Tema 2 apuntes (literatura inglesa) PDF

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Summary

THE ANGLOSAXON LITERATURE→ POETRYAnglo-Saxon literature began not with books, but with spoken verse and incantations. Two main categories: EPIC POETRY : recounting the achievements of warriors; eg., Beowulf, «The Battle of Maldon», some elements of «The Dream of the Rood» (a dream poem). ELEGIAC POE...

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THE ANGLOSAXON LITERATURE → POETRY Anglo-Saxon literature began not with books, but with spoken verse and incantations. Two main categories: -

EPIC POETRY: recounting the achievements of warriors; eg., Beowulf, «The Battle of Maldon», some elements of «The Dream of the Rood» (a dream poem).

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ELEGIAC POETRY: lamenting the dead and the loss of the past; eg., «The Wife’s Lament,» «The Seafarer» and «The Wanderer».

→PROSE 1. Before Alfred the Great, all important prose was written in Latin. The greatest of England’s Latin scholars was Venerable Bede (673-735). -

Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The history of the English Church and people) ➩ an account of England from the Roman invasion to Bede’s own time.

2. During King Alfred’s time, The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was assembled written in Old English . -

One copy was still being expanded in the mid-12th c. It begins…

The island Britain is 800 miles long, and 200 miles broad. And there are in the island five nations; English, Welsh (or British), Scottish, Pictish, and Latin. The first inhabitants were the Britons, who came from Armenia [sic: Armorica], and first peopled Britain southward. …

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1. THE WIFE’S LAMENT • From the Exeter Book (dated to 960-990 AD). • Unknown author. • Written no later than 990 AD (perhaps much earlier). Elegy or riddle? - Elegy: “any poem that laments/grieves the loss or passing of beloved persons, places, or things” Eg. also from the Exeter Book: “The Wanderer,” “The Seafarer”

2. THE BATTLE OF MALDON • Fragment of 325 lines of an epic Saxon poem from a lost manuscript • Unknown author • The manuscript, from the collection of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton, was destroyed in a fire in 1731, but a transcript had been previously made - although the front and back pages were already missing. • The poem tells the story of the historical battle between Vikings and Saxons near Maldon, Essex in 991, and it was composed around 995. The death of Byrhtnoth, an ealdorman of Essex, was recorded in three versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. - E.g., the Peterborough manuscript : - The Winchester manuscript is more detailed:

3. THE DREAM OF THE ROOD → SOURCE The earliest evidence of the text of The Dream of the Rood is found on the Ruthwell Cross (5th-12th c., probably, 8th) inscribed with passages from "The Dream of the Rood. The most complete text Vercelli Book, a manuscript of Old English prose and poetry (10th century).

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→ AUTHORSHIP Remember: Augustine arrived in the British Isles in 597, on a mission to Christianize King Æthelberht and his Kingdom of Kent from their native Anglo-Saxon paganism. • Unknown • Credited by many critics to Cynewulf (c. 770-840), author of the epic poem Elene, and by others to Caedmon (fl. 658-680). -

STRUCTURE AND MAIN CHARACTERS

• Three parts: 1. the vision of the Dreamer 2. the monologue of the Rood describing the Crucifixion, 3. the Dreamer's conversion • Two speakers: 1. The Dreamer 2. The Rood • Three protagonists: 1. The Dreamer 2. The Rood 3. Jesus

4. LITERARY FEATURES ● Poem told orally by the scop (ie. Anglo-Saxon poet) including: • superlatives • caesura • repetition • alliteration • kennings: a type of literary trope in the form of a compound (usually two words, often hyphenated) that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun); e.g., “voice-bearer” ● Genre: Dream poetry, with elements of the epic (so, mixed genre) • Negotiation between Christianity and Anglo-Saxon values, e.g., comitatus — Germanic code of loyalty, a relationship based on reciprocity between a warlord and his warriors or thanes, who swore loyalty to their king who must be generous in return (give treasure / land): - Kings / Lords / leaders ⇨ praised for generosity and hospitality. - Warriors ⇨ praised for courage and loyalty

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→ EPIC POETRY • Traditionally, an epic poem is a long, serious, poetic narrative about a significant event, often the heroic journey of a single person, or group of persons. • Before the development of writing, epic poems were memorized and played an important part in maintaining a record of the great deeds and history of a culture. • It typically features: - an epic hero who embodies the values of a culture or ethnic group - superhuman deeds - intervention by supernatural beings - fabulous adventures - highly stylized language - a blending of lyrical and dramatic traditions Examples of epics: Odyssey, The Song of My Cid, and Beowulf.

5. BEOWULF • A single manuscript survives: the Nowell Codex. • Composed by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon poet. • Dated between the 8th and the early 11th century.

- Beowulf and the findings at Sutton Hoo

HELMET

GREAT BUCKLE

SHOULDER CLASP

SHIELD-FITTINGS REASSEMBLED

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To keep in mind about Beowulf

• Greatest epic poem • Oral tradition • Kennings

Three contrasts to take into account: 1. The text is composed in England (8th-11th c.) BUT it is set in Scandinavia (5th-7th c.) 2. The characters are Nordic pagans BUT the speaker is Christian AngloSaxon. 3. Comitatus is clearly represented BUT it is coming to an end.

Key names: - Beowulf, a Geat - Hrothgar, King of Danes - Heorot, Meadhall of Hrothgar and the Danes Beowulf faces 3 main enemies: 1. Grendel 2. Grendel’s mother 3. Dragon

Reconstruction of a Nordic hall

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