Anglo-Saxon Literature

In the beginning was the word…

Bede

Bede—one of the greatest scholars of his age Works were on theology, science, and rhetoric *Spread of Christianity

The Anglo Saxons

The Anglo Saxons loved beauty. This can be seen in pieces of jewelry that have survived. They also had men of great learning. People were sent to England when they needed a teacher!

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Anglo Saxons believed.. To be exiled from one’s tribe was a fate worse than

death. Earthly existence was a pilgrimage or journey whose

ultimate goal was heaven (early Christians) Until a man was one with God, he was in exile (an

exile is a metaphor for earthly life) Life was a journey full of suffering; man must humble

himself to reach heaven.

Background:

Elegiac Tradition of Anglo Saxon literature.

This means…..?

Focus on mourning the passing of earlier, better times!

Elegy

Any poem that laments/grieves the loss or passing of beloved persons, places, or things

In some national literatures, elegies are formally defined in meter, rhyme, and stanzaic structure. In Old English, elegy is more of a "mode" or manner of writing that can produce poems of many types, all using the basic four-stress, oral-formulaic line.

Old English Laments -A formal expression of sorrow or mourning in verse or song — An elegy or dirge

Characteristics/Conventions

Invokes a museContains a poetic speakerRaises questions about justice, fate, or providenceThe poet digresses about the conditions of his time or

is own situationDigression allows the speaker to move beyond his

original emotion or thinking to a higher level of understanding

The conclusion provides consolation

Introduction

Anonymous poem of uncertain date Lyrical

Expresses a speaker’s personal thoughts or feelings Elegiac

Poem of mourning, usually over the death of an individual

The Seafarer

The Seafarer’s beginning focuses on sea-faring but moves on to moral and religious issues.

The poem contrasts feelings with seasons. Projects the idea that life is brief. Love of God

brings eternal life (“home”). Uncertainty of life on the sea makes sailor aware

of religious message above.

Changes from the past: Way of life changed (king’s glory, “giver of gold”) Honor “ages and shrinks” In current time, glory, honor, love of God diminished. All adding to physical life being brief and love of God

brings reward of eternal life.

Characterization

Courageous Fearful Thoughtful Reflective Religious Proud Point of View

First Person

Final Stanza: Theme

Metaphor Ocean=Heaven

Way is difficult, but worth while Shore/Land=Earthly Desires & Temptations

Easy, relaxing, but ultimately unfulfilling

Final Stanza: Theme

Diction “home”

Land/shore? Heaven?

Final Stanza: Theme

Diction “Amen”

Poem ends with the traditional end of a prayer

Justifies poem as metaphor

The Wanderer - Overview

We find physical journeying within "The Wanderer“ a sense in which the journey is responsible for a visible transformation in the mind of the character making the journey.

The Wanderer vividly describes his loneliness and yearning for the bright days past, and concludes with an admonition to put faith in God, "in whom all stability dwells". It has been argued that this admonition is a later addition, as it lies at the end of a poem that is otherwise solely secular in its concerns.

The Wanderer contd…

The structure of the poem is of four-stress lines, divided between the second and third stresses by a caesura. Like most Old English Poetry, it is written in alliterative meter.

Questions: “The Wanderer” Who is the “Wanderer”? (and) What has likely

lead him to where he is in the poem? Where is the poem set? What is “the Wanderer” lamenting? Why does the Wanderer lament the loss of his

“gold-friend so much? What did that person represent?

What is the symbolic significance of the “mead-hall” in this poem?

What is the Wanderer seeking?

More Questions What role does memory play in the poem? The poem is structured with at least three divisions.

What and where are they? What is the poem’s central message? How does it relate

specifically to its time, and how is the message timeless? Where do we see “ubi sunt”? In what sense do the voice of the framing narrative and

the voice of the Wanderer seem to be at odds?     

The Wife’s Lament

• What is unique about this passage?• What role did the wife probably play before the context of the

passage?• Why is the wife in the situation she is in? Where is her husband?• What misfortunes does the wife suffer?• Is her situation meant to be taken literally or figuratively? Does she

live in an earth cave at the bottom of a tree?• Why can we infer that “The Wife’s Lament” is older than “The

Wanderer”?