Different Ages in English Literature Dr Abhishek Kumar

Different Ages in English Literature Dr. Abhishek Kumar Department of English A P S M College, Barauni, Begusarai 09 July 2020

Period in English Literature 1. Old English Period 6. The Victorian Period 2. Middle English Period 7. The Edwardian Period 3. The Renaissance 8. The Georgian Period 4. The Neoclassical Age 9. The Modern Period 5. The Romantic Age 10. The Postmodern Period

Old English period (455 -1066) or Anglo-Saxon Period (455 -1066) q The name Originally the name Anglo-Saxon suggests two of the three Germanic tribes, —Jutes, Angles, and Saxons q In the middle of the fifth century, they left their homes on the shores of the North Sea and the Baltic to conquer and colonize distant Britain.

q The word Angles suggests somewhat their lifestyle depended on fishing for they used angular like thing for fishing. q The another possible reason may be the place where they lived the shore at the foot of the peninsula of Jutland which was bent in the shape of a fishhook.

q Whereas the name Saxon comes from seax, sax, a short sword which means the sword-man, the term also represents his temperament for fighting and this led him to Britain. q The Angles were the most numerous of the conquering tribes, and from the new home was called Anglalond. By gradual changes this became first Englelond and then England.

What they were called ? q The Latin writers of the Middle Ages started naming these tribes as Anglisaxones which means “Saxon of England’. This specific term was used to distinguish them from the Saxon of the continent. q Now the question is from when the term Anglo-saxon came into use in the national perspectives? So the answer is when, in the 16 th century Camden wrote his History of Britain the name came into use. By the time it had been union of Saxon and Norman because after the moment when Norman conquest took place, it need to differentiate the two contrasting term.