Early British Literature
The Celts and the Anglo-Saxons
Celtic Literature
ð Ireland has the oldest
vernacular tradition of
literature in Europe
with written texts
dating from the 6th c.
ð Old Irish: before 900
ð Middle Irish: 9001350
ð Late Middle/Early
Modern Irish: 13501650
ð Modern Irish and
Scots: 1650-present
Irish Literature
Brian Boru Harp
Old Irish
Literature
ð The oldest writings are
poems written in the margins
of 6th c. continental
manuscripts: short lyrics on
religious or nature themes.
ð The early literature has
survived in Middle and Late
Middle Irish manuscripts:
miscellaneous collections of
prose and verse containing
legend, history, bardic and
lyric poetry, and medical,
legal, and religious texts from
several periods
The Scribe
8th-9th c
A hedge of trees surrounds me.
A blackbird’s lay sings to me.
Above my lined booklet
The trilling birds chant to me.
In a grey mantle from the top of
bushes
The cuckoo sings.
Verily—may the Lord shield me!—
Well do I write under the
greenwood.
Major Irish
Medieval MSS.
Leabhar na hUidre
[Book of the Dun Cow], p.73
ð The Book of the Dun Cow
(before 1106): contains tales
of the Ulster Cycle and
Fenian legends
ð The Book of Leinster (before
1160): contains heroic
legends
ð The Yellow Book of Lecan,
The Great Book of Lecan,The
Lebor Brecc, and the Book of
Lismore (late 14th or early
15th c.)
ð The Royal Irish Academy
alone has more than 1300
mss. – mostly religious,
historical and legal treatises
Tain Bo Cuailinge: The Cattle Raid of Cooley from The Book of the Dun Cow
Filí (Old Irish); File (Mod. Irish)
ð The filí (filíd pl.) in the earliest times combined the functions of
magician, lawgiver, judge, counselor to the chief, and poet.
ð Later, but still at a very early time, the offices seem to have
been divided:
Brehons devoted themselves to the study of law, and the
giving of legal decisions
Druids claimed the supernatural functions, and priestly
offices
Filíd were principally poets and philosophers
ð The division seems to have already existed in Ireland at the
time of St Patrick, who was in constant opposition with the
druids.
ð Filíd underwent years of training to compose in verse the laws,
genealogies, legends and traditions.
Bards
ð In Old Irish culture, the bards were the performers of the
filíd’s poems
ð They were record keepers and lineage holders, for the
bards could determine a king's legitimacy.
ð To satirize a king was to declare his access to the throne
suspect.
ð The role of the bard was historian and social
commentator. They glorified heroes while insulting
cowards and villains.
ð They were both the newspaper and the opinion page.
MACSWEENEY DINES AS BARD RECITES: "The work of the file or poet was recited to the
accompaniment of a stringed instrument,. . . .The reacaire or reciter [bard] was a subordinate
employee of the composer, who sat by the chieftain (his patron) enjoying his own
composition." Declan Kiberd, "Irish Literature and Irish History, " in The Oxford Illustrated
History of Irieland, ed. R. F. Foster (1989)
Welsh
Literature
ð The earliest Welsh manuscripts date
from the 12th c., but the earliest poetry
comes from the 6th c.
ð Before 1100: Y Cynfeirdd ("The earliest
poets") or Yr Hengerdd ("The old
poetry")
ð The core tradition was praise poetry -patronage from kings and nobles.
ð The other aspect of the tradition was
the professionalism of the poets
sustained by the Order of Bards, with a
'rule book' emphasizing the making of
poetry as a craft.
ð Poets undertook an apprenticeship of
nine years to become fully qualified.
Welsh Poets
ð Nennius’ Historia Britonum list
poets active during the reign of
King Ida (547-59):
"At that time, Talhaiarn Tataguen
was famed for poetry, and Neirin
[Aneirin], and Taliesin, and
Bluchbard, and Cian, who is called
Guenith Guaut, were all famous at
the same time in British [that is
Brythonic, or, Welsh] poetry."
ð Poems by Taliesin and Aneirin are
believed to have survived in the
Book of Taliesin and Y Gododdin,
Aneirin’s epic of a battle between
the Celts and the Saxons.
Roman
Britain
1st-5th c.
5th Century:
Celtic Disarray
 408: Devastating attacks by
Picts, Scots and Saxons led
Britain to declare
“independence” from Rome in
410.
 440-450: Civil war and famine
in Britain. Country divided
along factional lines
 445: Vortigen authorized use
of Saxon mercenaries against
Scots and Picts
 450: adventus Saxonum:
Hengest arrived with 3 ships of
warriors. Saxons increased
settlements.
Anglo-Saxon Literature
The
Kingdoms
of AngloSaxon
England
England as a Nation
ð Bede may have been the first writer to articulate
the idea of the English as one people in 732 in his
History of the English Church and People.
ð Viking Invasions
ð Destroyed kingdoms of Northumbria and East
Angles in the 860s
ð Wessex emerged as the power that defeated the
Vikings under Alfred the Great
ð 878: Alfred defeated the Vikings at Edington
ð At his death in 899, Alfred was the most powerful
regional king in England
House of Wessex
Alfred the Great, his son Edward and wife
Ealhswith at the Witan -- Assembly of the
Wise
Wessex: West Saxons
Wessex Dynasty
ð Edward the Elder (r. 899-924) succeeded
his father Alfred and conquered the
Midlands and East Anglia.
ð His son, Athelstan (r. 924-40), brought the
Scots, the Welsh, the Cumbrians and the
Cornish under English rule by 928: he
became King of all England and “Emperor
of the World of Britain.”
Tomb of King Athlestan in Malmesbury Abbey
E or A = Æ
House of Wessex
Coin from King Edgar’s reign
Canute of Denmark Ælgifu
1016-1035
Harthacanute
Harold I
1040-42
1036-40
Alfred
1035-36
Genres: Prose
ð Sermons: most popular of prose genres
ð Translations of Latin religious works and
Biblical works
ð Saints’ Lives
ð Legal texts: wills, records, deeds, laws, etc.
ð Scientific and Medical texts
ð Chronicles: historical writing: Anglo Saxon
Chronicle
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
The initial page of the Peterborough Chronicle
ð Collection of annals (yearly
history) narrating the
history of the Anglo-Saxon
settlement in Britain.
ð First continuous history
written by Europeans in
their own language.
ð Probably begun during the
reign of King Alfred in the
9th c.
ð After completion of the
original chronicle, copies
were sent to monasteries
and updated yearly.
ð Nine surviving MSS.
Known A-S Prose Writers
ð King Alfred (849-99): translated a
variety of Latin works such as
Gregory’s Pastoral Care,
Augustine’s Soliloquies and
Boethius’s Consolation of
Philosophy.
ð Aelfric, abbot of Eynsham (9551020?): known as Grammaticus:
greatest writer of A-S sermons,
saints’ lives and Biblical glosses
and translations.
ð Wulfstan II, archbishop of York
(10th c.): author of highly stylistic
sermons and clerical legal texts.
Alfred the Great
Genres: Poetry
ð
ð
ð
ð
ð
Thula: alliterative lists of names or tribes
Gnomic verse: proverbs, traditional wisdom
Spells: invoke natural and supernatural powers
Riddles: what am I?
Religious poetry: retellings of Old Testament stories,
saints’ lives, “Dream of the Rood”
ð Adaptations of classical philosophical texts: e.g.
Boethius’ Consolation of Philosophy
ð Wisdom poetry: lyrical, meditative, elegiac – “The
Wanderer,” “The Wife’s Lament,” etc.
ð Heroic court poetry: celebration of historical events
related by scops: Beowulf, etc.
Manuscripts with Anglo-Saxon Poetry
ð Exeter Book: Codex Exoniensis – 10th c. ms.
ð Largest existing collection of Old English poetry
ð Donated to the library of the Exeter Cathedral by
Leofric, the first bishop of Exeter
ð Contains “The Wanderer,” “The Seafarer,” “The
Wife’s Lament,” “Widsith,” “The Ruin,” “Deor,”
etc.
ð Junius MS. – begun c. 1000 ce
ð Anthology of religious poetry: Genesis, Exodus,
Daniel, Christ and Satan
ð Illustrated: only about one-third of illustrations
completed
ð Bodleian Library, Oxford University
Junius MS: Angel Guarding the Gates of Paradise
Manuscripts with Anglo-Saxon Poetry
ð Vercelli Book – 10th c. ms.
ð Cathedral Library, Vercelli, Italy
ð Contains 23 sermons, a life of St. Guthlac and six
poems including “The Dream of the Rood”
ð Nowell Codex: Cotton Vitellius A xv – late 10th12th c. mss.
ð British Library’s Cotton Collection
ð Composite of two mss. Bound together in the 17th c. –
damaged in an 18th c. fire in the Cotton Library
ð 1st Codex (12th c): Old English prose: Alfred's
translation of Augustine's Soliloquies, the Gospel of
Nicodemus, “Solomon and Saturn”, and a fragment of
a life of Saint Quentin.
ð 2nd Codex (10th c): Beowulf, Judith and 3 prose works
First page of
Beowulf from
the Cotton
Vitellius MS.
Beowulf Prologue
What are those weird-looking letters?
Omniglot
Poetry
ð
ð
ð
ð
Thula
Alliterative lists of
names and tribes
Oral mnemonic device
Found extensively in
Widsith
Technique also found
in Old Testament
Gnomic Verse
ð Proverbs, traditional
wisdom
ð Hit becwæÞ – It is
said
“As the sea is smooth
when storms are at rest,
So people are quiet
when peace is
proclaimed.”
(Exeter Book)
Riddles
The Anchor
I war with the wind, with the waves I wrestle;
I must battle with both when the bottom I seek,
My strange habitation by surges o’er-roofed.
I am strong in the strife, while still I remain;
As soon as I stir, they are stronger than I.
They wrench and they wrest, till I run from my foes;
What was put in my keeping they carry away.
If my back be not broken, I baffle them still.
The rocks are my helpers, when hard I am pressed;
Grimly I grip them. Guess what I’m called.
The Exeter Book
Spells and Charms
Charm for a Swarm of Bees
Take earth with your right hand and throw it under your
right foot, saying:
I've got it, I've found it:
Lo, earth masters all creatures,
it masters evil, it masters deceit,
it masters humanity's greedy tongue.
Throw light soil over them [the bees] as they swarm, saying:
Sit, wise women, settle on earth:
never in fear fly to the woods.
Please be mindful of my welfare
as all men are of food and land.
Trans. Karl Young
Known A-S Poets
ð Cædmon: herdsman attached to the
Whitby monastery during the
abbacy of St. Hilda (657–681).
Author of “Hymn,” oldest A-S poem
ð The Venerable Bede (c. 672-735):
Benedictine monk at Jarrow; author
of the Historia Ecclesiastica: The
History of the Church of England
and “Bede’s Death Song”
ð Cynewulf (fl. ca. 750): author of four
poems, Christian narratives, Elene,
Christ II, Juliana and The Fates of
the Apostles.
ð King Alfred (849-99)
Depiction of Cædmon carved on a stone memorial
cross on the grounds of St Mary's Church in Whitby
Bede’s “Death Song”
Fore ðæm nedfere nænig wiorðe
ðonc snottora ðon him ðearf siæ
to ymbhycgenne ær his hinionge
hwæt his gastæ godes oððe yfles
æfter deað dæge doemed wiorðe.
Facing that enforced journey, no man can be
More prudent than he has good call to be,
If he consider, before his going hence,
What for his spirit of good hap or of evil
After his day of death shall be
determined.
Beda Venerabilis from an medieval manuscript
Anglo-Saxon Poetic Conventions
ð Elegiac mood: the transitoriness of life
ð Ubi sunt: Where are they???
ð Heroic mode: active, loyal to kinship group, boastful
ð The inevitability of Wyrd: fate
ð Figures of speech
ð Kennings: two words as metaphor for one:
hron-rāde whale-road – sea;
hord-cofan word-hoard – mind, thoughts
ð Litotes: ironic understatement -- "That [sword] was not
useless / to the warrior now." (Beowulf)
ð Variation: parallel appositive phrases – see “Cædmon’s
Hymn”
ð Alliterative verse: alliteration is used as the principal
device to unify lines of poetry
Beowulf Prologue: Alliteration
Wisdom Poetry
ð Lyrical: expressions of feelings, meditations on
life
ð Emphasis on transitoriness of fame, glory, kinship,
life itself: ubi sunt theme
ð Boethian in exploration of fickle fortune
Boethius: author of The Consolation of Philosophy
ð Most found in Exeter Book: “The Ruin,” “The
Wanderer,” “The Seafarer,” “The Wife’s Lament,”
“The Husband’s Message”
ð King Alfred: author of “Lays of Boethius”
Heroic Court Poetry
ð Narrative oral compositions handed down from
generation to generation
ð Interactive: warriors in the audience were given
their turns to boast: to proclaim their self-worth in
a stylized solo declamation, which all recognized
as a beot or gilph (boast).
ð Celebrations or commemorations of cultural
heroes and historic events
ð Sung at court feasts which also included mead
drinking, gift giving, harp playing and displaying
of trophies
Anglo-Saxon Heroic Poems
ð Beowulf (c. 700-1000)
ð Fragments: The Fight at Finnsburh and
Waldere
ð The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains various
heroic poems inserted throughout.
ð 937: The Battle of Brunanburh celebrates the victory
of King Athelstan over the Scots and Norse.
ð Five shorter poems: Capture of the Five Boroughs
(942); Coronation of King Edgar (973); Death of King
Edgar (975); Death of Prince Alfred (1036); and
Death of King Edward the Confessor (1065).
The Scop
ð
ð
ð
ð
ð
ð
ð
ð
Court singer
Historian
Genealogist
Teacher
Composer
Critic
Warrior
Reporter
“The Anglo-Saxon scop
was a professional or
semi-professional
tribal poet who
celebrated cultural
values by singing
epics on occasions of
great ceremony and
festivity…. He was a
man of repute, the
equal of thanes.”
Anglo-Saxon Scops
Artemesia
Gentileschi,
Judith Slaying
Holofernes,
1612-13
ð Judith as model of
psychic liberation -female who actsconfrontation of sexes
from female point of
view
Artemesia
Gentileschi,
Judith and Her
Maidservant
1613-1614
Artemesia
Gentileschi,
Judith Slaying
Holofernes,
1620
Artemesia
Gentileschi,
Judith and Her
Maidservant
with the Head
of Holofernes, c.
1625