ENGLISH LITERATURE - LECTURE 1: THE ANGLO-SAXONS

- The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

- The Middle Ages / The Dark Ages / Medieval Times: 6th century 15th century
- Characteristics: - migration ends
- universities and professional schools
- languages and national literatures
- Roman and Gothic style in art

- 700 BC The Celts: Goidels / Gaels, Brythons / Britons, Belgae / Belgic

- 55-54 BC Julius Caesar
- 43 AD The Romans: Claudius conquers the south romanization of the Celts
- 407 410 AD Roman legions withdraw
- 5th century The Anglo-Saxons: Jutes, Angles and Saxons
- 449 AD Hengest and Horsa against the Picts
- ethos = the set of ideas or beliefs, or the moral attitudes of a person or group
Tacitus, in Germania: When battle has been joined, it is shameful for a leader to
be surpassed in valour, shameful for his retinue to lag behind. In addition,
infamy and lifelong scandal await the man who outlives his leader by
retreating from the battle-line: to defend their chief and guard him, to ascribe
to his glory their own brave deeds, is their foremost oath. The leaders fight
for victory, the retainers for their leaders.
Bede: King Oswin of Deira was tall and handsome, pleasant of speech,
courteous in manner, and bountiful to nobles and commons alike; so it came
about... noblemen from almost every kingdom flocked to serve him as
retainers.
- mythology:
- the giant Ymir and Yggdrasil, the ash-tree with nine worlds (among which
Asgard, Midgard and Hel)
- Odin, the one-eyed god: two ravens (Thought and Memory), two wolves and
a horse with eight legs
- Frigga, the wife of Odin and mother of Baldr

- Thor, god of thunder and protector of mankind: the hammer Mjlnir, a belt
and iron gloves
- Loki, god of mischief, father of Hel, the wolf Fenrir, and the serpent
Jrmungand
- Tyr / Tiw, the one-handed god of justice
- Freya, goddess of love and beauty
- Norns: Urdur (past), Verdandi (present) and Skuld (future)
- wyrd (fate)
- Valkyries and Valhalla
- Ragnarok

oral culture

the language

alphabet of runes

597 St. Augustine arrives in Kent and starts converting the Anglo-Saxons to
Christianity

663 Synod of Whitby

672/3-735 the Venerable Bede: Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum/

Ecclesiastical History of the English Nation

the end of the 8th century the Vikings

871-899 the reign of King Alfred English as a language of scholarship

1066 Norman Conquest