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LECTURE 3
OLD ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND ANGLO-SAXON LITERATURE.
THE BRITONS AND ANGLO-SAXONS.
The present English nation has gradually shaped itself out of several distinct peoples which successfully occupied in the island of Great Britain. The earliest of these people belonged to the Celtic family and was divided into two branches. The Goidels, or Gaels were settled in the northern part of island, which is now Scotland.
The Britons inhabited what is now England and Wales; and they were subdivided into many tribes which were often at war with one another. The characteristics of the Britons, appear in their history and in the remains of their literature. Two main features include: first, energetic, active and brave, but ineffective in practical affairs; second, a somewhat fantastic but sincere and delicate to beauty.
One of the greatest gifts of Christianity was the network of monasteries. They were gradually established and became centres of active hospitality and the chief homes of such learning as was possible to the time. After the Anglo-Saxon invasions and before the Norman Conquest, literacy in Britain was almost entirely the province of the monasteries. Monks were responsible for the recording of history and literature existed from the Anglo-Saxon period.
The Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons, known as Old English, is the foundation of English language. The Anglo-Saxons brought with them from the Continent the rude beginnings of poetry. Those were popular ballads, or ballads of the people. Out of the popular ballads, or, of the minstrel poetry regularly developed epic poetry. Perhaps a minstrel, or a poet and singer found a number of ballads which dealt with the exploits of a single hero or with a single event and combined them into a unified story.
Only four manuscripts contain all extant Old English literature:
The Junius manuscript which includes “Caedmon’s Hymn”
The Exeter Book
The Nowell Codex which includes the “Beowulf” manuscript
The Vercelli Book.