The Anglo-Saxon period

The Anglo-Saxon period

Historical and social background

The Iberians is the name given to the pre-Celtic population of Britain (2000 BC). They appear to have been shepherds (pastori) and some evidence (testimonianze) remains to suggest that Iberian men kept (allevare) sheep and cattle (bestiame) for food and milk. The Iberians were also great builders.

From the 7^th to the 3^rd centuries BC, Germanic people, described as Celts, moved progressively into Britain. At the same time, Celts were moving all over Europe. This people were warriors and metal workers. They were rigorously tribal. The Celts in Britain were Pagan (heathen). Although (sebbene) they appear to have had a priest class, called Druids, and may have worshipped (adorare) the sun and the moon.

Julius Cesar, after having conquered Gaul, carried out two short reconnaissance expeditions into Britain, in 55 and 54 BC. Then in AD 43, Claudius sent a further (più avanti), more successful expedition to Britain that was backed up (sostenere) with careful trading connections (attenti scambi commerciali) made between the Romans and the leaders of the 12 dominant Tribes of England. The only part of Britain which was not conquered was the extreme northern region, including Scotland and the Welsh mountains to the West. Hadrian's Wall, a miracle of building skills and engineering, was built to separate the hostile tribes of the Picts and the Scots from colonized England. The Romans planted their culture and civilization, especially in cities like Colchester, Glouchester, Lincoln, York and London, which grew in importance and size becoming a commercial centre.

By AD 401 the Romans began to move soldiers out of England. So repeated attacks from the Picts in the North and the Saxons from the South eventually ended the Roman domination of England (410 AD). The Saxons came from Germany, bringing with them an artistic tradition, a runic alphabet and a rich literary (oral) tradition, from which the oral saga "Beowulf". The Saxons were joined by the Angles, who also came from Scandinavia and Germany, and by the Jutes, who came from Jutland, in modern Denmark. Social life was transformed under these new masters. The urban,  city-based life that the Romans had introduced was abandoned in favour of a return to small village life and agriculture developed.

They were heathen until when Pope Gregory I began an evangelical mission in 597, sending the Abbot Augustine to bring Christianity back to England. Augustine went to Canterbury which became the seat of English Christianity. But they were the Celtic monks that went out of their monasteries to teach Christianity. These monks lived a simple life. Soon monasteries progressed and became important centres of culture.

By the end of the 4^th century the Anglo-Saxon civilization was under threat from the Vikings, who came from Norway and Denmark. They were pirated who raided Northern and Western Europe.

A full invasion was stopped by Alfred, King of Wessex, known as Alfred the Great (871-900). He was also a Christian King who converted the remaining Danes to Christianity and joined the separate Anglo-Saxons states into one country. He was a ruler of immense determination and courage. E introduced the first English laws, encouraged education and scholarship, and built a fleet. He translated various Latin works into Anglo-Saxon and started the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", a literary work about British history written in Old English.

The last Anglo-Saxon king was Harold II, who is famous for his failure to defeat the Norman army at Hastings in 1066, when he lost his life and his country to William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy.

The Normans descended from the Vikings who had settled in Northern France. This invasion marked the introduction of French civilization and culture into the Anglo-Saxon society. The most significant change which resulted from the Norman conquest was the introduction of the feudal system. This was the system of land tenure on condition of rank and military service and it was based on the hierarchy: king, lords (earls), knights, freemen, slaves (serfs). The values between the knight and the lord were: loyalty, courage and generosity.

Literary background

After the Norman invasion of England, there were three languages used in England: English, French and Latin. Latin, entered in England when Roman evangelists brought the Word of God to Pagan England, remained for centuries the language of the Church and clergy. French became the language of the power and privilege, being the language of the king and the court. While Old English was spoken by common people.

There are very few existing documents of written Old English, because the "scop", the Anglo-Saxon professional poet, told a poem or a story orally, and so literature was seldom written down.

There were three literary genres: poetry, prose and drama.

The surviving poetical texts from this period include epic poetry (including "Beowulf"), which tells the deeds (gesta) of particulars warriors, a series of short gnomic poems known as "Riddles", and "The Battle of Maldom", a factual poetic account of a great battle fought in 991. These works were all products of a Pagan culture of pre-Norman England, a specifically Northern culture rich in Scandinavian and Germanic traditions.

Although each poetic genre has its own thematic basis: legends and Norse legends (leggende nordiche), which offering images of a magical, violent world of tribal wars and royal feuds.

"Beowulf" is a long epic poem written in Old English from the 10^th century, but the poem was probably composed in the 7^th century. This is a story of heroes, monsters and mythical events that reveals the use of Scandinavian and Germanic folk tales. Somewhat was transformed by the later scribe to correspond to Christian culture, so both pagan and Christian elements can be found together in the poem.

"The Battle of Maldom", probably composed towards the end of the 10^th century, is about the battle between the Saxon and the Viking invaders. The life and reality of battle is most particularly described and there is also an explanation of the social relationship between the Lord and the soldier. It resembles "Beowulf" in the typical Germanic values of heroism, courage in battle and loyalty.

In "Andreas" St. Andrew rescues (salva) St. Matthew in true Germanic spirit with heroic defiance (sfida). Caedmon, a Whitby monk and cowherd (mandriano) of the monastery, well expressed the growth (crescita) of the Christianity, which adapted Germanic values like courage and strength, to Christian heritage.

The historian and scholar (monk who wrote in Latin) the Venerable Bede (672-735), translated many religious texts into Anglo-Saxon language and is known for his great historical work "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum", in Latin, on the conversion of the British to the Christian faith after the fall of the Roman Empire.

"The Riddles", written by various anonymous writers from whom Cynewulf, deal with (trattano) many aspects of Anglo-Saxon life: nature, daily life, natural phenomena, God's creations, etc.

Old English prose is best exemplified by the "Anglo-Saxon Chronicle", a series of chronologically compiled histories written by various writers. It recorded events, reflections on the life of the day and some poems, from the 9^th century up to the middle of the 12^th century. Some sections of the "Chronicle" are also attributed to King Alfred' hand. He was a great intellectual and writer, who translated many important Latin texts into English, among which Bede's "Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum". Another important English writer was the monk Aelfric (10^th c.) who rendered his philosophical and theological works very clear and straightforward (semplice).

There were also many dramatic representation through folklore and dramatic rites. We had mystery (miracoul) and morality plays. Pagan fertility rites are: "the Maypole", a dance around a decorated pole on May Day; the cutting and carrying (portare) of blossoming hawthorn (fiorente biancospino). In opposition born the Morality plays.

"Beowulf"

"Beowulf" is the most famous Anglo-Saxon poem. It is an anonymous text written in Old English. The poem was probably composed in the 6^th century although the Manuscript dates from the 10^th century. It recounts the deeds and legends of Northern peoples.

From the Northern civilizations of Iceland and Scandinavia, the literary tradition of "saga" derived. A saga was a prose narrative that described the history of an individual or family of heroic or political importance to the tribe or race. Anglo-Saxon literature draws on elements of the saga mixing it with the epic, a narrative poem that also recounted the great deeds of an individual.

Plot: Beowulf is the nephew of king Hygelac, who rules Geatland (in Sweden). He decides to go to Denmark with 14 warriors in order to help the king Hrothgar and defeat the monster Grendel, who is devastating that country. Hrothgar welcomes Beowulf who offers to defeat Grendel. That night the monster attacks the hall again but Beowulf fights the horrible creature. Then a witch, Grendel's mother, is determined to revenge her son, but is killed by Beowulf who follows her into her cave. Beowulf and his Geats return to their own land. He succeeds to the Kingdom of the Geats where he reigns for 50 years. One day, when the hero is old, a dragon starts devastating the country, and Beowulf kills the dragon, but he dies in the battle. His body is burnt on a pyre with his armour and treasure in the Norse tradition of the Vikings. The poem is dominated by a gloomy and sad atmosphere.

Beowulf represents the figure of the spiritual hero of the tribal group. As an Epic hero, he is developed as a symbolic representation of the strength and courage of the tribe.

Later Christian intervention in the text attempted to develop Beowulf as a symbolic Christ-figure, fighting against the forces of the evil which are represented first by Grendel and his evil mother, and later by the dragon, but no amount of later intervention has altered the basic Pagan tale.