Old English and the

Anglo-Saxon Period

(449-1066 CE)

THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, PART 1

Old English – What is it?

Recognize this?

Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum;

Si þin nama gehalgod

to becume þin rice

gewurþe ðin willa

on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.

urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg

and forgyf us ure gyltas

swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum

and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge

ac alys us of yfele soþlice

Old English – What is it?

Recognize this?

Our Father, who art in Heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done

On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

See anything in common?

Old EnglishFæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum;

Si þin nama gehalgod

to becume þin rice

gewurþe ðin willa

on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.

urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg

and forgyf us ure gyltas

swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum

and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge

ac alys us of yfele soþlice

Modern EnglishOur Father, who art in Heaven,

Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come,

Thy will be done

On Earth as it is in Heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread,

And forgive us our trespasses

As we forgive those who trespass against us

And lead us not into temptation

But deliver us from evil

I. Early English History

� Beaker people

� Stonehenge

� Left no written records

�What we DO know

� Celts/Britons

�Women

� Animism

� Druids

II. Roman Invasions

� 55 BCE & 54 BCE –

attempted Roman

invasions under Caesar

� 43 CE – Successful

invsasion under Claudius

� Ramifications

� Picts

� Hadrian’s Wall (122

CE)

� 410 CE – Fall of the

Roman Empire

III. The Anglo-Saxon

Invasion� 449 CE – considered the

beginning of the Anglo-

Saxon period

� Angles

� Saxon

� Jutes

� By 600 CE, Germanic speech

of England has become

unique from continental

Germanic languages.

IV. The Anglo-Saxons

� Culture

� Kinship

� Lordship

�Comitatus

� Heroic virtues

� Religion

� Gods

� Wyrd

� 597 CE – Gregorian Mission

� A Clash of Religions

V. Anglo-Saxon Cultural

Artifacts and Sutton Hoo

� Sutton Hoo – 7th century

burial mounds

Recreation of the burial chamber, which was

designed like a room in the king’s house.

The mysterious silver spoons!

Belt buckles from Sutton Hoo, 7th century

Purse lid and shoulder clasp from Sutton Hoo, 7th century

VI. Danish Invasion, English

Unification, and Norman

Conquest� 871 CE – Alfred the Great

takes the throne

� Battles with the Danes

(Vikings)

� Importance of Christianity

in Unification

� 1066 – Norman Invasion –

defeats both the Anglo-

Saxons and the Danes; end

of the Anglo-Saxon period

VII. Old English Literature

� Written – runes

� Anglo-Saxon verse

� Heroic

� Historical

� Elegaic

� Riddles

� Oral Tradition

� Scops