THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD449-1066AD

TIME PERIOD: ANGLO-SAXON

• Key Ideas of Period• Heroic qualities• Community – Communal Hall & Loyalty• Poets (Scops) & Monks• Religious aspects• Christian vs. Pagan•Wyrd=fate

• Aggressive society

IMPORTANT DATES…• 300s: Celts rule England

• c. 449: Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invade Britain

• 597: King Ethelbert converted to Christianity at Canterbury

• 793: Vikings come

• 1066: William the Conqueror becomes English king

HEROIC QUALITIES• The Britons were highly influenced by the Celtic legends.

•Celtic legends valued bravery, loyalty, dedication to the king/queen, & fame/success in battle.

•Heroes have fabulous adventures that are remembered and retold forever (think King Arthur).

HEROIC QUALITIES• Comitatus – heroic ideal - A code of loyalty adopted by the warriors in a clan; loyalty, honor & respect to their lord and to one another.

• Blood vengeance – fight to the death; avenge leader or die trying.

COMMUNITY – COMMUNAL HALL & LOYALTY

•War with other clans • Law and order kept a clan alive

• clan loyalty was valued above all else.

• The Leader (king, ruler, father-figure) was responsible for everyone’s safety.

COMMUNITY – COMMUNAL HALL & LOYALTY

•Success was measured by how loyal a warrior was to his lord.

•communal hall –shelter/protectionmeetingsentertainment.

POETS/SCOPS (PRONOUNCED SHOPS) & MONKS

•Poets or scops

• equal to warriors

• immortalized warriors and heroes in their songs/poetry.

POETS/SCOPS (PRONOUNCED SHOPS) & MONKS

•Monks• preserved these stories

• recorded these stories in Old English (the Germanic language of the Angles & Saxons)

• preserved the original language of the people.

RELIGIOUS ASPECTS – PAGAN VS. CHRISTIANDual Authorship

Beowulf

Paganism Christianity

Absence of Christianity God

Animism Christ-like figure

Worship of Natural or Spiritual

Biblical Stories

Fate/Wyrd Presence of Hell

RELIGIOUS ASPECTS – PAGAN VS. CHRISTIAN

• Animism – “Spirit”; original, celtic religion

• fatalistic (meaning no afterlife) view of the world.

• “Wyrd” means fate. guided in all things.

• Christianity spread and unified the Anglo-Saxons.

AGGRESSIVE SOCIETY• Absence of Roman control led to many kings/lords all attempting to control Britain.

• Angles & Saxons from Germany, & Jutes from Denmark come to Britain in hopes of conquering for themselves.

• warriors and lords had to defend against attacks and other clans to establish dominance.

AGGRESSIVE SOCIETY• King Alfred of Wessex led the Angles & Saxons against the Jutes (Danes), unifying those clans. • “Angle-land” became England.• In 1066, William, Duke of Normandy invaded, and finally unified the country under one king.

BEOWULFAnglo-Saxon Literature

BEOWULF – LITERARY DEVICES

1.Alliteration – repeated beginning sound in 2 or more words that are close together In Beowulf, this happens in almost

every line of the poem, & there is no consistent pattern of rhyme.

BEOWULF – LITERARY DEVICES

2. Kenning – type of metaphor that uses a compound expression to name a person or thing. Ex: “whale road” = _______________ ;

“life-lord” = ______________; “ring giver” = ______________

BEOWULF – LITERARY DEVICES

3. Litotes – a figure of speech that uses the positive of a statement to mean something negative. Ex: Getting your wisdom teeth removed

with pliers would not be fun! = It would be horrible!

Ex: About the monster Grendel’s home, the king Hrothgar says “Not a pleasant place” = a horrific place!

THE POEM1.Uncertain when, how, or who

created2. Originally written in Old English 3. Developed out of various influences

(folk tales & traditions)4. Performed by scops (“shops”)• a. Traveling bard/poet• b. Good ones made the most effective use of the common arsenals of oral storytelling formulas• c. Borrowing images or phrases was accepted and expected

5. May have changed as developed

RELIGIOUS RELATIONS

1. Primarily a pagan poem2.Christian allusions are present

(developed as afterthought to make story appealing to Christians?)a. Omnipotent God figureb. Symbolic rebirthc. Christ’s 12 apostles

(Beowulf’s12 associates)

EPICS1. Typically emphasize heroic action as well as the

struggle between the hero’s own ethics & mortality

2. 2. Heroic values = comitatus = Germanic honor system that existed in Scandinavian countries in the 5th & 6th centuries between a king & his thanes (warriors).

a. Virtues of thanes = courage, loyalty, reputation

b. Lifelong devotion of thanes = protection, treasure, & land from king

3. Classic epic

a. journey/quest

b. tests/trials

c. divine intervention

CHARACTERS & TERMS• Mead hall (Herot) – communal hall;

beer/ale hall• Scylfing – Swede• Scylding – Dane• Higlac/Hygelac – King of Geats / uncle to Beowulf• Higd/Hygd – Higlac’s queen • Hrunting – sword given to Beowulf by

Unferth• Naegling – Beowulf’s own sword• Brecca – Beowulf’s friend & swimming competitor

CHARACTERS & TERMS• Beowulf- (A Geat from Sweden –Scylfing)

– Hero of the story; has superhuman powers/strength; owes a debt to Hrothgar (King of Danes)• Grendel – Monster who is terrorizing the Danes; cannot be hurt by human weapons• Herot – Mead/Communal Hall of the Danes• Hrothgar – (King of the Danes –

“Scylding”) Owed a debt from Beowulf for saving B’s father’s life

CHARACTERS & TERMS•  Unferth – Warrior for the Danes; unable to beat Grendel; jealous of Beowulf• Welthow – Hrothgar’s wife, queen of the Danes• Wiglaf – Symbol of loyalty to Beowulf; B’s cousin  

3 TRIALS OF BEOWULF

1. Grendel

2. Grendel’s Mother

3. Dragon

FLOW CHART BACKGROUND

Two Kings…

HROTHGAR – King of the Danes

Higlac – King of the Geats

&

FLOW CHART BACKGROUND

HROTHGAR – King of the Danes

Higlac – King of the Geats

Saved life long ago

FLOW CHART BACKGROUND

HROTHGAR – King of the Danes

Higlac – King of the Geats

Saved life long ago

Grendel attacks

Sends nephew Beowulf to defeat Grendel

FLOW CHART BACKGROUND

HROTHGAR – King of the Danes

Higlac – King of the Geats

Saved life long ago

Grendel attacks

Sends nephew Beowulf to defeat Grendel

Beowulf defeats

Grendel

Debt is paid