Lecture 1

Literature of the Middle Ages

Questions:

1. Anglo-Saxon Period.

1.1 Old English Poems

1.2 Old English Lyrics

1.3 Old English Prose.

2. Anglo-Norman Period.

2.1 Middle English Poems. G. Chaucer.

2.2 First English Plays: drama, comedy, interlude.

1. Anglo-Saxon Period

Anglo-Saxon or Old English was the earliest form of the English language. It is difficult to give definite dates for the rise and development of languages as it does not change suddenly. During the first 5 centuries of our era Britain was inhabited by people called Kelts, who lived in tribes. The Kelts migrated to Britain from central and western Europe. In the middle of the 5^th century England was invaded by the Germanic tribes of Angles (conquered the north), Saxons (the south) and Jutes (southeast). At the very end of the 5^th century they settled in Britain and began to call themselves English. The Anglo-Saxons were comparatively well-developed. They were brave, poetic, artistic people and had a highly developed feeling for beauty. In those early days songs called epics were created in many countries. The epics tell of the most remarkable events of a people’s history and the deeds of heroic men. The first epic songs known in literature are Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey”.

1.1 Old English Poems

The first masterpiece of English literature is the epic poem “The Song of Beowulf”. It is a story of 3183 lines, which describes the historical past of the land from which the Angles, Saxons and Jutes came. There is general agreement that the West –Saxon dialect in which “Beowulf” now exists is not that in which it was originally composed. ”Beowulf” was made into a poem somewhere about the 7^th century. The author is unknown. The poem is about Hrothgar-King of Danes and about a brave young man Beowulf from southern Sweden. The king is in trouble and Beowulf goes to help him. The great hall called Heorot is visited at night by terrible creature Grendel, which lives in a lake and comes to kill and eat Hrothgar`s men. One night Beowulf waits for this thing , attacks him and in a fierce fight puts his arm off. Grendel manages to escape in the lake and dies there. Then its mother Water Witch comes to the castle in search of revenge and the attacks begin again, but Beowulf kills her. In later days Beowulf, now the king of his people, has to defend his country against the fire-breathing creature. He kills the monster, but is badly wounded in the fight and dies. The poem ends with thorough description of Beowulf’s funeral fire. This work gives us an interesting picture of life in those days. It tells us of fiers fights and brave deeds, of the speeches of the leader and the suffering of his men. It describes their life in the castle, the terrible creatures they had to fight, their ships and their travels. They had a hard life and on sea and on land. They didn’t enjoy it much, but they bore it.

(The sorrowing solders, than laid the glorious prince

Their dear Lord in the middle.

Began to light the greatest of funeral fires.

The wood smoke rose black above the flames

The noisy fire mixed with sorrowful cries.

These lines do not explain much about this kind of verse.)The poem is a classic example of Anglo-Saxon poetry. It has no rhyme, but each line has alliteration, which is a repetition, at close intervals, of the same consonant in words or syllables. Each half line has 2 main beats. Alliteration makes poetry musical and gives it rhyme In “Beowulf” things are described indirectly and in combinations of words. F.e. a ship is not only a ship, it is a sea-boat, a sea-wood, a sea-goer, a wave-floater. A sailor is a sea-traveller, a sea-man, or a sea-soldier. Even the sea itself may be called the waves, the sea-streams, or the ocean way. Often several of these words are used at the same time. These changes a plain statement into something more colorful, but such descriptions take a lot of time and the action moves slowly. In Old English poetry descriptions of sad events and cruel situations are commoner and in better writing than those of happiness. Although “Beowulf” mentions real historical events, names some concrete nationalities (Danes, Swiss) some kings, that really ruled, those people in former times, all that is nevertheless mythological understanding of history. It doesn’t separate real facts from fairy tales. The image of Beowulf who has miraculous characteristics, who defends his people, who subdues hostile forces of Nature stands for a moral ideal of a heroic person of the early middle ages. At the same time in this epic some biblical personages are mentioned, f.e. Cain, Avel, and some legends: the creation of the world, the Flood. In this epic we can also find a lot of perceptions in the spirit of Christianity.

In the 3^rd century Christianity penetrated into the British Isles. The Anglo-Saxons were also converted into Christianity. Monks set up monasteries, which became the centers of learning and education. The clergy wrote the verses and chronicles in Latin. The Vulnerable Bede, the greatest of this writers, described the country and the people of the time in his work “The History of English Church”. His work was a fusion of historical truth and fantastic stories. It was the first history of England and Bede is regarded to be the father of English history. He was the first chronicler to give the date from Christ`s birth in addition to the year of the world.