Anglo-Saxon Period 460 - 1066 AD

1. Anglo-Saxon Period 460 - 1066 AD England is a small island which includes Scotland and Wales Characteristics: isolation, rain-drenched, foggy, green, mysterious ruins, place of legends, mystery, inspiration for poets

2. Invasions The island was invaded many times in ancient civilizations Invaders included the Romans, the Celts and the Normans

3. 1st settlers BRITONS were Celtic-like warriors discovered here in the 4th century BC

4. Celtic Relgion A pagan religion based on animism (latin for �spirit�) Belief that spirits were everywhere

5. Pagan religion of the Germanic tribes: example �Thor� -Germanic thunder god. The hammer is associated with the thunderbolt. Painting by M�rten Eskil Winge, ca. 1872.

6. DRUIDS PRIESTLY INTERMEDIARIES BETWEENTHE GODS AND PEOPLE PERFORMED RITUAL DANCES HUMAN SACRIFICES

7. STONEHENGE USED FOR RELGIOUS RITES (LUNAR AND SOLAR CYLCES) http://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMStonehenge.htmlhttp://witcombe.sbc.edu/earthmysteries/EMStonehenge.html

8. Stonehenge: an earth mystery

9. Roman Emperor Claudius Conquered the Britons in 1st century AD Christianity begins to take hold in England with the Roman occupation

10. Roman evacuation By 410, Rome evacuates Britain has no government Many separate warring clans Leads to weakness and susceptibility to more invasions by German tribes

11. 4 Invaders during 1st millenium AD Angles Saxons Jutes Danes These 4 culures blended to create a new culture called ANGLO SAXON

12. Alfred the Great (871-899) Led the Anglo Saxons against the invading Danes England becomes a TRUE nation under this victory Begins the reign of the WESSEX kings Alfred's Towns. Alfred was an innovator and a thinker, as well as a successful warrior. He began a policy encouraging the formation of fortified towns, or burhs, throughout his lands, such that no place in Wessex was more than 20 miles from a town. In exchange for free plots of land within the towns, settlers provided a defense force. The burhs were also encouraged to become centres of commerce and local government. Alfred built a new and improved navy to better meet the sea-faring Danes on their own terms. Alfred's Legacy. Alfred also did his bit on the cultural front. He established schools and encouraged the dissemination of knowledge. He is said to have personally translated several books from Latin into the Anglo-Saxon tongue. An untraceable myth has it that he established the first university at Oxford. From the depths of despair in 877, Alfred brought Anglo-Saxon England into a golden age of social stability and artistic accomplishment. He was one of the first kings who seems to have looked beyond his own personal glory to a vision of the future well-being of the nation he ruled. He has every right to be remembered as Alfred "The Great". Alfred's Towns. Alfred was an innovator and a thinker, as well as a successful warrior. He began a policy encouraging the formation of fortified towns, or burhs, throughout his lands, such that no place in Wessex was more than 20 miles from a town. In exchange for free plots of land within the towns, settlers provided a defense force. The burhs were also encouraged to become centres of commerce and local government. Alfred built a new and improved navy to better meet the sea-faring Danes on their own terms. Alfred's Legacy. Alfred also did his bit on the cultural front. He established schools and encouraged the dissemination of knowledge. He is said to have personally translated several books from Latin into the Anglo-Saxon tongue. An untraceable myth has it that he established the first university at Oxford. From the depths of despair in 877, Alfred brought Anglo-Saxon England into a golden age of social stability and artistic accomplishment. He was one of the first kings who seems to have looked beyond his own personal glory to a vision of the future well-being of the nation he ruled. He has every right to be remembered as Alfred "The Great".

13. Anglo Saxon Chronicle Alfred is also noted for beginning the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in the 890's and had many copies made. written in Anglo-Saxon, rather than the usual Latin. Alfred decreed that these copies be placed in monasteries and churches and frequently updated. some of the original copies still survive to the present day It remains one of the few literary sources we possess for English history from the departure of the Romans to the Norman conquest.

14. Literature of the AS period reflects a mixture of Christian and pagan beliefs Stories that were handed down through the oral tradition were from the pagan past, but the monks who wrote down the stories probably wrote in their own Christian elements

15. Bede�s Story of Caedmon In �eosse abbudissan mynstre w�s sum bro�or syndriglice mid godcundre gife gem�red ond geweor�ad, for�on he gewunade gerisenlice leo� wyrcan, �a �e to �festnisse ond to arf�stnisse belumpon , swa ��tte swa hw�t swa he of� In this abbess's monastery was a certain brother particularly glorified and honoured with a divine gift, in that he fittingly was accustomed to make songs, which pertained to religion and virtue, so that whatever thus he he learned of� http://www.heorot.dk/bede-caedmon.htmlhttp://www.heorot.dk/bede-caedmon.html

16. Beowulf considered most important piece from this period (3182 lines) Ideal example of Germanic heroic culture Good vs evil Christian symbolism Scanned Pages From The 1830 Book by W. Taylor, of Norwich �Beowulf is the editorial title of a long heroic poem considered the supreme achievement of Anglo-Saxon poetry because of its length (3182 lines) and sustained high quality, although it may be thought to have been surpassed in individual excellences by parts of some of the shorter quasi-lyrical 'elegies' such as The Wanderer and Seafarer. �����Briefly, it is the poetic presentation of a man Beowulf as the ideal example of Germanic heroic culture, treated for a Christian audience with an explicit symbolism of the conflict of man with the powers of evil. In its dramatic portrayal of moments of high adventure and tragedy in the life of its hero, it employs parallelism, contrast, and a kind of tragic irony through allusive echoes of Germanic heroic lays and historic traditions well-known to its listeners. It has something of the depth and tone of an epic but not the form and construction commonly associated with that ancient classical term. Through Germanic history, legend, and folklore in a style and diction that sustains the best qualities of 'classical Anglo-Saxon verse', it presents a universally appealing tragedy of the human predicament. http://www.beowulftranslations.net/whatisbeowulf.shtml Scanned Pages From The 1830 Book by W. Taylor, of Norwich �Beowulf is the editorial title of a long heroic poem considered the supreme achievement of Anglo-Saxon poetry because of its length (3182 lines) and sustained high quality, although it may be thought to have been surpassed in individual excellences by parts of some of the shorter quasi-lyrical 'elegies' such as The Wanderer and Seafarer. �����Briefly, it is the poetic presentation of a man Beowulf as the ideal example of Germanic heroic culture, treated for a Christian audience with an explicit symbolism of the conflict of man with the powers of evil. In its dramatic portrayal of moments of high adventure and tragedy in the life of its hero, it employs parallelism, contrast, and a kind of tragic irony through allusive echoes of Germanic heroic lays and historic traditions well-known to its listeners. It has something of the depth and tone of an epic but not the form and construction commonly associated with that ancient classical term. Through Germanic history, legend, and folklore in a style and diction that sustains the best qualities of 'classical Anglo-Saxon verse', it presents a universally appealing tragedy of the human predicament. http://www.beowulftranslations.net/whatisbeowulf.shtml

17. http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/themes/englishlit/beowulflge.htmlhttp://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/themes/englishlit/beowulflge.html

18. Anglos Saxon Poetry 1.Themes are Didactic (=teaches a lesson) 2. Uses a unique verse form involving half-lines, alliteration, 4beat rhythm 3. �epic� topics Poetry was the dominant genre of Anglo Saxon literature

19. A-S lit extols the virtues of it cultural and societal heroes Heroic Attributes from A-S times included: strength ability to lead fairness protector courage in the face of death, loyalty/ faithfulness goal-oriented, works for right over wrong