The Anglo-Saxon Heritage

I. Introduction

A. Anglo-Saxon Period

1. Six centuries

2. Marked by bloody conflicts, ignorance, violence, barbarianism

3. Time of creativity, dynamic change

4. English emerged

II. Britain before the Anglo-Saxons

A. Julius Caesar visited as early as 55 B.C.

B. Romans established military output in 1st century A.D.

C. Celtic tribes began invading around 600 B.C.

D. Romans

1. Dominated Britons, driving them west and north, remaining Britons settled down to ordinary lives

2. Civilized Britain with military, establishment, law

3. Planted seeds of religion

4. A.D. 410 - sack of Rome by German barbarians signaled end of Roman rule in Britain

III. The Germanic Invasions

A. Jutes first to arrive, conquering Kent in A.D. 449

B. Jutes followed by Saxons and Angles, who destroyed much of the Romans, enslaving Britons or driving them off

C. Southeast Britons didn't put up sustained fight, won one minor victory, led possibly by King Arthur

D. Infiltration of tribes into Britain lasted over a hundred years; Anglo-Saxons established in various parts of England; culture became basis for English culture, Old English formed

IV. Anglo-Saxon Society

A. Conquerers brought passionate loyalty to king and kinsmen, strict tribal codes of conduct, and love of action and adventure

B. Outlook essentially fatalistic

C. A/S remarkably adaptable, while keeping own traditions and values

D. Adapted to Christian religion

V. The Establishment of Christianity

A. Spread through Roman empire in 1st century A.D., effect felt in Britain

B. By A.D. 300 number of missionaries was significant in Britain

C. Augustine

1. Landed in Kent in 597

2. Converted King Aethelbart of Kent, who married French Christian woman named Bertha

3. Established monastary in Canterbury, became one of many famous Archbishops of Canterbury

D. Influence of Roman Church felt throughout Britain

1. Celtic Christians didn't recognize authority of Pope; looked west to Ireland, to learned monks who converted them

2. Representatives of Roman and Celtic met, settled conflict, Britain became province of Roman Church

VI. The Church as a Cultural Force

A. Anglo-Saxon system of justice was modified and refined

B. Monasteries were centers of intellectual, literary, artistic, and social activity in Anglo-Saxon Britain

C. Earliest recorded history of English came from the churchmen at the monasteries

VII. The Danish Invasions and King Alfred

A. Britain invaded by warlike Danes, or Vikings during late eighth and ninth centuries; Alfred the Great led successful campaign against Danes a century later

B. King Alfred led the way to writing the first historical records; put to rest notion that "Dark Ages" lacked "bright stars"

VIII. Anglo-Saxon Literature

A. Anglo-Saxon literature reflects the somber temperament of these Germanic people and the bleak environment in which they lived

B. Anglo-Saxons gathered with royalty to tell stories, sing, and drink

C. Virutally all written literature of Anglo-Saxon period dates from Christian times, but literature far from uniform Christian; Beowulf synthesized and recorded by Christians, but representated Anglo-Saxon culture

D. Forms of Anglo-Saxon Literature

1. Heroic epic - Beowulf

2. Elegiac lyric - Seafarer

3. Riddles

E. Poems of monks deal with themes/subjects from Bible/Church tradition, yet Germanic in fascination with sea/heoric deeds

F. Prose developed much later than poetry; somewhat dull recital of events; writings of Aelfrie

IX. Sutton Hoo: An archaeological treasure

A. Prologue to Beowulf describes precious ornaments adorning Shild's funeral vessel, ship sent out with body of king

B. British archaeologists uncovered burial mound at Sutton Hoo in 1939, dating a century before Beowulf was first recorded, similar in ways to ship described in Beowulf

X. The Development of the English language

A. English is only true global language

B. The Indo-European Base for English

1. English traced back to the most prevalent prehistoric language, migrations broke up around 3000 B.C.

C. The Germanic Roots of English

1. Original inhabitants of Brtain spoke a Celtic language, descended from Indo-European; Imperial ruling class spoke Latin during Roman rule when Germanic tribes came, they used their own language, taking very few things from Celtic language; language spoken by Angles, Saxons, and Jutes spoke Germanic dialect derived from Indo-European; Angles gave its language the name "Angleish," or English

D. Old English in Perspective

1. Old English spoken from 449-1066; distinguished from Middle English (1066-1485) and Modern English

2. Old and Modern entirely different, cannot be understood without considerable study

E. The Germanic Heritage

1. Old English remarkably pure Germanic tongue in early centuries; A/S stubbornly resisted foreign words when they already had a word for it, formed new words by compounding rather than borrowing

2. Old English like modern German grammatically

F. The Scandinavian Influence

1. Danes invaded Britain in eighth and ninth centuries, Old English came under assault

2. Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxons related ethnically and linguistically, no fundamental changed occured; new words and pronouns assimilated

3. While Scandinavian influence was extensive, eventually newcomers were absorbed into Anglo-Saxon culture

G. The Latin Influence

1. Reintroduced by missionaries beginning in 597

2. After spread of Christianity, Latin language of church played large part in legal/intelliectual life of the time

3. Borrowings from Latin were on massive scale

H. The Enduring Heritage of Old English

1. Development of Old English over six centuries overshadowed by Norman Conquest in 1066, when Middle English came along

2. Old English is still part of everyday speech