Literatura brytyjska

Alliterative verse (accentual metre) – generally, a four-stress line, which is divided into two half
lines of two stresses each: the first or second stress, or both, must alliterate with the third; the fourth
is usually nonalliterative
in OE alliterative verse all vowels are considered to alliterate
CHRISTIAN LITERATURE OF ANGLO-SAXON ENGLAND
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verse paraphrases and translations of Biblical stories
lives of saints
sermons and doctrinal materials
more personal poems
The Dream of the Rood
It appears in the Vercelli manuscript. A fragment of the poem, written in runes, can be found on the
8th century Ruthwell Cross.
Warriors society
The most important of human relationships is that between the warrior (the thane) and his lord.
Germania (98 A.D.) by Tacitus
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comitatus – the bond between the lord and his thane
among other things, comitatus ensures that neither the lord not the warrior leaves the field of
battle before the other
KINSHIP – relationship between male relatives
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if one of his kinsmen had been killed by someone, a man had the special duty of either
killing the killer or demanding from him the payment of wergild („manprice”)
blood feud – a very long fight between two families or groups in which each group kills
members of the other group in oreder to punish the group for earlier murders
HEROIC POETRY
• Beowulf – found in manuscript of the late 10th/ late 11th century (Beowulf manuscript)
• the time of its composition is not clear
• the action is set in the 6th century
BOASTING
• indicates the importance of fates
• FATE = WYRD, one of the Norns, female beings who rule the destiny of gods and men
• boasting is already testing fate
CHRISTIAN VS. PAGAN MOTIVES IN BEOWULF
• Hrothgar's minstrel sings a Story of Creation
• Grendel is said to be a descendant of Cain
• the sword with which Beowulf kills Grendel's mother is decorated with the Old Testament
sceny of the destruction of the Giants by the Flood
• Beowulf is buried with pagan ceremonies
The Wanderer - an elegy from the Exeter Book
UBI SUNT motif (motive)
Where are (all those who were before us)?
Deor's Lament
• Stanzas of 'Deor' end with a refrain, which is unusual for Old English poetry
• The refrain may be translated into modern English as “That evil ended, so also may this!”
The Wife's Lament - a lonely wife is exiled from her home, living in a cave and blaming her absent
husband for her fate
The Husband's Message - is an anonymous Old English poem, 53 lines long and found in the Exeter
Book. The poem is cast as the private address of an unknown first-person speaker to a wife,
challenging the reader to discover the speaker's identity and the nature of the conversation, the
mystery of which is enhanced by a burn-hole at the beginning of the poem.
The Ruin - follows The husband's Message in Exeter Book
Battle of Maldon - describes a defeat of the East – Saxon militia by Vikings in 991
NORMAN CONQUEST
Battle of Hastings 1066 – fought between the Norman army of William ... zobacz całą notatkę