The Anglo-

Norman
Period
Table of contents:
The Anglo - Norman
01
Period

Anglo - Norman
02 03 Ballad
Literature

Three English The Pardoner’s

04 05
Ballads Tale
 The Anglo - Norman
01
Period
The Anglo - Norman Period or
Middle English Period
·The Middle English Period started when the Norman French arrived in England in 1100 BC. It
immensely impacted the British life.
·The French became the ruling class, so the language of the nobility, the government, the law,
and civilized life in England for the next two hundred years was French.
·French is the source of words, yet the languages of the peasants remained English.
·The Normans have bestowed over 10,000 words to English, including a large number of
intricate nouns ending in prefixes and suffixes.
 02 Anglo - Norman Literature

·Anglo-Norman literature is the second phase of the English Literature.

·Most of its literature is oral tradition, and their authors is unknown.
03 Ballad
 03 Ballad
·A ballad is a poem that tells a story and the term popular ballads refers to those originated from
the common people rather than from the king’s court or the halls of the nobles.
·To the ordinary people of the Middle Ages, these ballads were more entertainment than
literature, and were not written down. They were instead sung over and over by minstrels and
troubadours in local celebrations and events, which helped preserve the gist of each ballad.
 ·Each ballad has several versions, but they share the following
common characteristics:
1.The subject is dramatic, often focusing on love, death, or the supernatural.
2.The language is very simple
3.The story is developed through dialogue
4.It contains lines or a stanza that is repeated throughout the ballad
5.Mystery is contrived by leaving out details
04 Three English Ballads
 1. Lord
Randal
- Tells the tale of a man whose heart was broken by his lover, who
poisoned him by feeding him poisonous snakes.

- The ballad tells the story of Lord Randal who went hunting in the
woods with a his bloodhounds. His true love who gave him eels
boiled in broth. Lord Randal ate the eels and gave the leftovers to
his bloodhounds, but since the eel was poisoned, they all died.

"O where ha'e ye been, Lord Randall my son?
O where ha'e ye been, my handsome young man?"
"I have been to the wild wood; Mother, make my bed
soon,
For I’m weary with hunting, and fain would’ lie down."
"Where got ye your dinner, Lord Randall, my son?
Where got ye your dinner, my handsome young man?"
"I dined with my true-love; Mother, make my bed
soon,
For I'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie down."
"What got ye to your dinner, Lord Randall my son?
What got ye to your dinner, my handsome young man?"
"I got eels boiled in broth; Mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie down."
"What became of your bloodhounds, Lord Randall my son?
What became of your bloodhounds, my handsome young
man?"
"O they swelled and they died; Mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm weary with hunting, and fain would lie down."
"O I fear ye are poisoned, Lord Randall my son!
O I fear ye are poisoned, my handsome young man!"
"O yes, I am poisoned; Mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm sick at the heart, and I fain wounld lie down."
 2. Bonny Barbara Allan
-This is a story of an unhappy love affair. It tells of how the eponymous character
denies a dying man's love, then dies of grief soon after his untimely death.

-It started with a servant asking for Barbara to attend on his sick master. She visits the
bedside of the heartbroken young man, who then pleads for her love but she refuses
because she claims he had slighted her while drinking with friends. He dies soon after
and Barbara hears his funeral bells tolling; stricken with grief, she dies as well.
 That ye made the healths go round and round,
It was in and about the Martinmas time,
When the green leaves were a-falling,
That Sir John Greame, in the West Country,
Fell in love with Barbara Allan.
He sent his man down through the town,
To the place where she was dwelling:
“O haste and come to my master dear,
Gin ye be Barbara Allan.”
O quicly, quicly rose she up,
To the place where he was lying,
And when she drew the curtain by,
“Young man, I think you’re dying.”
“O it’s I’m sick, and very, very sick,
And it is all for Barbara Allan:”
“O the better for me ye’s never be,
Tho your heart’s blood were a-spilling.
“O do you remember, young man,” said she,
“When ye was in the tavern a-drinking,
And slighted Barbara Allan?”
He turned his face unto the wall,
And death was with him dealing:
“Adieu, adieu, my dear friends all,
And be kind to Barbara Allan.”
And slowly, slowly raise she up,
And slowly, slowly left him,
And sighing said, she could not stay,
Since death of life had bereft him.
She had not gone a mile but two,
When she heard the dead-bell ringing,
And every note that the dead-bell gave,
It cry’d, Woe to Barbara Allan!
“O mother, mother, make my bed!
O make it soft and narrow!
Since my love died for me to-day,
I’ll die for him to-morrow
3. Get Up and Bar the Door
-Although ballads were often serious or even tragic, this ballad testifies that
the comic was not entirely neglected by balladeers.

-Goodwife and goodman had a normal day, then all of a sudden goodman
told goodwife to bar the door. Then goodwife told goodman that she
couldn't because she is busy making pudding. After, they had a conflict of
who would bar the door, but they resolved it by whoever spoke first would
bar the door. Until two gentleman went into their homes threatened them
and ate their food.

It fell about the Martinmas time,
And a gay time it was then,
When our goodwife got pudding to make,
And she's boiled them in the pan.
The wind so cold blew south and north
And blew into the floor;
Said our goodman to our goodwife,
"Get up and bar the door"
“My hand is in my pocket deep,
Goodman, as you may see;
An' it should not be barred this hundred years,
It'll not be barred by me.”
They made a pact between them two,
They made it firm and sure,
That the first word who e'er should speak,
Should rise and bar the door.
Then by there came two gentlemen,
At twelve o clock at night,
And they could neither see house nor hall,
Nor coal or candle-light.
"Now whether is this a rich man’s house,
Or whether is it a poor?”
But ne'er a word for one of them speak,
For barring of the door.
And first they ate the white puddings,
And then they ate the black;
And very angry the goodwife to herself,
Yet ne'er a word she spake.
Then said the one unto the other,
“Here, man, take ye my knife;
Do you take off the old man's beard,
And I ’ll kiss the goodman's wife."
“But there’s no water in the house,
And what shall we do then?”
"What ails thee at the pudding-broth,
That boils into the pan?”
O up then started our goodman,
An angry man was he;
“Will ye kiss my wife before my eye,
And scald me with pudding-broth?”
Then up and started our goodwife,
Gave three skips on the floor;
“Goodman, you’ve spoken the foremost words,
Get up and bar the door.”
The Pardoner’s
Tale
By Geoffrey Chaucer
 Geoffrey
Chaucer
·Geoffrey Chaucer was an English poet, author, and civil
servant.
·He has been called the "father of English literature"
The Pardoner’s Tale
By Geoffrey Chaucer

Characters:
·Three wicked young men
·The old man
·Death
 Full Story:
Three wicked men were listening to the tavern’s gossip about Death slaying men, women,
children, and their friend while drinking and quarreling, so after the three wicked men heard
about the news they made a vow that three of them would act as one like brothers to each other
and that they will not rest until they find Death and kill him. So after they made a vow they
began to fulfill it, then when they were walking barely half a mile away to find the Death they
encountered an old man who greeted them, then the proudest of the roisterers asked the old man
in a rude way “Slave, why are you so wrapped up except for your face? Why are you still
alive?”. The old man answered sadly “I am still alive because I find no man can replace me and
therefore am I alive as long as it is God’s will, and Death, alas will not take my life, and so my
staff I knock upon the Mother earth to open and let me in. And so God be with you, I’ll go my
way”

1 out of
4
Full Story:

When the old man said that the youngest roisterer stopped the old man from going and said
rudely “No. Old slave, you don’t go away so fast” “You are a spy for this traitor, Death, so tell us
where he lives, this slayer of youth”. The old man answered, “If you want to find Death, turn up
this narrow path, for in that grove I left him under the three, you should find him there unless
you mend your ways”.
After the old man answered them they started to walk on the narrow path that the old man said,
then they started to run on the tee because they found a treasure of gold coins under the trunk of
the tree, because of it they forgot about Death. The three sat there staring greedily at the pile of
gold coins.

2 out of
4
Full Story:
The worst of three first speak he said “We can live for the rest of our life sitting and drinking but
we cannot bring this to our homes because they will think that we steal them, so I suggest one of
us we draw lots and he who got the shortest lot should go to two and bring us bread and wine
while the two will remain and watch the pile of gold coins and at night we shall take this fortune
where we think the best”, everyone agreed, so they draw a lot and the youngest draw the shortest
lot.
While the youngest goes to town to bring back bread and wine for the three of them, the one
roisterer who also remains to watch the pile of gold coins says to the other “You know that you
are like my brother, I have a plan that will make us more profit” then when the other roisterer
had interested the other roisterer said “I have a plan when the youngest came back we will
immediately kill him then we will divide the gold into two” the other agreed,

3 out of
4
Full Story:

what they didn’t know is that the youngest also plans on how he will make more profit for
himself then an idea came to his mind, his idea is he will put a poison on the wine so when the
two drank it they will die, since that’s his plan he firstly went to the apothecary and bought a
poison telling the man that his house has full of rats, after he bought the poison he then brought
the bread and wine and put poison on the wine. When the youngest came to the tree the other
two immediately killed him but after they killed him they drank the wine that the youngest
bought, In the end, the other two also died.

4 out of
4
 Summary:
Three drunken wicked men set out to destroy Death, a private thief, after one
of their friends had died. An old man tells them that Death can be found
under a particular oak tree in a grove, but when they arrive at the tree, they
discover only a pile of gold florins. Two of the men plot to kill the youngest
to have more of the treasure for themselves. However, after they kill their
friend, they drink some wine that the youngest had poisoned earlier, and they
too die
 Conflict:
The three wicked young men made a plan to kill Death in revenge for all the murders he’s
committed.

Theme
“Greed
: is the root of all evil”

Plot:
The two wicked men killed the youngest and then got killed by the poison that the youngest put
in their wine, just for the treasures.

Moral of the Story:

It teaches that never be blinded by gold, money, or anything material just for the sake of your friends
or family, and never be selfish.
Thank you for
your time!