1. Anglo-Saxon Literature
449BC-1066AD

2. Culture
Angles and Saxons populated the
south and east of Britain around 400bc
as the Roman Empire fell apart
The culture diminished into tribal reign
of small, warring clans as the Romans
died or departed
Dawn of the Dark Ages

3. Post-Roman Culture

4. Culture: Medieval
Clansmen would lay allegiance to their
Lord or King (a.k.a. ring-giver)
Lord or King was the ultimate provider,
and demanded their lives in return
The ultimate exile was to outlive one’s
clan or king. Disaster!!!!!

5. Language
Old English (OE) was derived from an
oral tradition with many dialects
beginning of ‘law of recessive accents’
where we began to put stress on the
first syllable of most words
ended with the Norse Invasion in 1066

6. Extinction of OE
The Norman Conquest in 1066 brought
invaders from the North
Middle English was created through the
“Great Vowel Shift”

7. Classifications
Elegaic: solemn expression of a central
idea (Seafarer)
Heroic: celebrates the achievements of
a central figure (Beowulf)
Riddles: short puzzles (Exeter)

8. Literary Terms
Appositives: nouns renaming nouns
Litotes: an expression where an
affirmative is expressed through the
negation of its opposite (not easily did I
come through it with my life)

9. Literary Terms
alliteration: repetition of the first sound
in a word
caesura: a pause so that the scop can
catch a drink or a breath
kenning: a two word metaphor (swan’s
road or whale’s way)

10. Literary Terms
Epic: a poem that celebrates the heroic
deeds of an individual
Oral Tradition: means of publication for
illiterate medieval masses.
Scop: Individual who recounts oral
history or entertainment

11. The Epic Hero
Noble birth
requires divine assistance
great warrior
uses distinctive weapons
engages in a perilous journey
fights injustice

12. Medieval Concepts
Ubi Sunt: Where have my good times/
people/loved ones gone?
Comitatus: a promise made to one’s lord
to defend them to death
Wyrd: the concept of fate

13. Sources
http://www.wsu.edu/~delahoyd/
medieval/anglo-saxon.html
http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/
spring2008/irfan/Attributes%20of
%20the%20Anglo-Saxon%20Hero.htm