英国文学史总结

Lecture One

The Making of England: The Anglo-Saxon Period

The Making of England I. The Bretons:the earliest settlers of the British Isles, a tribe of Celts. Legacies :the name of Britain: the land of Bretons

the religious ceremony of May Day and the cult of mistletoe, etc.

II. The Roman Conquest: 55 B.C.—invasion by Julius Caesar；78 A.D.—complete subjugation

410 A. D. –retreat of Roman troops

Legacies: The Roman Empire--a high level of civilization

Roman roads; London ；the introduction of Christianity to Britain.

⏹III. The Anglo-Saxon Conquest:

⏹About 450 AD. invasions by Angles, Saxons and Jutes from Northern Europe

⏹7th century: the united kingdom of England, or the land of the Angles

Legacies : the legend of King Arthur, a Celtic king, and his Round Table nights against the Anglo-Saxon invaders;

⏹the mark of northern mythology on the English language;

⏹Old English literature (Anglo-Saxon literature)

⏹IV. The Danish invasion

⏹about 787— the 11th century: the Danes, or the Vikings

⏹King Alfred the Great, the Anglo-Saxon king that defeated the invaders by their uniting forces.

⏹Expelled from England before the Norman Conquest

Development of the Anglo-Saxon literature

The Northumbrian School:

⏹Caedmon in the 7th century—Paraphrase

⏹The Venerable Bede: father of English history, The Ecclesiastical History of the English People

⏹King Alfred in Wessex

⏹Education and translation from Latin to English

⏹The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

⏹A style of Anglo-Saxon prose

Britons May Day celebration Kiss under the mistletoe Caesar and his troops

Roman Roads Conversion from heathenism to Christianity Anglo-Saxon Invasion to England King Arthur and His Round-table Knights Odin-Wednesday; Thor-Thursday; Frigga-Friday；Tiu-Tuesday；Danish Invasion and King Alfred the Great

Lecture 2 Beowulf

⏹The national epic of the English people

⏹Oral form since 6th century → written down in 8th century

⏹the story is based on partly historical and partly legendary materials, brought over by the Anglo-Saxon from their original homes.

⏹A mixture of paganism and Christian elements

Major characters:

⏹Beowulf—the nephew of Hygelac, King of the Geats,

⏹Grendel—the monster that had haunted Hrothgar‘s feasting hall

⏹Grendel‘s monster mother—who lives under the sea and tried to avenge her son‘s death

⏹The fire dragon —slaughtered by Beowulf but also wounded Beowulf seriously, which caused his death.

Contect;Grendel vs. Beowulf ; Beowulf fighting with Grendel‘s mother；Beowulf and the fire dragon；

⏹Grendel: Gluttonous, brutal, arrogant, sly, coward

⏹Beowulf ：strong, courageous, alert, resourceful, resolute, selfless, looking forward to honor Technical features of Old English poetry

⏹Alliteration: initial rhyme, or head rhyme

⏹Kenning: a kind of figurative language

⏹The use of repetition and variation

Alliteration―Thus made their mourning the men of Geatland,