The Anglo-Saxon Period

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This video covers the Anglo-Saxon Period of British History as it relates to Old English Literature. It gives students background on the people who produced literature like Beowulf, The Wanderer, and other poems.
Below is the outline of the slides used in the lesson:
The Anglo-Saxon Period449-1066 CE
Created by the English Department, Coronado HS
England before the Anglo-Saxons:The Celts -- 900 BCE
Celtic speakers arrived in England in about 900 BCE
Two Tribes:
The Brythons, inhabited what is now Britain
The Gaels, settled in present day Ireland
The Celts -- 900 BCE
Both Celtic groups spoke languages from the Celtic family which is far different from Germanic languages. (English is considered a Germanic language.)
They lived in closely tied clans and were farmers and hunters for the most part.
The Celts -- 900 BCE
Their leaders were often Druids, who were priests.
The Druids preserved the people's myths and legends by reciting long, heroic poems.
The Romans = 55 BCE -- 407 CE
The next group to invade England was the Romans.
They ruled for some 300 years.
They established roads and towns that served the island for centuries.
The Romans = 55 BCE -- 407 CE
Their rule ended because Italy was under attack from northern invaders. Basically, the troops were called home.
The last troops left in 407, and the stage was set for Anglos and the Saxons.
They brought Christianity to the island.
The Anglo-Saxons = 449 - 1066
They were able to over take the Britons by simply rowing up English rivers.
Three groups: the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes.
The Anglo-Saxons = 449 - 1066
So where did the Britons go? Some went to the edges of the island -- Cornwall and Wales. Others went to Ireland and then later Scotland.
This movement proved to preserve the Celtic languages of Cornish, Welsh, and Irish and Scottish Gaelic. All of which are spoken today.
The Danish (Viking) Invasions
They took place between the 9th and 12th centuries.
English king Alfred the Great was able to resist the first invasion.
The Vikings ended up practicing "hit-and-run" raids, but their influence was not large.
Anglo-Saxon Hierarchy
King = he was expected to be generous to his loyal subjects
Thanes = claimed kinship to founder of tries. They were expected to be LOYAL.
The Mead Hall
The Anglo-Saxons = Religion
They came to Britain with their own pagan beliefs.
They had a firm belief in fate (wyrd).
They worshiped ancient Germanic gods like Tui, god of war and the sky; Woden, chief of the gods; and Fria, Woden's wife and goddess of the home.
The Anglo-Saxons = Religion
Christianity had been introduced by the Romans, and the Celts were converted.
Irish monks helped establish a strong Christian hold on the island.
Scots were converted easily, and many monasteries were built in Scotland.
The Anglo-Saxons = Religion
Roman cleric Saint Augustine arrives in 597.
Saint Augustine was able to convert King Ethelbert of Kent; this led to the kingdom being converted.
The Anglo-Saxons = Religion
The Church promoted peace, and that helped unite the English people.
The Church also brought education and a written literature.
Monks often worked as scribes, recording and duplicating written work by hand.
The Anglo-Saxons = Religion
Venerable Bede (673-735) = "The Father of English History"
He wrote A History of the English Church and People -- the clearest account of early Anglo-Saxon times.
Anglo-Saxon Literature
Spread by scops who recited long epic poems. These poems were either heroic or literary.
The verses were easy to memorize
Preliterate people
Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon Poetry
Caesuras -- pause in a line
Alliteration joins the 2 parts of the line
Kennings -- metaphorical phrases -- This is where they had their "stock epithet," a work of phrase characterizing a person or thing.
Reading Poetry -- Especially Narrative Poetry!!
Don't stop at the end of a line, stop at the punctuation mark.
The end of the line has to do with the "beat" of the line; it has nothing to do with the "meaning" of the line.
The Norman Conquest
By 1042, the Danes were out of power, and Edward the Confessor was on the throne.
Edward was very religious and had studied in Normandy, which is in France.
Edward died in 1066, and that year found the Normans overpower the Anglo-Saxons. This was their last defeat.
Thanks for watching