ANGLO-SAXON POETRY OF WAR AND RELIGION.

THE earliest monuments of English literature are "Beowulf," a pagan epic of six thousand

Saxon invasion of Britain, 449 A.D. Teutonic immigration,

lines whose origin is certainly as ancient as the chiefly of the

sixth century; and Cædmon's paraphrase of the Scriptures, a religious epic of the seventh century. The first is the oldest epic in any modern language, and celebrates the exploits of Beowulf, a Gothic prince supposed to have lived in the early part of the sixth century. Its scene of action is Zealand and the opposite Gothland, though an attempt has been made to locate it in England. "Beowulf" is the "Iliad" of the English people, portraying the manners and customs of their Saxon ancestors in the Teutonic fatherland, and in its vivid descriptions and narration resembles the old Greek masterpiece. Since the revival of Anglo-Saxon scholarship the interest in this poem has become intense, and numerous editions, versions, and essays of interpretation have appeared in England and Germany. As the earliest specimen extant of the English language in its primitive Anglo-Saxon form, it is of great philological value; and from the parallel texts here quoted some idea may be obtained of the wonderful transformation which the language underwent during its development into modern English:

"Hic dygel lond
warigead wulf-hleođu,
windige naessas,
frecne fen-gelád,
daer fyrgen-streám,
under naessa genipu,
niper gewited,
flód under foldan.

Nis þaet feor heonon,
mil gemearces,
þaet se mere standeđ,
ofer þáem hongïact
hrinde-bearwas."

"They that secret land inhabit, the wolf's retreats, windy nesses,

the dangerous fen-path,
where the mountain-stream,
under the nesses' mists,
downward flows,

the flood under the earth.
It is not far thence,
a mile's distance,
that the mere stands,
over which hang
barky groves."

Cadmon is, however, the first English

whose name has come down to us.

writer He was

Introduction of Christianity by St. Augustine,

597.

Manufacture of glass, sixth

an illiterate but devout rustic of Northumbria,
the story of whose poetic inspiration is told by
Bede, how a spirit appeared to him in a vision.
and said, "Cadmon, sing me some song." "I
cannot sing," he replied. Then the spirit said,
"But you must sing;" and bade him sing “the
origin of created things." Thus tradition has
it that Cædmon became a poet, and astonished
those about him with his miraculous verses.
His poem on the Scriptures was written about
670, at the monastery of Hild, in Yorkshire. It century.
exerted a great influence over several centuries
of succeeding writers, and is thought to have
suggested to Milton the subject of his great
epic. "Beowulf" and Cædmon's poem are the
only pure Anglo-Saxon works in verse of any
length. We have evidence that there were nu-
merous minor Anglo-Saxon poets, but only frag-
ments of their songs now exist. These are the
"Battle Song of Brunanburh," 937; the "Song of
the Fight at Maldon," 991; the "Battle of Fin-
nesburg;" and the sacred verses of Cynewulf
and a few unknown writers in the Vercelli book
and the Exeter book. All of this poetry is of
a warlike or religious nature, serious and solemn,
and relieved by no lyrical gayety and melody:
the national character would not permit it. In
fact, Anglo-Saxon literature, both in its pure
and corrupt state, after the Norman Conquest
is of slight literary value: it is uninventive, al-
literative, metaphorical, often grotesque and re-
mote. Its chief interest is philological.

Union of the chy by Egbert,

Saxon heptar

827.

Northmen, or
and sea-rovers
from Norway.

Ravages of the
Danes-pirates

CULMINATION OF ANGLO-SAXON PROSE UNDER KING

ALFRED.

The reign of Alfred was the Golden Age Reign of King

of Anglo-Saxon literature. The king em

Alfred, 871901; cities and towns rebuilt;

ployed the peace secured by his conquests of militia and

navy organized; Alfred's

Code of Laws -origin of

the Danes in attempts to overcome the barbarism and ignorance of his subjects. Scholars Trial by Jury (?) from all parts of the world were welcomed to his court at Winchester; schools were established, where, he said, "Every free-born youth, who has the means, shall attend to his book till he can read English writing perfectly;" works on geography, history, philosophy, and religion were translated from Latin into the language of the people. He was himself a writer, and has merited the title of Father of English prose; for though the monk historian Bede (673-735) preceded him by over a century, his books were written in Latin, with the exception of his last, a translation of the Gospel of St. John, which is now lost. King Alfred's works were translations from Latin into Anglo-Saxon of Bothius's "Consolations Afforded by Philosophy," the

University of Oxford founded (?); commerce and manufactures encouraged.

Danish Conquest, 1013.

Danish kings

History of Orosius," Bede's "Ecclesiastical History," the only original source of knowledge regarding the earliest times in England, and the "Pastoral Rule," by Pope Gregory. His writings have been pronounced "the purest specimens of Anglo-Saxon prose." His examwearethe ple doubtless led to many literary attempts in the native tongue; but the ravages of the Danes after Alfred's death speedily put an end to whatever progress was made in this direction. The written literary struggle for existence, rather than refinement,

(1013-1042)

illiterate,

Anglo-Saxon; but their pro

nunciation affected the spoken dialects

rather than the

language.

Rebuilding of
Westminster
Abbey during
the reign of
Edward the
Confessor.

occupied the attention of men; and, save a few Homilies by Aelfric, no contributions to English literature were made till the peaceful reign of Edward the Confessor-attempts soon crushed by the Norman Conquest, which seemed for a time to have annihilated language and literature among the English people. One great result, however, of King Alfred's industry and influence continued to exist and to progress long

quest.

after the Conquest. This was the "Anglo-Saxon Norman ConChronicle" the masterpiece of old English prose. It begins with the arrival of Julius Cæsar in Britain, 55 B.C., and extends to the year 1154, having been continued as a contemporary record from the time of Alfred, by whom it is said William, Duke to have been suggested. Putting aside the Hebrew annals, there is not anywhere known a tle of Hastings, series of early vernacular histories comparable to the 'Saxon Chronicles.'”

66

of Normandy, overcame Harold in the bat

1066.

The Normans

were the most ple of the Middle Ages. [See Bulwer-Lytthe Last of the and Tennyson's drama,

cultivated peo

ton's "Harold,

Saxon Kings,'

"Harold."]

Introduction

of feudalism by

DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. The Norman Conquest formed a crisis in the career of the English nation. By it a new element was introduced, a Romance element, which wrought a transformation in her hitherto purely Teutonic character, language, and literature. This transformation, however, was not immediate: for nearly three hundred years the Teutonic and Romance elements, though undergoing a steady amalgamation, were distinct externally. The Norman king and aristocracy despised the Anglo-Saxons, and would have. nothing to do with them; Norman French was the language of the Court, fashionable circles, the Normans. and polite literature, and was alone taught in the schools; while Latin continued, as it had been before the Conquest, to be the language of the Church and theological writing. Thus, Death of Anglo-Saxon became confined to the common people, and, shut out from society and learning, soon fell into disorganization. It resolved into dialects- the Northern, the Midland, and the Southern-each possessed of peculiar inflectionExploits of al forms, and each represented by various liter- Richard Cour ary attempts. At the same time French words were introduced, and from the lingual confusion which followed was gradually developed the lan

Thomas a
Becket, 1170.

de Lion in the Crusades. [See Sir Walter

Scott's novel, man."]

"The Talis