A Brief History of English Literature, Peck & Coyle

A Brief History of English Literature, Peck & Coyle

  • Submitted By: Mieni
  • Date Submitted: 10/11/2013 3:24 AM
  • Category: English
  • Words: 5595
  • Page: 23
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HIEL period 1.
Old English language
449 Germanic tribes invade Britain
- Germanic is the origin of old English.
* Celtic tribes were pushed back.

597 Christianity introduced.
* Cultural revolution
* Churches and Monarchies.
* Learning, arts, literature, music and architecture.

750-1050 Vikings
* Norse language influences
* Germanic

1066 Norman Conquest.
* Battle of Hastings
* Bayeaux tapestry.
* Monks started to copy books

1476 Invention Printing press.

Beowulf and the Wiglaf beat the Dragon.
* 3 Battles
* Genre: Epic poem
* Written: 700-900 AD.
* Author is unknown
* English language has no similarities towards Modern Day English
* There is a sense of a well-run state or a settled social order and an external threat, enemy, or enemy within, or chaos taking over society.
* This is a specific pattern for the Anglo Saxon period and the whole history of English literature.
* The period before 1066 was a warrior society. England was invaded numerous times.
* Beowulf also belongs to a tradition of heroic/ epic poetry.
* Which is indirectly traced back to Ancient Greece and Rome.
* Also interlace with myths, legends, folk tales, and past events.

Epic poem: Threats and dangers that have to be confronted. A sense of a hero who embodies qualities that are necessary as a leader in a hierarchical, masculine and warrior society.
Most interesting work: A dramatic shift between one way of thinking and a new way of thinking about the world.

Story line:
Beowulf, the warrior Prince from Greatland, Sweden goes to Denmark and kills the Monster Grendel, which has been attacking the Great hall of Heorot, built by Danish King Hrothgar. Grendel’s mother takes revenge by killing one of the King’s noblemen, But Beowulf kills her too. Eventually he becomes king and the story moves forward 50 years. His kingdom is being ravished by a fire breathing dragon. Beowulf and Wiglaf manage...

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