The Old English Period

THE CELTS WERE IN MOST PART OF EUROPE

The Celts in Britain

• THE CELTS WERE NOT AN EMPIRE.

• THE CELTS WERE CULTURE.

• THE ANCIENT CELTS WERE GREAT WANDERERS AND CONQUERORS.

• THEY LIVED IN ROUND HOUSES WITH THATCHED ROOFS.

Ancient Rome

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

ROMAN BRITAIN

Romans landing in Britain

Caesar• Caesar wrote as follows...

• "Druids know much about the stars and celestial motions, and about the size of the earth and universe, and about the essential nature of things, and about the powers and authority of' the immortal gods; and these things they teach to their pupils."

• A.D. 43 the Emperor Claudius sent another army to invade Britain.

• Some Celts decided to make peace with the Romans in return for keeping their kingdoms.

• In some parts of Britain there were still fierce battles against the Romans. For example at Maiden Castle (a huge hill fort near Dorchester in Dorset) archaeologists found evidence of a battle which the Romans had won. Buried on the site were the skeletons of young men, some of which even had cut marks of Roman swords on their bones.

Main Roman roads in Britain

English adopted Roman ways of living and organisation

When the Romans became Christians

• The British became Christians too.

The Romans leave Scotland in 410AD

• Probably, because the army was needed elsewhere in the Roman Empire.

• By this time four main kingdoms emerged: the Picts, the Scots, the Angles & the Britons.

The attack of the Great Alliance: SCOTS, PICTS

and SAXONS

The Anglo Saxon Period

The Angles, Jutes and Saxons invaded Britain

Resistance

• Romans were gone.

• A King defended his land:

King

Arthur

New map of Britain

The VIkings

• In the 9th century, the English king, Alfred the Great forced the Vikings to leave the whole of western England.

• During the 10th Century the English reconquered many Viking areas.

• But in the early 11th century the whole of England was ruled by the Viking King Knut.

With the Viking King CNUT the invasion was massive

New map of Britain: A.D. 874-920

Canute "strengthened his position in England"

• He married Emma of Normandy, the widow of Æthelred, who was Canute's former opposition in England.

• King Edward the confessor promises to give his crown to Duke William of Normandy.

• The Witan decides that at the death of Edward the next king should be Harold.

• In 1066 the Battle of Hastings takes place and William defeats Harold.

• So the new king of England is a Norman and that’s the end of the Old English Period.

Literature in the Old English Period

Literary Forms

Alliteration

Kennings

Caesura

Rythm

Oral Tradition

Repetitions

PoetryRhyme

ANGLO-SAXON VERSE

• It is alliterative

• Similar sounds at the beginnings of word.

• It has 4 strong beats.

• It has 1 break in the middle of the line.

Beowulf

BEOWULF• Beowulf can be divided into two

halves.

• The first half tells of the arrival of Beowulf the Geat in the Danish court of Hrothgar. Beowulf has come for Geatland to the court to rid of Grendel, a monster that has been killing Hrothgar’s men over a twelve year period. Beowulf fights the monster and kills it. His mother threatens Hrothgar’s kingdom and Beowulf defeats her as well.

BEOWULF• The second half takes place

50 years later. Beowulf has become the king of Geatland and has ruled wisely. A thief has disturbed a dragon and it begins to kill Beowulf’s people. Beowulf sets off to kill the monster but this time the victory costs him his life.

Litrary forms in Beowulf

• Alliteration

• Epic

• Elegy

• Epithet

• Allusion

• Kenning

• Foreshadowing

The Medieval Times

King William “The conqueror”: His Reign

• He built stout castles all over England.• The Tower of London was built to protect

London from possible attacks.

Normans in England

• The Normans were descendants of Scandinavians who had settled in France and had acquired some French manners and culture and so spoke French as well as they had kept their love for adventure.

• They brought England:– Their law and order– Political organisation – Most important of all the FEUDAL SYSTEM

FEUDAL SYSTEM - FEUDALISM

• It was a political and social system that had been started in the continent (Europe).

• The system was as follows:

Chivalry• It comes from the French word:

CHEVALIER = HORSEMAN or KNIGHT

• So, a knight had:– A sense of honour– Respect for women and religion

• The ideal knight had the following qualities:– Devotion to God– Loyalty to his lord– Valour – Protective kindness to the weak.

• These social and moral forces were rules and regulations for the English.

THE LITERATURE OF MEDIEVAL ENGLISH

•A notable amount of medieval literature is anonymous.

•Medieval authors often tended to re-tell and embellish stories they heard or read rather than invent new stories.

Medieval Literature

• It also tells of chivalrous deeds and noble knights.

• Some romantic stories about national heroes were brought from France like those about King Arthur and his knights.

• The finest metrical romance was written by an unknown Englishman: “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”

Writings

Characteristics of Medieval

Literature

• Heroism• Idealised

Behaviour• Use of allegory• Romance• Christian message

The Ideal of Courtly Love• This relationship was modeled on

the feudal relationship between a knight and his liege lord.

• The knight serves his courtly lady with the same obedience and loyalty which he owes to his liege lord.

• She is in complete control; he owes her obedience and submission

The Quest

• In addition to the theme of Courtly Love, the Quest was highly important

Three Medieval Poets

• William Langland: “The vision of William”

• The unknown writer of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”

• The most important of all, known as the father of English Literature GEOFFREY CHAUCER.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

Author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

• Some asumptions about this author are that he:– had lived in court.– was not young when he wrote his work.– was associated with a monastery.– Lived near Wales (Celtic place)

SYMBOLS: The PentangleThe Green Girdle

MOTIFS: The Seasons Games

THEMES: The Nature of ChivalryThe Letter of the Law (Covenant)

Geoffrey Chaucer

• Born in London.• Son of a wine merchant.• At 17 became PAGE of Prince Lionel.• Had an active and adventurous life.• Went to war with the Prince when England was

at war with France. • There, was taken prisoner but ransomed with

the help of the King.• At 34 became controller of the customs in the

Port of London.• Became clerk of the King’s works.

Geoffrey Chaucer

• Was well off until political changes took place.• Lost pensions and prosperity.• Knew poverty as well.• In his later life became justice of the peace.• A year later became Member of Parliament.• His earliest poetry was translations from the

French.• His first English book was “The book of the

Duchess”• In 1389 began writing his masterpiece “The

Canterbury Tales”

THE CANTERBURY TALES

• It is about a journey of a group of pilgrims from London to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.

• They are 30 pilgrims including Chaucer.• Each pilgrim was to tell 2 tales on the way to

Canterbury and 2 more in the way back.• But these 120 tales were not finished.• Chaucer died and could only finish 22 tales.• The tales are preceded by a very long Prologue.

• A quest is a hero’s journey towards a goal. The objects of quests require great exertion on the part of the hero, and the overcoming of many obstacles.

• The hero's must obtain something, or someone, by the quest and with this object return home.

Ballads

Long narrative form.

It is a Literary form

It belongs to the Oral tradition

It is an impersonal narrative moving from dialogue to action.

The theme is often tragic.

It deals with a single episode.

It has little background information.

Some of them use refrains, incremental repetition and a rethorical device.