The Anglo-Saxon Period

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The Anglo-Saxon Period
http//mahan.wonkwang.ac.kr/link/med/england/anglo
-saxon/culture/dress.html
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Anglo-Saxon PeriodA.D. 449 - 1066

• Language - Old English
• Values -
• fierce loyalty to kings
• obedience to tribal laws
• admiration of strength and cleverness in battle

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Organization of Germanic Tribes

• Heroic ideal
• excellence - hero-king strives to do better than
  anyone else
• skillful and courageous
• aristocratic, restricted to king and immediate
  relatives

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Influence of Christianity

• Monasteries established
• center of social, intellectual, artistic, and
  literary life
• monks copied oral literature, adding Christian
  themes

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Oral Tradition

• Scop - wandering poet
• Means shaper because they shaped mens
  reputations by creating songs.
• Glorious victories in battle were immortalized in
  verse and song.

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Epic

• Long narrative poem which concentrates on the
  exploits of a single hero, traditionally told
  orally.

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Epic cont.

• Centers around super herolarger than life
• Tells origin of a race of people
• Embodies ideals of a culture
• Shows supernatural forces at work
• Written in serious, elevated style
• Formal diction

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Beowulf

• Traditional epic hero
• of noble birth
• brave even in the face of insurmountable odds
• physically stronger than ordinary men
• on the side of God in his struggles
• performs deeds which will benefit his fellow man
• is victorious in his struggles

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Beowulf

• Date -- A.D. 700-750
• Author -- unknown
• Form -- Epic
• Origin -- written in Old English by monks from
  Anglo-Saxon tradition
• Reflects Anglo-Saxon values

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Beowulf

• Grendel - foe of Beowulf
• lusts for mens blood and gold
• personification of greed, malice, destruction,
  and cruelty of fortune
• has a perverted human shape
• symbolic of evil

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Pagan Christian elements

• Pagan
• Loyalty to the tribe
• Fate is in control
• Desire for worldly glory
• Supernatural elements
• Love of War blood feuds, revenge

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Christian elements

• Christian
• Observance of Gods laws obedience to God
• God is in control
• Reference to heavenly reward
• Reference to praying and to Gods miracles
• A benevolent attitude-concern for others