chronicle
Ancrene rewle, the writings of Alcuin and saint anslem, Book of Genesis (from Bible)
BEOWULF, THE RUIN, King Alfred’s translation of Cura Pastoralis
 CAEDMON’S HYMN THE DREAM OF THE ROOD
Now we ought to praise the Guardian of the heavenly kingdom, Lo! I will tell the dearest of dreams
The might of the Creator and his conception, That I dreamed in the midnight when mortal men
The work of the glorious Father, as he of each of the wonders, were slunk in slumber. Me-seemed I saw
Eternal Lord, established the beginning. A wondrous Tree towering in air,
He first created for the sons of men Most shining of crosses compassed with light. -5
Heaven as a roof, holy Creator; Brightly that beacon was gilded with gold;
Then the middle-earth, the Guardian of mankind, SUMMARY
The eternal Lord, afterwards made The poem opens with the vision of the Dreamer, which
The earth for men, the Lord almighty. establishes the framework for the rest of the poem. He sees the
Cross being raised up, covered in gold and jewels, yet he notices
ANALYSIS
a stain of blood on its side. The Rood begins to speak and
That cavernous space dividing the line in half is called a caesura,
recounts its experience as an instrument in the Crucifixion of
Kenning is expression which hides depth meaning in every
Christ. The Cross recalls how it was cut down in the forest and
word
taken by its enemies to support criminals, then details its
SUMMARY
emotions as it realizes it is to be the tree on which Christ will be
Caedmon is a cowherd of whit by monastery praises the god by
crucified. The Rood and Christ become one in the portrayal of
using “I”. he listened to the voice of God.
the Passion—they are both pierced with nails, mocked and
BYTES
tortured, and finally killed and buried; soon after, like Christ,
The first Christian religious poem in English found in the
the Cross is resurrected, then adorned with gold and silver. The
history of English people by Bede the monk
Cross announces that because of its suffering and obedience, it
will be honored above all other trees; it then commands the
CYNEWULF’S WORKS Dreamer to tell others what he has seen and heard. In the end,
Elene, a poem of 1,321 lines, is an account of the finding of the the Dreamer's hope of a heavenly home is renewed and he vows
True Cross by St. Helena. to seek again the glorious Rood.
The Fates of the Apostles, 122 lines, is a versified martyrology
describing the mission and death of each of the Twelve Apostles.
Christ II (The Ascension) is a lyrical version of a homily on the
Ascension written by Pope Gregory I the Great. It is part of a
trilogy on Christ by different authors.
Juliana, a poem of 731 lines, is a retelling of a Latin prose life of
St. Juliana, a maiden who rejected the suit of a Roman prefect,
Eleusius, because of her faith and consequently was made to
suffer numerous torments.;
DEOR’S LAMENT
so I can sing of my own sad plight
Who long stood high as the Heodenings' bard,
Deor my name, dear to my lord.
Mild was my service for many a winter,
Kindly my king till Heorrenda came
Skillful in song and usurping the land-right
Which once my gracious lord granted to me.
That evil ended. So also may this!
In the first stanza, the narrator emphasizes Weyland's physical
suffering. King Nithuthr enslaved him for fashioning beautiful
golden rings. Being escaped Weland took revenge by killing
Nithuthr's two sons and getting his daughter Beadohild pregnant.
The second stanza focuses on Beadohild’s spiritual and cognitive
pang. After being raped by the killer of his brothers she found herself
pregnant. At first she was completely broken down but afterward
she managed to overcome her situation. In the third stanza, the
narrator mentions the brief and ambiguous affair between the
unfamiliar lovers Geat and Maethild. Losing Maethild, Geat has no
hope to survive in the world, but somehow gets over it. The fourth
stanza is all about the tyrannical rule of Theoderic over
Maeringaburg for thirty years. Then he was alienated from people.
He had been suffering powerlessness. Eventually he got over his
misery. The fifth stanza highlights the relationship between
Ermanaric, the king of Ostrogoths and his warriors. In fact he
suffered misfortune being separated from his people. His black days
also passed away.
In the concluding stanza, Deor, by comparing his present state of
mind to the legendary figures confirms a moral message. No matter
how deep and grim a man’s sorrow is, it will surely pass one day.
some scholars believe that the lament is merely a conventional
pretext for introducing heroic legends, the mood of the poem
remains intensely personal. Deor, who was replaced at his court by
another minstrel and deprived of his lands and his lord’s favour
THE SEAFARER
The speaker of "The Seafarer" is one of those people;
no sooner has he gotten home and put his feet up
than the cuckoo's cry reminds him that it's spring
– prime traveling-time – and before he's even had
a chance to unpack, he's on the road again (or in
his case, the whale-road).
Of course, most people don't travel forever.
Eventually most of us reach a place so comfortable,
so familiar and right, that it feels like home. And at
that point, even the most hard-bitten of wanderers
may just decide to unpack and put down roots.
Finding a stable home is easier for most of us than
it is for the speaker of "The Seafarer," who sees only
death and decay in the "life on land" he rejects. But
even he eventually recognizes that a home is
waiting for him somewhere. It's just that in his case,
the home is not anywhere on earth. It's in heaven.
So as it turns out, all this traveling is just an effort
to get home.
So what's your true home? A tiny island in the
middle of the Caribbean Sea? A sophisticated
studio apartment in the middle of Paris? A
sprawling ranch under a big mountain sky?
Wherever it may be, if you don't search for it, you'll
never find it. So what are you waiting for? Follow
in the seafarer's footsteps. Pack your bags and hit
the (whale) road! But, you know, make sure you
read the poem first.
THE WANDERER
The poem begins with the Wanderer asking the Lord
for understanding and compassion during his exile at
sea. He cannot avoid going to sea, however, because this
life is his fate.
The Wanderer goes on to recall the hardships he has
faced in his life, like watching his kinsmen be ruined
and even slaughtered. He knows that while he is lonely
and isolated, he will think about these things
constantly. There is no living person with whom the
Wanderer can share what is in his heart. He knows that
it is dignified for a man to keep his feelings to himself.
He then argues that no matter how hard a man tries to
contain his emotions, he can never avoid his fate. An
ambitious man can conceal his sorrowful heart, but he
cannot escape it.
The Wanderer returns to his own example. His kind
lord died of old age and as a result, the Wanderer has
been exiled from his country. He left home with the
coldness of winter in his heart and sailed the rough
waves in search of a new lord. He was friendless,
yearning for the comforts and pleasures of a new mead-
hall, but found none.
The Wanderer relates his tale to his readers, claiming
that those who have experienced exile will understand
how cruel loneliness can feel. The Wanderer is freezing
cold, remembering the grand halls where he rejoiced,
the treasure he was given, and the graciousness of his
lord. All of these joys have now disappeared. He claims
that any man who stops receiving the wisdom of his lord
will be filled with a similar sadness.
THE WANDERER
Even when he sleeps, this lord-less man dreams of happier days when he
could lay his hands and head upon his lord's knees. When he awakens,
the lonely man will be forced to face his friendless reality, surrounded by
the dark waves, frost, and snow. The rich happiness of a man's dreams
make his solitude even more miserable. He will imagine the faces of his
kinsmen and greet them joyfully with song, but alas, the memories are
transient. A seaman's spirit goes through these bouts of agony every time
he finds himself alone, which makes his overall sorrow more acute.
The Wanderer then goes on to contemplate how lords are frequently
forced out of their halls and away from their kingdoms. He questions why
he feels so unhappy when comparatively, the tribulations lords face are
usually much more severe. He then realizes that the world is constantly
fluctuating and a man's life experiences, good and bad, are ultimately
what make him wise. The Wanderer lists the lessons that he has learned;
that a wise man must not be hasty in speech, rash or fickle in battle, and
he must not be nervous, greedy, or boastful. A wise man must not boast
until he is free of doubt. A wise man must accept that riches fade,
buildings fall, lords die, and their followers die or disperse. The Wanderer
offers a few examples of the latter, citing men who died in battle, men
who drowned, one man who who was carried off by a bird, and another
who was killed by a wolf.
The Wanderer now expands his ruminations towards the supernatural.
He says that the Creator of Men has made the world unpredictable, and
that hardships can happen to anyone at any time. Things can go from
bad to good in a moment. The Wanderer hypothesizes that the Creator
of Men, who created human civilization and conflict, is also wise. Even He
has memories of battles, remembering one certain horse or man. He, like
the Wanderer, also must lament the loss of treasure, festivities, and
glorious leaders. The Wanderer contemplates the way that all these
things disappear in time, leaving behind nothing but darkness.
The Wanderer's former kingdom rots behind a wall covered in the
carcasses of serpents. There is no longer any music, or powerful
weaponry. Winter brings violent snowstorms and longer nightfall,
 leaving men frightened and helpless. However, the Wanderer concludes,
life is difficult at times. Everything is subject to fate. Wealth fades, friends
leave, and kingdoms fall. The Wanderer now ascribes these words to a
wise man, or a sage, in meditation. He describes this man as someone who
is steady in his faith and, when something bad happens, he does not
panic, but rather, stays calm until he can figure out a solution. In
conclusion, the Wanderer advises all men to look to God for comfort,
since He is the one who is responsible for the fate of mankind.

THE BEOWULF-epic poem1

QOUTES
1.The ruinous deeds of ravaging for
2.For every one of us, living in this world, means waiting for our end
3.That was the last fight Beowulf fought
That was the end of his work in the world
4.Beowulf spoke the son of ecgetheow
“My dear hygelac many have heard of that famous grapple twixt Grendel and me
The bitter struggle and strife in the hall
Where he formerly wrought such ruin and wrong
Such lasting sorrow for scylding men
All that I avenged
5.For he was of all men the worthiest warrior
In all the earth whule he still might rule
And wield the wealth of his lordly land
 THE BEOWULF
SUMMARY
King Hrothgar of Denmark, a descendant of the great king Shield Sheafson, enjoys a prosperous and successful reign. He builds a
great mead-hall, called Heorot, where his warriors can gather to drink, receive gifts from their lord, and listen to stories sung by the
scops, or bards. But the jubilant noise from Heorot angers Grendel, a horrible demon who lives in the swamplands of Hrothgar’s
kingdom. Grendel terrorizes the Danes every night, killing them and defeating their efforts to fight back. The Danes suffer many years
of fear, danger, and death at the hands of Grendel. Eventually, however, a young Geatish warrior named Beowulf hears of Hrothgar’s
plight. Inspired by the challenge, Beowulf sails to Denmark with a small company of men, determined to defeat Grendel.
Hrothgar, who had once done a great favor for Beowulf’s father Ecgtheow, accepts Beowulf’s offer to fight Grendel and holds a feast
in the hero’s honor. During the feast, an envious Dane named Unferth taunts Beowulf and accuses him of being unworthy of his
reputation. Beowulf responds with a boastful description of some of his past accomplishments. His confidence cheers the Danish
warriors, and the feast lasts merrily into the night. At last, however, Grendel arrives. Beowulf fights him unarmed, proving himself
stronger than the demon, who is terrified. As Grendel struggles to escape, Beowulf tears the monster’s arm off. Mortally wounded,
Grendel slinks back into the swamp to die. The severed arm is hung high in the mead-hall as a trophy of victory.
Overjoyed, Hrothgar showers Beowulf with gifts and treasure at a feast in his honor. Songs are sung in praise of Beowulf, and the
celebration lasts late into the night. But another threat is approaching. Grendel’s mother, a swamp-hag who lives in a desolate lake,
comes to Heorot seeking revenge for her son’s death. She murders Aeschere, one of Hrothgar’s most trusted advisers, before slinking
away. To avenge Aeschere’s death, the company travels to the murky swamp, where Beowulf dives into the water and fights Grendel’s
mother in her underwater lair. He kills her with a sword forged for a giant, then, finding Grendel’s corpse, decapitates it and brings
the head as a prize to Hrothgar. The Danish countryside is now purged of its treacherous monsters.
The Danes are again overjoyed, and Beowulf’s fame spreads across the kingdom. Beowulf departs after a sorrowful goodbye to
Hrothgar, who has treated him like a son. He returns to Geatland, where he and his men are reunited with their king and queen,
Hygelac and Hygd, to whom Beowulf recounts his adventures in Denmark. Beowulf then hands over most of his treasure to Hygelac,
who, in turn, rewards him.
In time, Hygelac is killed in a war against the Shylfings, and, after Hygelac’s son dies, Beowulf ascends to the throne of the Geats. He
rules wisely for fifty years, bringing prosperity to Geatland. When Beowulf is an old man, however, a thief disturbs a barrow, or mound,
where a great dragon lies guarding a horde of treasure. Enraged, the dragon emerges from the barrow and begins unleashing fiery
destruction upon the Geats. Sensing his own death approaching, Beowulf goes to fight the dragon. With the aid of Wiglaf, he succeeds
in killing the beast, but at a heavy cost. The dragon bites Beowulf in the neck, and its fiery venom kills him moments after their
encounter. The Geats fear that their enemies will attack them now that Beowulf is dead. According to Beowulf’s wishes, they burn their
departed king’s body on a huge funeral pyre and then bury him with a massive treasure in a barrow overlooking the sea.