THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD (450-1066)

THE BEGINNINGS
Little indeed is known of the origin of English Literature, though it is reasonable
to assume that verse of an extemporary kind was composed long before the
period of the earliest written records and that we can be certain that poetry
made its appearance long before the first prose was written down. It is
important from the outset to remember that the extant remains of Old English
Literature have come down to us (for the most part) in late copies, some of
which were made three hundred years after the composition of the poems
themselves. So far as the poets are concerned, again little or nothing is known
beyond the names of two of them. Notwithstanding the mists which shroud the
beginnings and our lack of knowledge of the poets themselves Old English
Literature has a richness which amazes the reader who overcomes the initial
difficulty of the language.
THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
The period is a long one, for it opens in the fifth century and lasts until the
Norman Conquest in 1066. The events, however, must be dismissed briefly :
The departure of the Romans in 410 left the British population open to the
inroads of the invaders from the north. According to British traditions the
English from the Continent came first as mercenaries to help in the defence
against the Picts and Scots; but soon they began to settle in the country.
Archaeological evidence shows that certainly permanent settlements had been
made in the last quarter of the fifth century if not before. In the course of time
they gained possession of all the land. Then followed the Christianization of the
pagan English tribes, beginning in Northumbria with the work of Irish
missionaries. In succession followed the inroads of the Danes in the ninth
century; the rise of Wessex among the early English kingdoms with the
important contribution of Alfred the Great; the establishment of the Danelaw
in England with the permanent settlement of Danes in the country; the
accession of a Danish king (1017); and the Norman influence on the English
court which began before the Conquest in 1066. All these events had their
effect on the literature of the period.
LITERARY FEATURES OF THE PERIOD

1.Pagan Origins.
Many of the poems of the period appear to have in them features which are
associated with the pagan past, in particular Widsith and Beowulf, though the
Christian elements in the latter are no longer looked upon, as was the case
among the earlier scholars, as 'clumsy additions.' It appears likely, therefore,
that the earliest poems or themes have their origin in the Continental home of
the English peoples. Such themes were the common property of the gleemen
or 'scops,' who sang them at the feasts of the nobles. As time went on Christian
ideas influenced the earlier pagan, so it is impossible to refer to any of the
extant poetry as 'pagan.' Indeed this is only what is to be expected when it is
remembered that the manuscripts themselves were written down in the
monasteries.
2.Anonymous Origins.
Of all the Old English poets we have direct mention of only one Caedmon,
though not one of the extant poems can definitely be ascribed to him. The
name of another poet, Cyne-wulf, is known because of the fact that he signed
his poems in runic letters – Germanic letter from Roman alphabet - at the end
of four poems. Of the rest we do not even know their names. Prose came later,
and as it was used for practical purposes, its authorship is oft established.
3.The Imitative Quality.
Much of the prose and some of the poetry is translated or adapted from the
Latin, though the debt to the original varies greatly. The favourite works for
translation were the books of the Bible, the lives of the saints, and various
works of a practical nature. In some cases the translations are close and
without much individuality, but in others the material is reshaped with
expansions and comments and has considerable literary importance.
THE LANGUAGE
The difficulty encountered in reading Old English Literature lies in the fact that
the language is very different from that of to-day. Its vocabulary is for the most
part native, though already there has been some borrowing from Latin. Its
grammar shows declinable nouns, pronouns, and adjectives and a more
elaborate verbal system than that of to-day. There were four main dialects:
Northumbrian, which was the first to produce a literature; Mercian, the
language of the Midlands; Kentish, the language of the southeast spoken in an
area larger than that of the modern county of Kent; and West Saxon, the
language of Alfred, which--due to the political supremacy of Wes-sex--became
a 'standard' and in which almost all the extant texts are preserved.
……
OLD ENGLISH POETRY
BEOWULF
1. The Origin of the poem.
The theme of the poem is Continental Germanic, and it is likely that it was
the subject of lays long before its present version was composed. There is,
it may be noted, no mention of England, and Beowulf himself is king of the
'Geatas.' Though there is much in the poem which can be considered
'pagan' and which suggests that the poem in origin may be considered as
such, the extant version was clearly written by a Christian for the
'christianization' is no mere veneer. Of its actual authorship there is no
evidence. Modern scholars in the main now look upon it as a reworking of
older material by a Christian and not simply as a collection of tales strung
together by one hand. The dialect of the text is West Saxon though there is
clear evidence that it was written in some Anglian dialect, but whether
Mercian or Northumbrian is uncertain.
2.The Story.
There are so many episodes and digressions in the story of Beowulf that it is
almost impossible briefly to give an adequate synopsis of the narrative. In
outline it may be said that Beowulf, son of Ecgtheow, sails to Denmark with a
band of warriors and rids the Danish King Hrothgar of a terrible mere-
monster called Grendel. The mother of Grendel, seeking vengeance for the
death of her son, meets the same fate, and Beowulf, fittingly feasted and
rewarded, returns to his native land. He becomes king of the Geatas and
after a prosperous reign of some forty years slays a dragon which had
ravaged his land, but in the fight he himself receives a mortal wound. The
poem concludes with the funeral ceremonies in honour of the dead hero.
3.Style.
A short extract is printed below, with a literal translation, to illustrate the
style. The extract describes the funeral rites of the hero, and occurs near the
end of the poem (lines 3137-49).
Him oa gegiredan Geata leode
For him then the people of the Geats made ready
ad on eordan unwaclicne,
a splendid funeral pyre on the earth,
helmum behongen, hildebordum,
hung around with helmets, with battle-shields,
beorhtum byrnum, swa he bena waes;
with shining corslets, as he requested;
alegdon oa tomiddes maerne peoden
then they laid in the midst of it the illustrious prince,
haeleo hiofende, hlaford leofne.
the weeping warriors, the beloved lord.
Ongunnon pa on beorge baelfyra maest
Then the warriors began to kindle on the cliff
wigend weccan: wudurec astah
the greatest of funeral fires: the wood-smoke rose up
sweart ofer swiooole, swSgende leg,

dark above the fire, the roaring flames,

wope bewunden --windblond gelaeg--
surrounded by lamentation--the tumult of the winds subsided--
oopaet he he banhus gebrocen haefde,
till it had completely crushed the body,
hat on hreore. Higum unrote
hot in his breast. Sad in mind
modceare maendon, mondryhtnes cwealm.
they complained of the sorrow of their hearts, the death of their liege-lord

The LANGUAGE
It will be observed that the language is forceful and expressive-indicative-,
conveying with an economy of words the picture of the funeral pyre on the
cliff top and the lamentation of the warriors for their dead king. The use of
compound words should be noted especially, together with that of the
kenning, which was skilfully handled. They appear as a form of a compressed
vivid statement of a highly original image." The best example in this passage
is banhus--literally 'bone house,' i.e., 'body.' A further stylistic characteristic
which should be noted is the use of repetition and variation. The same idea
is expressed more than once by the use of different Words which were more
or less synonymous. Such parallel phrasing can be seen in lines 5 and 6
above: malrne peoden and hlaford leofne ('illustrious prince' and 'beloved
lord') and elsewhere as the translation will suggest. The verse is strongly
rhythmical, based on a stress system with four stresses to the full line, two in
each of the half-lines; it is also alliterative, there being two alliterating
syllables in the first half-line and one (usually the first) in the second. The
stressed syllables are the ones which bear the alliteration.