COLLEGE BOUND ENGLISH NOTES FOR History of English

COLLEGE BOUND ENGLISH NOTES FOR

History of English • Modern English wasn’t spoken from the beginning of time – it evolved into the language that we speak today

• Old English was in existence from 500 -1100 AD – This language began in Britain when English speaking warriors—such as the Jutes, Saxons, Frisians, and Angles—invaded Britain. – This period of invasion populated the British Isles with the initial waves of Germanic tribes who would become the English people. – Today we have lost approximately 85% of the original OE vocabulary • items that remain in our vocabulary are often called the “glue” of the language • These are the words that are used very often, including prepositions, conjunctions, auxiliary verbs, and pronouns

• Middle English was in existence from 11001500 AD (Canterbury Tales) • Modern English was from 1500 on but was divided into two parts – Early Modern English 1500 -1600 – Late Modern English 1600 -present

About Beowulf • Beowulf is the earliest known narrative poem in English, and one of the most famous works of Anglo-Saxon poetry. • written between 700 and 750 AD • depicts early 6 th century • unknown author – Christian elements – scholars speculate the poet a monk – The title has been assigned by modern editors because the manuscripts do not normally give any indication of title or

CONTINUED • Copy of manuscript that we have is dated in year 1000 AD • approx. 200 -300 years after written • one of the earliest works of literature written in England that has survived • based on folk legend (Celtic/Scandinavian) • Some of the lines of the poem are missing due to a fire in the building where the manuscript was housed in London. » Handout copy

What is it? • Called an epic poem – The epic has been transformed to modern English; it was originally written in Old English. – It is the lone survivor of the Old English genre of long epics. • With the help of Beowulf, scholars can only imagine what Germanic oral epics must have been like when they were performed by the Germanic poet.

CONTINUED –accounts legendary wars and heroes –expresses values of time –portrays “hero” who has valued qualities

What is Beowulf about? • The poem tells the breathtaking story of a struggle between the hero, Beowulf, and a bloodthirsty monster called Grendel. • For many winters, the court of the Danish King Hrothgar has been terrorized by the fearsome monster Grendel, who comes at nightfall to devour men in their sleep.

Continued… • Beowulf kills the monster, and is celebrated as a great hero • But joy turns to horror when Grendel's mother arrives to avenge the killing of her son.

The language of Beowulf is much admired for the richness of its poetry for the beautiful sounds of the words and the imaginative quality of the description.

• About a third of the words in Beowulf are words known as kennings. – Kennings are words that are in themselves metaphorical descriptions – were a typical feature of A-S poetry. – Kennings combine two words to create an evocative and imaginative alternative word. – By linking words in this way, the poets were able to experiment with the rhythm, sounds and imagery of the poetry – Beowulf contains over a thousand kennings.

Some well-known Anglo. Saxon kennings include: • bone-house (banhus ) - the human body • beadoleoma (battle-light) - sword • wave-floater (wægflota) - ship

Descriptions of the sea included: • hronrad- whale road • fiscesethel - fish home • seolbæp - seal bath » Handout “Notice the Similarities”