...Characteristics of Old and Middle English Literature In many works from the Old English period, which was approximately between 600-1100, there were many distinguishing characteristics, which included heroism, a strict class system, religion, and teachings of moral behavior. Some different characteristics of Old English literature, which is a language derived from Old German, include a strong belief in fate in a very poetry dominated era. Many of the poems are called elegies of that time, which were sorrowful poems, such as “The Wanderer.” Another large characteristic of Old English literature is that of praising or honoring heroes of any kind, especially ones that prevail in battle. Some of these include the Cross from, “Dream of the Rood,” Beowulf from Beowulf, the lost hero in “The Wanderer,” Judith from “Judith,” and the biggest hero who is included in almost all poems and pieces of Old English literature, Christ. Many of these works express much religious faith having to do with Christianity. The Anglo-Saxon people also had a very strict class system. Going along with the faith they believed in the Great Chain of Being, which said that when God made the entire world each creature was put in their position. God made a monarchy and put the members of that high status position there for a reason and did the same for a person who was a slave, God made them that and put them in that position in society. The people on the top of the chain are supposed to help the others...
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...1. Old English Poetry Old English poetry was written during A.D. 650 to 1100. Often called Anglo-Saxon literature, the poetry was written in the old English language. The first characteristic is structure of the poetry. In Old English poetry, each line is broken into two sections called verses or half lines. The first verse is called the on verse, and the second is called the off verse. A pause called a caesura is between the on and off verses. The second is alliteration. Because, one of the most predominant characteristics of Old English poetry is the use of alliteration. Alliteration is the repeated use of the same consonant or vowel sound in different words. In Old English poetry, the alliteration was completed on stressed words beginning with the same consonants or on any vowel sound. The third characteristic is Meter and Rhythm. In Old English poetry, five rhythm types were common. The rhythms were represented by "lift," which means stressed syllable, and "drop," which means unstressed syllables. The five patterns are (1) lift, drop, lift, drop; (2) drop, lift, drop, lift; (3) drop, lift, lift, drop; (4) lift, lift, half-lift, drop or lift, lift, drop, half-lift; and (5) lift, half-lift, drop, lift. The last characteristic of poetry in old English is compound. It was useful to poets focusing on creating alliterations and keeping the rhythm and meter of the poem itself consistent. Three types of compounds occur in Old English poetry. In one type of compound, one...
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...PEDAGOGICAL UNIVERSITY AFTER KH. ABOVYAN PRESENTATION DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES SUBJECT – HISTORY OF OLD ENGLISH TOPIC- OLD ENGLISH CONSONANTS YEAR- 3 GROUP- 6 LECTURER- ASATRYAN STUDENT- MATEVOSYAN SIMA YEREVAN 2012 OLD ENGLISH CONSONANTS INTRODUCTION On the whole, consonants were historically more stable than vowels, though certain changes took place in all historical periods. It may seem that being a typical OG language OE ought to contain all the consonants that arose in PG under Grimm's and Verner's Law. Yet it appears that very few noise consonants in OE correspond to the same sounds in PG; for in the intervening period most most consonants underwent diverse changes: qualitative and quantitative, independant and positional. Some of the consonant changes dated in pre-written periods are referred to as ''West Germanic'' (WG) as they are shared by all the languages of the WG subgroup; WG changes may have taken place at the transitional stage from PG to Early OE prior to the Germanic settlement of Britain. Other changes are specifically English;they took place in Early OE. After the changes under Grimm’s Law and Verner’s Law had PG had the following two sets of fricative consonants:...
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...OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE DURING THE DARK AGES ABSTRACT This period extends from about 450 to 1066 A.D. The sources of Old English literature, as we know it, are rooted in their Teutonic origins and were evolved by the spirit that drove the times. In addition to reflecting the violence of the age, however, Old English literature also provides insight into the hearts and souls of a culture that had a strong attachment to nature; where loyalty and honor were more important than life. And for a culture that did not believe in the immortality of the human soul. Beowulf is the oldest and longest known poem of the Old English period. The passionate struggle between Beowulf and the sea monster Grendel is a reflection of the struggle between man and the forces of nature. INTRODUCTION The Medieval Times encompass one of the most turbulent periods in the History of England and scatter the Medieval History books and other historical documents. Middle Ages embraced two quite different periods of literary history, the Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) and the Middle English, sharply divided from each other by the Norman duke William´s conquest of the island in 1066. Both English culture and the English language changed radically in the years following this event, and English literature was given a new spirit. (The Norton Anthology of English Literature) Old English was the West Germanic language spoken in the area now known as England between the 5th and 11th centuries. Anglo-Saxon...
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...LUSINE MIRZOYAN BRITISH NATIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 1. BAGPIPES – Though bagpipes are closely associated with Scotland and only Scotland by many outsiders, the instrument ( or, more precisely, family of instruments) is found throughout large swathes of Europe, North Africa and South Asia. Out of the many varieties of Scottish bagpipes, the most common in modern days is the Highlands variety, which was spread through its use by the Highland regiments of the British Army. Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The term is equally correct in the singular or plural, although in the English language, pipers most commonly talk of “pipes”. 2. FIDDLE (VIOLIN) – Any violin may be informally called a fiddle, regardless of the kind of music being played with it, it is considered to be the predecessor of today’s violin. The instrument arrived late in the 17th century, and is first mentioned in 1680 in a document from Newbattle Abbey in Midlothian, Lessones For Ye Violin. Like the violin, it tended to have four strings, but came in a variety of shapes and sizes. Another family of instruments which contributed to the development of the modern fiddle are the viols, which are held between the legs and played vertically, and have fretted fingerboards. 3. GUITAR – The guitar is a musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles...
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...The english language is one of the hardest languages to learn because of its multiple roots of different languages.Before the english that we speak today was spoken,older versions of it had been spoken by the people before us.Since 450,the english language had begun its transition,including the culture of the time periods starting with the Anglo-Saxon. Years before the era of the Anglo Saxon had begun,the royal families of the Danish (the Danes)and the Scandinavians(the Geats),had inhabited the Southern part of Sweden when they had decided to invade the island of Great Britain and settled.This migration had brought several Germanic languages together that formed Old English. Hundreds of years ago,the novel Beowulf was written by an unknown...
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...OLD ENGLISH LITERATURE • Palaeolithic nomads from mainland Europe; • New inhabitants came from western and possibly north-western Europe (New Stone Age); • in the 2nd millennium BC new inhabitants came from the Low Countries and the middle Rhine (Stonehenge); • Between 800 and 200 BC Celtic peoples moved into Britain from mainland Europe (Iron Age) • first experience of a literate civilisation in 55 B.C. • remoter areas in Scotland retained independence • Ireland, never conquered by Rome, Celtic tradition • The language of the pre-Roman settlers - British (Welsh, Breton); Cornish; Irish and Scottish Gaelic (Celtic dialect) • The Romans up to the fifth century • Britain - a province of the Roman Empire 400 years • the first half of the 5th century the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (N Germany, Jutland) • The initial wave of migration - 449 A. D. • the Venerable Bede (c. 673-735) • the Britain of his time comprised four nations English, British (Welsh), Picts, and Scots. • invaders resembling those of the Germans as described by Tacitus in his Germania. • a warrior race • the chieftain, the companions or comitatus. • the Celtic languages were supplanted (e.g. ass, bannock, crag). * Christianity spread from two different directions: * In the 5th century St Patrick converted Ireland, in the 7th century the north of England was converted by Irish monks; * in the south at the end of the 6th century Aethelberht of Kent allowed the monk Augustine...
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...Vernacular language is defined as the standard native language of a country or locality. Latin is a vernacular language that had an large impact on the medieval way of life. The Roman Empire spoke Latin and this language became a prominent part of the culture until the 1200 A.D. For years and years to come Latin language dominated the western world and were every the Roman Empire ruled this was the primary language that was used. When the Roman Empire began to fall the Latin language faded away and the countries began to use their vernacular language. These languages would one day be known as Portuguese, French, Spanish, Italian, and etc. The vernacular languages would also be considered as the large family of contemporary “Romance” languages (Matthews, 2011). Before the twelfth century, Latin was the major language that was used by writers. The developments of Latin were influenced by other native languages which included Celtic languages, Greek, and Etruscan (University of Calgary, 1996). Latin was continuously developed because there were significant differences in each period. These differences included those in the literary written language, and also in the differences in the spoken language of the educated and the less educated populace. Between 500 – 100 after the Empire, the peninsula was also using the vernacular language in the form of popular celebrations of religious festivals, improvisational troupes of actors, story-tellers, etc (Matthews...
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...Beowulf is the longest epic poem in Old English, this is the language spoken in Anglo-Saxon England before the Norman Conquest. This poem is more than 3,000 lines long, Beowulf tells the stories of the hero in the story- his success of battles with the main antagonist Grendel, along with Grendel’s mother, and a beastly dragon. Beowulf is a classic tale of the triumph of good versus evil, the poem is split into three acts. The poem opens in Denmark, where Grendel is terrorizing King Hrothgar’s kingdom. The Geatish prince Beowulf hears of his neighbors’ issue, and sails to help with a boat full of fourteen of his best warriors. Beowulf encounters Grendel in unarmed combat, and kills the monster due to ripping its arm right off of its...
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...Effects of the Vernacular Language Candace Rayford Aiu Online- Huma215-1204-20 September 2012 Abstract The Vernacular Language- simply defined as the language spoken in the streets (Sayre, 2010). This is the language that will be heard spoken amongst the common people, and used to define and identify the groups of people. The Vernacular Language impacted and changed the cultures during the early centuries. There are several factors that contribute and are responsible for the rise and spread of the vernacular language. A few of the main contributors that will be discussed in the following reading are the demand of spreading religion, demand of education, and the need of a commonly spoken language for the literature to be produced in to be available to all. The first ones to begin the practice of the vernacular language within their works of literacy were the French. France begin this in the twelfth century, a year later at the beginning of the 14th century, vernacular language had spread to parts of Europe, eventually taking over Europe. Gradually as this language made its way through the regions, writers began to expand their works to a bigger audience by writing in the vernacular. One of the greatest writers to use the vernacular language in their work was the poet Dante Alighieri (1265-1321). Normally reading and writing were skills that only a small number of people possessed. The literacy in Latin was generally limited to the people of the upper class and members...
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...Beowulf was written in the 11th century in Anglo- Saxon, which was the style of language and culture in Brittan. It is proven the story was based from the ancestors of the Scandinavian Anglo-Saxons, whose descendants eventually became the British, because the culture described in the epic is pagan and by the 11th century Britain had been Christianized. The pagan belief of “fate” makes this a part of pre-Christian times; the belief that fate controls the events of one’s life is a reoccurring theme in the English epic. Fate strongly influences the character and beliefs of Beowulf; He attributes his success and struggles in fights to fate. The author shows that God has the power to control any and everything due to predestination of fate. “Fate goes ever as fate must.” (Ln. 455) Spoken by Beowulf in reference to how fate control the destiny of man, this the how Beowulf’s atmosphere is dark and pagan. The pre-Christian world believed that there was nothing man could do to avoid death. They needed to embrace fate. At Beowulf’s funeral the...
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...Beowulf is a probably one of the oldest great poems written in English, being made around twelve hundred years ago. This epic poem felt like it was an adventurous and action packed story put into a book, this was because I found the story to be very descriptive and entertaining. Since the story didn’t have pictures, it illustrated a vivid visual using the literary device of imagery for every moment in this poem. For example, when Grendel goes and attacks to the Heorot, leaving fear within the hall for years. The fight between Beowulf and Grendel was well described, talking about Beowulf encountering the monster when breaking into the hall at night and Beowulf wins the fight against Grendel. Although the story was quite elaborate it became overboard...
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...Unit F965 - Historical Investigations How Strong was Wessex at the death of Alfred in 899? It is a commonly held belief that Alfred, the only English king to have ever been afforded the epithet “Great”, successfully strengthened the kingdom of Wessex by the end of his reign (871 to 899). Indeed, by expanding his kingdom to include the rump of Mercia Alfred became known as anglorum saxonum rex or King of the Anglo-Saxons and not merely Wessex whose kingdom he had strengthened by such expansion. Despite Alfred’s organization of the administration of his kingdom, his extensive military reforms such as the establishment of his Burghal System, and his attempts to secure the throne for his successors some historians argue that in fact Alfred’s successors were the true strengtheners of Wessex, covering his failures and shortcomings even suggesting that “Alfred owed much to his successors”. It is true that Wessex became stronger and more powerful in the years following Alfred’s death by encompassing East Anglia in 917 and the entirety of Mercia and some may credit this to Alfred’s successors. However, the systems of administration and defence that Alfred put in place through his reign were capitalised on by future monarchs and that Wessex was indeed left in a strong position at the death of Alfred in 899. Some historians believe that Alfred’s Burghal System, described as “the most important element in his programme”, was integral in ensuring the strength and survival of his...
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...Beowulf in Relation to Anglo-Saxton Beliefs and Values In the epic poem, Beowulf, there are many references of Anglo-Saxton beliefs and values and the effects they have on the characters and the outcome of the story. As the setting of the story takes place in Anglo-Saxton times, these beliefs and values were well represented and well valued by the many characters of the story, such as Beowulf, Hygelac, Hrothgar, and Wiglaf. The Anglo-Saxton values consisted of generosity, friendship, loyalty, and bravery. Anglo-Saxtons also desired their kings to be chivalrous, powerful, and daring. Most importantly, the epic reveals the values of Anglo-Saxton society in its chivalry code, as well as the code of knighthood. Beowulf demonstrates Anglo-Saxton values and beliefs by strengthening the heroic code, by designating loyalty as a very important characteristic in Anglo-Saxton standards, and by demonstrating the Anglo-Saxton’s high appreciation for craftsmanship. Beowulf strengthens the heroic code by indirectly stating that a hero must possess the characteristics that society finds to be the most important and honorable for a hero. The epic designates Beowulf as a prominent hero in Anglo-Saxton standards, as he possessed bravery, honor, loyalty, and spoke in an elevated language throughout the story. The first lines of the epic state how the past kings showed Anglo-Saxton heroic qualities, and give a preview of the epic will be told, specifically. “So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by and...
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...Jorge Romero British Literature Kinzer September 20 2014 Beowulf Beowulf is the heroic tale of a warrior that goes through the infamous hero cycle throughout his journey. Beowulf fought many monsters to defend his kingdom, contributing to the great tale of the mighty Beowulf. The mighty warrior evolved the moment he stepped into Herot. Beowulf is considered a heavily influenced Anglo-Saxon piece of literature, as well as the main character undergoes the hero cycle. Beowulf has many different Pagan and Christian beliefs that are present throughout the story. Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon piece of literature in form of poetry considered an epic. For a story to be classified as Anglo-Saxon, a story must follow certain criteria. It must have began as an oral story passed down from generation to generation. To be considered an Anglo-Saxon poem, a story must have a hard beat, heavy alliteration, and next to no rhyming. Beowulf demonstrates all this characteristics fit to be Anglo-Saxon, it also includes multiple caesuras through the story. “Knowing a man had come--and then nothing But war could have followed. It’s breath came first.”, 667-668 and, “Bent back as Beowulf leaned up on one arm....That shepherd of evil,guardian of crime”,324-325. These lines show many of the requisites needed for an Anglo-Saxon work. In these 2 lines, a caesura, lack of rhyming, and a hard beat is evident. Beowulf is filled with many more examples, but only requires a few lines to be recognized...
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