ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE

(15th century-1066)

ANGLO-SAXON ANGLO-a white inhabitant of the U.S who is of

non-hispanic descent.

SAXON- a member of an ancient Germanic people, some of whom settled in England.

Anglo-Saxon- Old English Literature encompasses literature written in Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon) in Anglo-SaxonEngland

from the 7th century to the decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

ANGLO-SAXON

Poems are handed down through generation to generation.

Scops or wandering bards recited the poems with the accompaniment of harp.

Old English literature survived in four manuscripts;

•Caedmon’s Hymn

•Vercelli Book

•Exeter Book

•Nowell’s Codex

A."CÆDMON'S HYMN", composed in the 7th century according to Bede, is often considered the oldest extant poem in English, whereas the later poem, The Grave is one of the final poems written in Old English, and presents a transitional text between Old and Middle English.

THE ORIGINAL Nū sculon heriġean heofonrīċes weard,

Meotodes meahte ond his mōdġeþanc,weorc wuldorfæder, swā hē wundra

ġehwæs,ēċe Drihten, ōr onstealde.

Hē ǣrest sceōp eorðan bearnumheofon tō hrōfe, hāliġ Scyppend;

þā middanġeard monncynnes weard,ēċe Drihten, æfter tēode

fīrum foldan, Frēa ælmihtiġ.

TRANSLATIONHail now the holder of heaven's

realm,That architect's might, his mind's

many ways,Lord forever and father of glory,Ultimate crafter of all wonders,

Holy Maker who hoisted the heavens

To roof the heads of the human race,

And fashioned land for the legs of man,

Liege of the worldborn, Lord almighty.

B.THE VERCELLI BOOK one of the oldest of THE FOUR OLD

ENGLISH POETIC CODICES (the others being the JUNIUS MANUSCRIPT, the EXETER BOOK, and the NOWELL CODEX). It is an anthology of Old English prose and verse that dates back to the late 10th century. The manuscript is housed in the Capitulary Library of Vercelli, in northern Italy.

The Vercelli Book comprises 135 folios, and although the manuscript was probably compiled and written in the late 10th century, not all of the texts found in the manuscript were originally written at that time. The Vercelli Book contains 23 prose homilies (the Vercelli Homilies) and a prose vita of Saint Guthlac, interspersed with six poems:

1.ANDREASThe poem itself is a 1,722 line

poem that tells the story of St. Andrew, as he rescues St. Matthew from a cannibalistic race called Mermedonians.

"The poem is forceful and is the closest to Beowulf in style and tone among the surviving Old English poems"

2.THE FATES OF THE APOSTLES Fates of the Apostles (Vercelli Book,

fol.52b-54a) is the shortest of Cynewulf’s known canon at 122 lines long. It is a brief martyrology of the Twelve Apostles written in the standard alliterative verse. The Fates recites the key events that subsequently befell each apostle after the Ascension of Jesus. It is possible that The Fates was composed as a learning aid to the monasteries.

3. SOUL AND BODYSoul and Body is a poem in which

the soul addresses its body.is one of the oldest poems to

have survived in two manuscripts of Old English,despite their differences (in structure and length, for example), the Soul and Body poems address similar themes. 

4. "DREAM OF THE ROOD”Like many poems of the Anglo-

Saxon period, The Dream of the Rood exhibits many Christian and pre-Christian images, but in the end is a Christian piece. The poem is set up with the narrator having a dream. In this dream or vision he is speaking to the Cross on which Jesus was crucified. 

5. "ELENE" is a poem in Old English, that is sometimes known as Saint Helena Finds the True Cross.

It was translated from a Latin text and is the longest of Cynewulf's four signed poems.

6. A FRAGMENT OF A HOMILETIC POEMin theology, is the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific department of public preaching.

Homiletics comprises the study of the composition and delivery of a sermon or other religious discourse

C.THE EXETER BOOKis a tenth-

century book or codex which is an anthology of Anglo-Saxon poetry. It is believed originally to have contained 131 leaves, of which the first 8 have been replaced with other leaves; the original first 8 pages are lost. The Exeter Book is the largest known collection of Old English literature still in existence.

•In addition, the Exeter Book preserves 95 riddles

•Exeter Book, the largest extant collection of Old English poetry.

•It begins with some long religious poems: the Christ, in three parts; two poems on St. Guthlac; the fragmentary “Azarius”; and the allegorical Phoenix. 

SHORTER RELIGIOUS VERSES INTERMINGLED WITH POEMS OF TYPES THAT HAVE SURVIVED ONLY IN THIS CODEX. “The Wanderer,” “The Seafarer,” “The Wife’s Lament,” “The Husband’s Message,” and

“The Ruin”

D.Nowell Codex It is most famous as the manuscript containing the unique copy of the epic poem Beowulf.

also sometimes known simply as the Beowulf manuscript.

GenresEpic poetryHagiographySermonsBible trnslationsChroniclesRiddles

EPIC POETRYTraditionally, an epic poem is a long, serious,poetic narrative about a significant event, often featuring a hero.

HAGIOGRAPHYa book about someone's life that makes it seem better than it really is or was : a biography that praises someone too much.

SERMONA sermon is an oration by a

member of the clergy. Sermons address a Biblical, theological, religious, or moral topic, usually expounding on a type of belief, law or behavior within both past and present contexts. Elements of the sermon often include exposition, exhortation and practical application.

BIBLE TRANSLATIONThe Bible has been translated into many languages from the biblical languages of Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. As of November 2014 the full Bible has been translated into 531 languages, and 2,883 languages have at least some portion of the Bible.

CHRONICLE is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line.

RIDDLESTheir literary ancestry dates all the way back to Plato and Aristotle. In ancient Greece, riddles were used as a cunning tool, to demonstrate wit and wisdom.

THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF RIDDLES, ENIGMAS AND CONUNDRUMS.

An enigma is a problem in which the solution is expressed metaphorically. You have to carefully think about the riddle to come up with the solution.

A conundrum is a question that opens either the question or the answer.

ANGLO-SAXONThe verses are highly

alliterative in nature with frequent pauses called caesura in each line. They also make elaborate metaphors called KENNINGS.

Kennings used compound poetic phrases to substitute for the name of a person or thing.

EXAMPLES OF KENNINGSBATTLE- the storm of swordsBLOOD- battle sweatDRAGON- the twilight spoilerLORD OR KING- ring giverQUEEN- peace bringer among nationsSEA- swan roadSWORD- light of battleBODY- bone houseSHIP- the sea-farer

ALLITERATIONThe repetition of initial consonant

sounds in two or more words or phrase.

Example:The splendor falls on castle wallsAnd snowy summits old in story.

LET’S PLAY 1. “Three eyes have I, all in a row; when

the red one opens, all freeze.” 2. I have a tail, and I have a head, but i

have no body. I am NOT a snake. What am I?

3. You throw away the outside and cook the inside. Then you eat the outside and throw away the inside. What did you eat?

4. What can run but never walks, has a mouth but never talks, has a head but never weeps, has a bed but never sleeps?

5. What has a face and two hands but no arms or legs?

6. What is greater than God, more evil than the devil,the poor have it, the rich need it, and if you eat it, you'll die?

7. Who makes it, has no need of it.Who buys it, has no use for it.  Who uses it can neither see nor feel it. What is it?

8. Paul's height is six feet, he's an assistant at a butcher's shop, and wears size 9 shoes. What does he weigh?

9. Which word in the dictionary is spelled incorrectly?

10. it occurs once in every minute, twice in every moment, yet never in a thousand years?

SACKA poor farmer went to the market to sell

some peas and lentils. However, as he had only one sack and didn't want to mix peas and lentils, he poured in the peas first, tied the sack in the middle, and then filled the top portion of the sack with the lentils. At the market a rich innkeeper happened by with his own sack. He wanted to buy the peas, but he did not want the lentils.Pouring the seed anywhere else but the sacks is considered soiling. Trading sacks is not allowed. The farmer can't cut a hole in his sack.How would you transfer the peas to the innkeeper's sack, which he wants to keep, without soiling the produce?

ROOMS13 people came into a hotel with 12

rooms and each guest wanted his own room. The bellboy solved this problem.He asked the thirteenth guest to wait a little with the first guest in room number 1. So in the first room there were two people. The bellboy took the third guest to room number 2, the fourth to number 3, ..., and the twelfth guest to room number 11. Then he returned to room number 1 and took the thirteenth guest to room number 12, still vacant.How can everybody have his own room?

TWINS3.Two girls were born to the same mother, on the same day, at the same time, in the same month and year and yet they're not twins. How can this be?