Introduction to the Anglo-Saxon Period
Name __________________________________ Period ___
Begins on page 23 in your textbook.
1. The Anglo-Saxon (A-S) period is also called _____________________________.
2. _______________________ attempted to conquer the British Isles in 55 b.c., but was turned back by
______________________________________. A century later, the _______________ army returned and
conquered, introducing ___________________________________________________________________ to
and ruled for ____________ years.
3. The __________________________ and _____________________, along with other Germanic tribes, began
arriving from northern Europe in a.d. 449.
4. The Britons, perhaps led by _______________________, fought against the Germanic invaders, but were
eventually driven to the west.
5. The name England comes from ________________________________.
6. The Anglo-Saxon culture became the basis for English culture and the spoken language of the people, called
_____________________________.
7. The Vikings began their invasions in __________ coming from Denmark and Norway. These invaders did much
damage by __________________________________________________________________________________.
8. The Vikings were finally defeated by ________________________ who initiated a full history of England through
the _________________________________________.
The Norman Conquest
9. In _________ , William the Conqueror led his army in the last successful invasion of the island of Britain in the
_____________________________________, which ended _______________________ dominance in England.
Cultural Influences: Early ___________________________ literature reflected a ___________________ worldview,
while later works were influenced by rapidly spreading ___________________________.
The Spread of Christianity
10. Early invaders’ pagan religion was marked by a strong belief in _________________ or fate and they saved their
admiration for __________________________ whose fate it was to prevail in battle.
11. The bleak ____________________ of the Anglo-Saxons’ early beliefs reflected the reality of their lives, but
offered little ______________. But, ________________________ opened up a bright new possibility: that the
suffering of this world was merely a prelude to the _______________________________________________.
12. An early missionary, ___________________________, established a monastery at _____________________.
From there, Christianity spread so rapidly that by ___________ all of Britain was at least nominally
____________________.
13. ______________________ were the centers of intellectual, literary, artistic, and social activity—the only
opportunity for _________________________. Their scholars imported _______________________ from the
Continent and painstakingly _________________ them by hand. The greatest of these monks was the
______________________________________ author of ___________________________________________.
14. When Vikings invaded in the late 8th and 9th centuries they _________________________________ monasteries
and destroyed many of those works.
The Epic Tradition p. 26 and 27
15. Epic poems praised _______________________________________________.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
Poems were recited by __________________________ in ___________________________.
Poems instilled _______________________________ pride.
Lyric poems reflected _________________________________________.
Exeter Book contains __________________________________ lyrics.
Writing moved from ________________________ to English.
Medieval literature also explored ________________________________ concerns.
THE EPIC-P. 38
Fill in the blanks to make complete sentences that will help you remember epic
conventions:
22. An epic is
. Epics were often based on
.
23. Two examples of repeated elements in oral poetry are
and
24. Stock epithets are
.
. An example of a stock epithet
is
.
25. A kenning is
. An example of a kenning is
.
26. An epic hero has the following qualities:
a.
b.
c.
d.
27. These are elements shared by most epics. Write a definition for each term.
The setting
The plot
The dialogue
The theme
The style