Transcript Anglo Saxon Notes

AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
The origins of Anglo Saxon England
Fun Facts

English wasn’t spoken in England until the fifth
century
 Even
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
then, you wouldn’t recognize it
English evolved from a synthetic to
an analytic language
We lost a number of letters along
the way
 Eth – ð (voiced th, “then”)
 Thorn – þ (unvoiced th, “with”)
 Ash – æ (that)
Oft him anhaga
are gebideð,
metudes miltse,
þeah þe he modcearig
geond lagulade
longe sceolde
hreran mid hondum
hrimcealde sæ
wadan wræclastas.
Wyrd bið ful aræd!
Things we’ve lost

Nouns

where once there was mūð, mūðes, mūðe and mūð in the
singular and mūðas, mūða, mūðum, and mūðas in the
plural… By middle English there were just three: mūð,
mūðes and mūðe


Strong and weak declension –s or –es vs. –en


Today there are just mouth and mouths
We used to have more en plurals like “oxen”
Decay of Inflectional endings (suffixes)

Noun and adjective endings that made distinction in number
, case, and gender

Now this is largely determined by where the word falls in the
sentence
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NOMINATIVE: The subject of a sentence and for the subject complement.
 Subject Complement = What something else is
 Ben is a policeman
 The pie smells yummy.
GENITIVE: Used to indicate possession and other similar relations; it is
usually helpful to begin by translating it with the Modern English 's form or
using the preposition of.
 Not too different from el gato de juan, “the cat of juan”
DATIVE: Used for the indirect object of verbs
 They sent him a postcard
ACCUSATIVE: most commonly used for the direct object of a transitive verb.
It is also used for the objects of some prepositions.
 You lifted the bag
INSTRUMENTAL: The instrumental case is only distinct from the dative case
for a few pronouns and for strong adjectives. It is used to indicate the thing
or person by means of which the action of the verb is accomplished.
 I wrote the note with a pen
This is "this"
Singular
Plural
Masc.
N. þēs
G. þisses
Fem.
þēos
D. þissum
A. þisne
I. þys
þisse
þas
þisse
Neut.
þis
þisses
All Genders
þās, þæs
þissum
þis
þys
þissum
þās, þæs
þissa
Strong verbs that became weak
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Analogy, in linguistics, is the process by which rare examples tend to
follow the pattern of the common.
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With Verbs
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Plural of cow used to be kine, now it’s just cows
Oke was once the past tense of ache
Stope for step
Rew for row
Clew for clawed
Blowed and blew, knowed and knew, teared and tore all once
peacefully coexisted
Kids do this all the time when learning the language
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
I blowed out my candles
We fighted over the game
Anyway…
Anglo Saxon History
Why the “Middle” Ages?
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Early Renaissance historians, who loved the classical
period (Ancient Greece, Rome), declared two
periods in history, that of Ancient times and that of
the "Dark Age".
By the early 15th century it was believed history
had evolved from the Dark Age to a new period
with its revival of all things classical.
Scholars began to write about a middle period
between the Ancient and “Modern”, which became
known as the Middle Age.
Medieval?
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From the latin medium
(middle) and aevum
(age)
Refers to anything
made, written or
thought in that era
General Dates
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ca. 43  420 AD: Roman invasion and occupation
of Britain
 Initial
Christianization (of the Celts) and burst of Latin
influence
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ca. 450 AD: Anglo Saxon Conquest
 The
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English are German
597 AD: St. Augustine arrives in Kent
 More
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Latin, More Jesus
871899 AD: Reign of King Alfred
 The
birth of Angleland
The Britons or Celts
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indigenous peoples inhabiting the island of Great
Britain from the late Iron Age into the late Middle Ages
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The first people on the island about who’s language we
have definite knowledge
Worshipped gods and goddesses
gods were deities of particular skills
 goddesses were associated with natural features, like rivers
 Triplicities
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Converted to Christianity under Roman rule
Roman Occupation
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Occupied British isles
between AD 43 and 420.
Referred to their province as
Britannia
Brought roads and
highways, heating
apparatus and water
supply, the Latin language
Withdrew to deal with
problems closer to home
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Invading Barbarians
Anglo-Saxon / Germanic Conquest
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Celts had come to rely on
Roman arms to keep invaders
out
Ca. 449, Germanic tribes
begin to invade England from
the south (Anlges, Saxons,
Jutes)
Celts also under siege by Picts
and Scotts from the North
Cut deal with the Germanic
people to keep the northern
invaders out

Fine, you can stay, just don’t let
anyone else come.
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Germanic tribes made
permanent settlement.
Romans had come to rule, the
Jutes to disposes.
Celts relegated to the
mountainous region of modern
Wales.
Angles  English
Roman towns were burned and
abandoned
Anglo-Saxon/Germanic Paganism
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Polytheistic
Strong belief
in Wyrd, fate
Essentially
worshipped
the same gods
of the Norse
 Woden
=
Odin
 Donar = Thor
Anglo-Saxon Civilization
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Society organized around families and clans, Two
classes
 Eorls,
a kind of hereditary aristocracy
 Ceorls, simple freemen
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Justice administered through fines, the wergild
 Based
on nature of crime, rank of injured party
 Often a fine paid to the relatives of a murdered
person to free the offender from further obligations or
punishment
 Guilt determined by ordeal (judicium Dei) or
compurgation
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Seven kingdoms,
Heptarchy, shifting
alliances, eventually
unified into Angle-land
 Northumbria,
Mercia, East
Anglia, Essex, Kent, Sussex
and Wessex
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Alfred the Great
Conversion to Christianity
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Constantine converted to
Christianity following his
victory in the Battle of
Milvian Bridge 312
Romans brought faith to
Celtic England with mild
success
Gregory the Great (pope
590-604) dispatched
Augustine (later to gain
sainthood) to convert the
Saxon kings of south England.
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Augustine targeted the
Kentish king, Ethelbert. His
baptism inspired the
conversion of his subjects.
Trend of subjects following
a king's conversion
Literature and Culture
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epic poetry - long, narrative poem written in
elevated style to celebrates deeds of a legendary
hero or god
 Like
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epic hero - superhuman hero or god of an epic
poem
 Like
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the Odyssey
Odysseus
Germanic heroic code
 Warriors
- strong, courageous and loyal
 Kings - hospitable, generous, and with political skill
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Comitatus -Germanic code of loyalty
 Thanes,
or warriors, swore loyalty to their king, for
whom they fought and whom they protected
 the king was expected to be generous with gifts of
treasure and land.
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neither leaves the field of battle before the other
The Mead Hall
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An important cultural institution
Provided…
 light
and warmth
 food and drink
 singing and revelry
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safe haven for warriors returning from battle in a
world where neighboring people were always
attacking
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Kenning - two-word metaphorical name for
something
 “sea-road”
for ocean
 “light-of-battle” for sword
 “battle-sweat” for blood
 Hrothgar “glory-spear”
 Heorogar “army-spear”
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Scops - composers and storytellers who traveled
from court to court, the entertainers of Anglo-Saxon
times
Sutton Hoo
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site of two Anglo-Saxon cemeteries of the 6th
century and early 7th century
undisturbed ship burial
a wealth of artifacts of outstanding art-historical
and archaeological significance
Very important to early medieval historians
because
sheds light on a period of English history which is on
the margin between myth, legend and historical
documentation