Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 159 views

    The Anglo-Saxon Tradition

    Uploaded by

    Gergana Danova
    The document summarizes Anglo-Saxon culture and history in Britain following the decline of Rome. It describes how Germanic tribes like the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded and settled Britain in the 5th century, displacing the native Celts. It discusses the social structure of early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and warrior culture. It also outlines the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England starting in the 6th century and the works that helped develop a sense of national identity, like Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    The Anglo-Saxon Tradition

    Uploaded by

    Gergana Danova
    159 views21 pages
    The document summarizes Anglo-Saxon culture and history in Britain following the decline of Rome. It describes how Germanic tribes like the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded and settled Britain in the 5th century, displacing the native Celts. It discusses the social structure of early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and warrior culture. It also outlines the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England starting in the 6th century and the works that helped develop a sense of national identity, like Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.

    Original Description:

    ppt presentation of basic facts on Anglo-Saxon tradition in English tradition B2 level

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document summarizes Anglo-Saxon culture and history in Britain following the decline of Rome. It describes how Germanic tribes like the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded and settled Britain in the 5th century, displacing the native Celts. It discusses the social structure of early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and warrior culture. It also outlines the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England starting in the 6th century and the works that helped develop a sense of national identity, like Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    159 views21 pages

    The Anglo-Saxon Tradition

    Uploaded by

    Gergana Danova
    The document summarizes Anglo-Saxon culture and history in Britain following the decline of Rome. It describes how Germanic tribes like the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded and settled Britain in the 5th century, displacing the native Celts. It discusses the social structure of early Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and warrior culture. It also outlines the Christianization of Anglo-Saxon England starting in the 6th century and the works that helped develop a sense of national identity, like Beowulf and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 21

    The Anglo-Saxon

    Tradition

    ANGLO-SAXON CULTURE
    When Rome was weakening early in the fifth century
    c.e., troops in the outlying regions, including the
    British Isles, were withdrawn. Walls, roads, and
    baths remain even now. They also left the native
    Celts and Celtic-speaking Britons somewhat
    christianized, and Picts and Scots in the north, but
    "political" power fell to unstable tribal units. One of
    these leaders, Vortigern, "invited" Angles, Saxons,
    and Jutes to join his military power, so the land saw
    a swell of invasions by Jutes -- a germanic tribe from
    Denmark -- in 449, followed soon by Angles and
    Saxons.

    The current name originates as "Angle-Land.


    These hordes settled in and pushed the Celts
    into Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, and to the
    north. King Arthur grew from legends of one
    Celtic chieftain who held out better than most.

    The Anglo-Saxon social structure consisted of


    tribal units led by chieftains ("kings," or
    "lords") who, theoretically at least, earned
    their respect from their warriors (or
    "retainers," or "thanes,"). Kings should
    display the heroic ideal and be known for an
    extraordinary and courageous feat or for
    success in war, all preceded by some
    boasting.

    The king must be a generous "ring-giver" too -- that


    is, he must dish out the spoils of war to his thanes
    rather than hoard the treasures won in tribal warfare
    The craftsmanship is always elaborate. Although
    theoretically the thanes freely agreed to join a king,
    it was nevertheless vital for one's sense of self to be
    part of a tribe. The thane shouldn't survive the king,
    and the worst fate for these people was to be exiled
    or to outlast all one's fellow warriors. The sense of
    identity came from the warrior community.

    Fighting was a way of life, and not to avenge


    the death of a family member was a social
    disgrace
    So endlessly intricate blood-feuds generated
    perpetual excuses for going to war. The two
    alternatives for ending a blood-feud were 1)
    paying "wergild" -- the man price, or 2)
    arranging a marriage

    In 597 St. Augustine was sent by Pope Gregory


    the Great (Mr. Chant) to convert the AngloSaxons. Writing came in only with
    Christianity, and the Latin alphabet ousted the
    crude germanic runes. In general, churchmen
    were anxious to eliminate pagan stories, so
    Beowulf is quite unusual. Edwin, King of
    Northumbria, converted to Christianity in
    627. Laws started to be written.

    Alfred the Great in the late 800s united the tribes


    somewhat successfully against the Norse and
    was a patron of literature -- a political
    maneuver, since language and literature help
    form a national identity. Latin works were
    translated into Old English; the Anglo-Saxon
    Chronicles were begun (and lasted to the mid12th century); and works were preserved
    through copyings (such as Beowulf).

    An idealized feast- note the curtains,


    tablecloth and kebabs.

    a modest spread for midday

    Language and Style

    Old English is not uniform. It consists of various


    dialects, but literature needs to treat it as a language.
    We get our syntax from the Anglo-Saxons, our
    preference for and greater ease with nouns, the
    tendencies to simplify grammar and shorten words,
    and the "law of recessive accent" -- the tendency to
    place the accent on the first syllable and to slur over
    subsequent syllables. (Later words adopted from
    outside illustrate: "quantit" is anglicanized to
    "quntity")

    OLD ENGLISH ALPHABET


    Majuscule Forms (also called uppercase or
    capital letters) ABCDEF/GHILMNOP
    RSTU/WXYMinuscule Forms (also
    called lowercase or small letters) abcdef/
    ghilmnoprstu/wxy

    The Anglo-Saxon gods lend their names to


    days of the week: Tuesday from Tiw, the dark
    god; Wednesday from Woden, the war god;
    Thursday from Thor, the thunder god; Friday
    from Frigga, goddess of the home.

    Most Anglo-Saxon poetry emerges from an


    oral tradition
    Scops (the poets) and Gleemen (harpists)
    sung or recited and were the only historians of
    the time. The poetic structure was based on
    accent and alliteration (not rhyme and meter)

    Kennings were poetic phrases consisting of


    compound metaphors. The sea could be called
    "the swan's road" or "the whale's way." As
    mentioned above, women were "cup-bearers"
    or "peace-weavers."

    Another apparent favorite trope of the AngloSaxons in which the affirmative is expressed
    by the negation of its contrary. "Not easily did
    I come through it with my life."

    BEOWULF

    We may say that Beowulf was composed


    somewhere in England between about 521
    AD (the approximate date of the death of the
    historical model for the character Hygelac)
    and 1026 AD (more or less the latest possible
    date of the manuscript itself). We do not know
    for sure where in England the poem was
    composed.

    Nor do we know if the poem was composed


    by a single author, or whether it is the result
    of the merging together of ballads by different
    authors, nor whether the poem was
    significantly altered subsequent to its first
    written form.

    The poem's purpose is also unclear arguments have been made for a naturalistic
    mythic allegory, a Christian allegory, a
    criticism of heroic culture, a mourning for the
    loss of heroic culture, a Germanic 'Old
    Testament', an allegory concerning
    contemporary politics in one or other of the
    Saxon kingdoms - just to mention a few.

    ASSIGNMENT

    Textbook- p.10
    Read the extract and be prepared to discuss
    sections Check your understanding

    You might also like