ENGLISH LITERATURE

Early Literature

Historical background of earliest England

About seven hundred years BC. Celtic tribes came to Britain but not all of them stopped there, from one of the earliest Celtics groups the language of Ireland has taken its name Gaelic and from a later group “the Brythons” the island came to be called Britain.

The Romans come and go The power of Rome had been growing and when

they arrived, pushed back the Celts. But not all was going well in Rome, barbaric tribes were thrusting against the roman frontiers. So gradually roman Britain was left more and more exposed to invasion.

The Anglo- Saxons gradually took over the whole of eastern and central and southern Britain. For two hundred years confusion reigned in the land now called, after the lasted invaders (the Angles), England.

Meanwhile there had been a very different kind of invasion , this was the coming of Christianity to Britain. Probably a Roman legion that had served uin Jerusalem was tranferred to britain and they had become Christians and spread news of Christianity . With the withdrawal of the Romans and the invasion of Britain by the Saxons; Christianity was completely stamped out, except in such remote districs as Wales.

Christianity reaches Britain

Christianity arrived to Ireland and was so firmely established that it persisted there even when it nearly dissapepeared in England.

The new culture is threatened by vikings

A fierce tribe of sea- faring men from Norway and Denmark began to attack and steal along the south and east coasts. These Danes or VIKINGS began to settle down in north- eastern England but Alfred, King of English in the south, and his soldiers held them back.

THE LITERATURE OF EARLIEST ENGLAND

The english peoples of England HAD NOT written literature. Only systems of notches and lines on stones. But they had storytellers who sang of the triumphs and tragedies of their people and these stories were passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation.

The languages of earliest England

Each race that came into England Brought its own language. The celts spoke Gaelic, the romans brought latin the invaders from the northern part of the continents brought their germanic languages, and finally with the coming of the Normans , norman french was introduced into England.

The Celtic Heritage:Cuchulain

Many of the earliest Celtic poems center about Cuchulain, and these stories may have taken shape as early as the first century.

Cúchulainn is the central character. He was the greatest of the Knights of the Red Branch, the warriors loyal to Conor (Conchobar mac Nessa), who was reputedly king of the Ulaids of northeast Ireland at about the beginning of the 1st century bc. Cú Chulainn, born as Setanta, the son of the god Lug (Lugh) of the Long Arm and Dechtire, the sister of Conor, was of great size and masculine beauty and won distinction for his exploits while still a child.

The Anglosaxon poem:Beowulf

• Earliest surviving piece of english literature.

• The story takes place in Denmark and Southern Sweden.

• Unknown author, possibly one Christian author in Anglo-Saxon England

• Unknown date of composition (roughly 8th-11th Century AD)

• This is an epic poem.• It is written in the most common Anglo

Saxon verse form, which is alliterative• Beowulf consist of at least three

separate stories, each recounting an exploit of the hero against a monster or dragon.

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS OF BEOWULF

Beowulf, a great hero.

Hrothgar, king of the Danes.

Unferth, Danish warrior

Wiglaf, beowulf’s nephew

Hygelac, king of the Geats and Beowulf’s uncle.

Grendel, man- monster, descendant of Cain.

Grendel’s mother

The dragon

Geats and Danes

Beowulf was a war leader of the Geats, a group of people in what is now southern Sweden

Hrothgar was king of the Danes

LITERARY TERMS

KENNINGS: old english, is used instead of an ordinary noun. The term kennig has been applied by modern scholars to similar figures of speech in other languages too, specially olg english.

ALLITERATION: is the repetition of initial sounds in neghbouring words.

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds but not consonant sounds in consonance: fleet feet sweep by sleeping geeks.

Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds as in acconance: lady lounges lazily.

REPETITION: repetition of a sound, syllable, word, phrase, line or metrical pattern is basic unifying device in all poetry.

RHYTHM: recurrences of stressed and unstressed syllables at equal intervals, similar to meter.

CAESURA: is a natural pause or break. England- how I long for thee!

POETRY: is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to its apparent meaning. Poetry may be written independently or may occur in conjunction.

UNIQUE VERSE FORM: free verse poetry does not have strict pattern of rhyming. It does not have regular meter, rhyme, fixed line length, or a specific stanza pattern.

RHYME: a pattern of repeated sounds . In end rhyme, the rhyme is at the end of the line.

RHYME SCHEME: the pattern of rhymed words in a stanza or generalized throughout a poem, exprressed in alphabetic terms.

Elements of an Epic

1. Epic hero– an character with a trait or characteristic that is valued by his society.

• (E.g.– Superman’s bravery or valor)2. Quest– A journey through which the

character or the reader learns something3. Valorous Deeds– Doing something bravely.4. Divine Intervention– The hand of God (or

gods) help the hero, proving his value.5. Great events– The hero has a hand in

something important in the history or mythology of a culture.