History of English Lit Andrew Sanders

 Significance of Old English

Patriotic- The term was called 'Anglo Saxon'. 'Old ENglish' was a newly coined term. It meant the English o fthe 19th century had connections with Englsih of the 6th century. 

Philology- German and British philologists determined pphases in English language which were Old, Middle, and Modern. 

Prejorative connections of Saxons- Anglo Saxon meant a distict culture of England in the past. The angry 'Celts' had thrown words like Saxon at the Germanic invaders. 

King Alfred and Henry Sweet- 

Henry Sweet had referred to the unmixed and inflectional state of English as the Old ENglish. 

King Alfred had ruled over Wessex. His tongue was different from the original Germanic speakers. So, he called his and his subjects' tongue as Englisc. 

Renaissance- Scholars studied Old ENglish to find uniqueness in traditions of England as compared to the rest of the Europe. 

Recent usage- Studetns had to knkow the earliest forms of written Englsih. 

Norman conquest of 1066- Widespread belief that a completely new culture emerged after it. 

The beginnnigs of Anglo Saxon culture in England

Germanic invaders were Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. 

THey had a distinct language, culutre, and pagan tradition. The native Celts were Christians. 

The Celts moved to the west and north. 

The Celt names had suffix of -cester and -chester.

The Celts who remained behind were called Wealh. THey reduced to slaves. But, there are many stories of Celtic resistance. King Arthur is a part of such fables. 

The Germanic invaders disrupted the Roman order. 

Re-Christianization in the 6th century

Missionaries in the north were Celtic monks. In the south, they were benedictines.

Pope Gregory the Great sent Benedictines from Rome in 596 AD. Augustine led this. Augustine becme the frist Archbishop of Centerbury. These churches linked England to Rome and Latin speaking European mainstreams. 

One century after Augustine, England sent its own missionaries to convert pagans in Europe. 

Written lit were important in services years after AUgustine came. The new converts were unlettered. Centuries after Augustine, both Christian Runes and Roman letters came together in inscriptions. Gradually, Roman letters replaced the Runes. Latin remained the language of the Roman Church. 

Important scholarly lit in Old ENglish

Aldhelm, bishop of Sherborne- ornate style in Latin.

Alcuin- Scholar at court of Charlamagne

Bede's eccleisiastical history of English people

Oral literature in vernaculars flourished thought written literature remained in Laitn. The oral traditions were shpaed by the Germanic languages.