The Anglo-Saxon Period

449-1066 A.D.
 A Brief History
• Invaded and Settled
many times by:
– Iberians
– Celts
– Romans
– Angles
– Saxons
– Vikings
– Normans
The First Invasion of the
Celts
Celts
•Tall blonde warriors
•Brythons or Britons
•Animism- spirits everywhere
that needed to be pleased.
•Mythology
 The Romans
• Led by Julius
Caesar
• Built roads and
walls
 The Romans Built Hadrian’s Wall

• A great fortification
running across the
island neat the
Scottish border
• Built circa 123 A.D.
for protection from
invading Picts and
Scots
• Nearly 70 miles long
 The

Romans

• Introduced the
concept of
Christianity
• Withdrew because
of the Fall of the
Roman Empire
The Second Invasion of
the Celts:
The Germanic Invasion
• Angles and Saxons
from Germany
• Present day
England derives its
name from the
name “Angle-Land.”
What Were the Anglo-Saxons
Like?
Athletic
Wandering
Fierce in personal valor
Pagan
Sea-Faring
Loyal to leader and tribe ~ comitatus
Ruled by fate ~ wyrd
 Anglo-Saxon Lives
• Divided into tribes a king or chieftain
• After hunts and battles, they would
gather in a mead hall to be entertained
by scops.
The Mead
Hall
Scops (bards) were
as important as
warriors.
 How is America
influenced by the
British?
• law
• literature
• language
 Beowulf
• Anglo-Saxon word-elements
Beo means “bee" and the
word-element wulf means
(surprise!) "wolf."
 Beowulf
– The author of the poem is
unknown.
– Composed between 700 and 750
A.D.
– Christian writer, not a pagan.
 Digging up the past
• In the 1930s,
excavations at
Sutton Hoo, Suffolk,
England, revealed a
ship containing a
huge treasure.
• No body was found
• Items in the ship are
very like those
included in
Beowulf's burial in
the last part of the
poem.
 Setting
• Denmark and
Geatland (a
region in what is
now southern
Sweden)
• Herot- the mead
hall of King
Hrothgar
 The Characters
• The Danes- A group of mighty warriors
who have been ravaged by the monster of
Grendel.
• The Geats- The group of powerful
warriors who travel from Geatland to
confront the evil that the Danes are
confronted with
 The Characters
• Beowulf – Prince of the Geats
• Grendel – the monster who ravaged the Danes
for 12 long winters.
• Grendel’s mother – avenges Grendel’s death.
• Hrothgar - the king of the Danes.
• The fire dragon- is provoked by a thief who tries
to steal its treasure; Beowulf’s last battle is with
the fire dragon.
• Wiglaf - a young and brave Geat who helps
Beowulf slay the dragon when the rest of the
men run away. He also conveys Beowulf's last
message to his people.
 Epic
– Beowulf was the first epic poem in the English
Language. (Others include: The Iliad, The Odyssey)
– Characteristics of epic:
• Hero is of noble birth, or high position
• Hero’s character traits reflect
important ideals of his society
• Hero performs courageous or
superhuman deeds that reflect the
values of the era.
 Epic (cont)

• The actions of the hero often

determines the fate of a nation
• The setting is vast in scope, often
involving one or more nation.
• The poem reflects timeless value
such as courage and honor.
• The poem treats universal themes,
such as good or evil or life and
death.
Anglo-Saxon Terms
• Foil – character that sets off
another character
• Genre – category of artistic
works
• Heroic Elegy – a poem that
mourns the death of a hero
Anglo-Saxon Terms
• Historical setting – the time
and place that a story
ishistorically based
• Hyperbole – a figure of speech
that uses exaggeration to
express strong emotion or for
comic effect
Anglo-Saxon Terms
• Imagery – language that
appeals to the senses
• Lyric – poetry that focuses on
expressing emotions or
thoughts rather than on telling
a story
Anglo-Saxon Terms
• Mood – the atmosphere or feeling
in a literary work
• Narrative poem – a poem that
tells a story
• Personification – a kind of
metaphor in which a nonhuman
thing or quality is talked about as
if it were human
Anglo-Saxon Terms
• Point of view – the vantage
point from which a writer tells a
story
• Simile – a figure of speech that
makes a comparison between
two seemingly unlike things
using like, as, than, or
resembles
Anglo-Saxon Terms
• Synecdoche – a figure of
speech in which something
closely related to a thing is
substituted for the item.
• Theme – the central idea or
insight of a work of literature
Anglo-Saxon Terms
• Caesura
– a natural pause or break.
• Example:
England ~ how I long for thee!
• Kenning
– In this poetic device, the poet creates a new
compound word or phrase to describe an
object or activity.
• In Beowulf, we also find banhus ("bone-house") for
body, and beaga brytta ("ring-giver") for a lord.
 Anglo-Saxon Terms
• Alliteration - the repetition of initial
consonant sounds in neighboring words.
The ancient poets often used alliteration
instead of rhyme;
• Now Beowulf bode in the burg of the
Scyldings, Leader beloved,
• "The devil fetch ye, ye ragamuffin
rapscallions,"
• The memories flash like dusk heat
lightning, Or the fireflies that flit and flare
 Literary Terms
• Assonance - the repetition of vowel
sounds
High as a kite
Free as a breeze
Mad as a Hatter
“Hear the mellow wedding-bells
Golden bells!”