Unit 01

Historical Background
(3) King Alfred the Great: In 871, Ethelred of Wessex is defeated by Danish forces January 4 at Reading, gains a brilliant victory 4 days later at Ashdown, is defeated January 22 at Basing, triumphs again March 2 at Marton in Wiltshire, but dies in April. His brother, 22, pays tribute to the Danes but will reign until 899 and be called Alfred the Great.
Unit 1
The Anglo-Saxon Period
The Anglo-Saxon Period
I.
Historical Background II. Anglo-Saxon Poetry III. Anglo-Saxon Prose
I. Historical Background
Beowulf

Beowulf is a long verse narrative on the theme of ―arms and man‖ and as such belongs to the tradition of a national epic in European literature that can be traced back to Homer’s Iliad and Virgil’s Aeneid.
Historical Background

(5) the Norman Conquest in 1066
The Norman Conquest
Historical Background


(6) Augustine:
St.
Italian-born missionary and prelate who introduced Christianity to southern Britain 597 and was ordained as the first archbishop of Canterbury 598. Died c 604.
Historical Background

Originally the name Anglo-Saxon denotes two of the three Germanic tribes --- Angles, Saxons and Jutes -- who in the middle of the 5th century left their homes on the shores of the North Sea and the Baltic to conquer and colonize distant Britain. They lived in the northern top of Germany and the southern part of Denmark at that time.
Historical Background

During the invasion these aborigines Celts withdrew to the Welsh and Scottish mountains and left a great part of England to the Romans. Not until the 5th century did the Romans withdrew. England had been made a Roman Province since 80 AD. As the Roman legions withdrew, the Celts came back.
King Alfred the Great
Historical Background
(4)

Canute (994?-1035):
King of England (1016-1035), Denmark (1018-1035), and Norway (1028-1035) whose reign, at first brutal, was later marked by wisdom and temperance. He is the subject of many legends.
Historical Background

Important historical events:


(1) Heptarchy:
The informal confederation of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms from the fifth to the ninth century, consisting of Kent, Sussex, Wessex, Essex, Northumbria, East Anglia, and Mercia.
Beowulf

The somber story is told in vigorous, picturesque language, with heavy use of metaphor; a famous example is the term ―whale-road‖ for sea. The poem tells of a hero, a Scandinavian prince named Beowulf, who rids the Danes of the monster Grendel, half man and half fiend, and Grendel's mother, who comes that evening to avenge Grendel's death. Fifty years later Beowulf, now king of his native land, fights a dragon who has devastated his people. Both Beowulf and the dragon are mortally wounded in the fight. The poem ends with Beowulf's funeral as his mourners chant his epitaph.
Beowulf

(Subtitles of the Excerpt) III Beowulf’s departure for Denmark VI Beowulf’s speech upon his arrival in Denmark X The eve of the battle XI The battle with Grendal XII Beowulf’s victory XLIII Beowulf’s funeral and his people’s eulogy of him
Historical Background


(2) the Vikings invasion:
Vikings, collective designation of Nordic people— Danes, Swedes, Norwegians— who explored abroad during a period of dynamic Scandinavian expansion from about AD 800 to 1100. Land shortage, improved iron production, and the need for new markets probably all played a part in Viking expansion. The Viking Age is commonly associated with unbridled piracy, but not every Scandinavian was a professional warrior or Viking, and not every Viking was a pirate.

The English people are a complicated race. The first inhabitants of the island were commonly known as the Celts (or Kelts). 55 BC saw the invasion of the island headed by Julius Caesar.
II. Anglo-Saxon Poetry

Beowulf --the national epic
1.
Beowulf

Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic poem, the most important work of Old English literature (see English Language). The earliest surviving manuscript is in the British Library; it is written in the West Saxon dialect and is believed to date from the late 10th century. On the basis of this text, Beowulf is generally considered to be the work of an anonymous 8th-century Anglian poet who fused Scandinavian history and pagan mythology with Christian elements.