Early British Literature

The Celts and the Anglo-Saxons

Celtic Literature

Irish Literatureð Ireland has the oldest

vernacular tradition of literature in Europe with written texts dating from the 6th c.

ð Old Irish: before 900ð Middle Irish: 900-

1350ð Late Middle/Early

Modern Irish: 1350-1650

ð Modern Irish and Scots: 1650-present

Brian Boru Harp

Old Irish Literature

ð The oldest writings are poems written in the margins of 6th c. continental manuscripts: short lyrics on religious or nature themes.

ð The early literature has survived in Middle and Late Middle Irish manuscripts: miscellaneous collections of prose and verse containing legend, history, bardic and lyric poetry, and medical, legal, and religious texts from several periods

The Scribe8th-9th c

A hedge of trees surrounds me.A blackbird’s lay sings to me.Above my lined bookletThe trilling birds chant to me.

In a grey mantle from the top of bushesThe cuckoo sings.Verily—may the Lord shield me!—Well do I write under the greenwood.

Major Irish Medieval MSS.

ð The Book of the Dun Cow (before 1106): contains tales of the Ulster Cycle and Fenian legends

ð The Book of Leinster (before 1160): contains heroic legends

ð The Yellow Book of Lecan, The Great Book of Lecan,The Lebor Brecc, and the Book of Lismore (late 14th or early 15th c.)

ð The Royal Irish Academy alone has more than 1300 mss. – mostly religious, historical and legal treatises

Leabhar na hUidre [Book of the Dun Cow], p.73

Tain Bo Cuailinge: The Cattle Raid of Cooley from The Book of the Dun Cow

Filí (Old Irish); File (Mod. Irish)ð The filí (filíd pl.) in the earliest times combined the functions of

magician, lawgiver, judge, counselor to the chief, and poet. ð Later, but still at a very early time, the offices seem to have been

divided:Brehons devoted themselves to the study of law, and the

giving of legal decisions Druids claimed the supernatural functions, and priestly

offices Filíd were principally poets and philosophers

ð The division seems to have already existed in Ireland at the time of St Patrick, who was in constant opposition with the druids.

ð Filíd underwent years of training to compose in verse the laws, genealogies, legends and traditions.

Bardsð In Old Irish culture, the bards were the performers of the

filíd’s poemsð They were record keepers and lineage holders, for the

bards could determine a king's legitimacy. ð To satirize a king was to declare his access to the throne

suspect. ð The role of the bard was historian and social

commentator. They glorified heroes while insulting cowards and villains.

ð They were both the newspaper and the opinion page.

MACSWEENEY DINES AS BARD RECITES: "The work of the file or poet was recited to the accompaniment of a stringed instrument,. . . .The reacaire or reciter [bard] was a subordinate employee of the composer, who sat by the chieftain (his patron) enjoying his own composition." Declan Kiberd, "Irish Literature and Irish History, " in The Oxford Illustrated History of Irieland, ed. R. F. Foster (1989)

Welsh Literature

ð The earliest Welsh manuscripts date from the 12th c., but the earliest poetry comes from the 6th c.

ð Before 1100: Y Cynfeirdd ("The earliest poets") or Yr Hengerdd ("The old poetry")

ð The core tradition was praise poetry -- patronage from kings and nobles.

ð The other aspect of the tradition was the professionalism of the poets sustained by the Order of Bards, with a 'rule book' emphasizing the making of poetry as a craft.

ð Poets undertook an apprenticeship of nine years to become fully qualified.

Welsh Poetsð Nennius’ Historia Britonum list

poets active during the reign of King Ida (547-59):"At that time, Talhaiarn Tataguen was famed for poetry, and Neirin [Aneirin], and Taliesin, and Bluchbard, and Cian, who is called Guenith Guaut, were all famous at the same time in British [that is Brythonic, or, Welsh] poetry."

ð Poems by Taliesin and Aneirin are believed to have survived in the Book of Taliesin and Y Gododdin, Aneirin’s epic of a battle between the Celts and the Saxons.

RomanBritain

1st-5th c.

5th Century: Celtic Disarray

408: Devastating attacks by Picts, Scots and Saxons led Britain to declare “independence” from Rome in 410.

440-450: Civil war and famine in Britain. Country divided along factional lines

445: Vortigen authorized use of Saxon mercenaries against Scots and Picts

450: adventus Saxonum: Hengest arrived with 3 ships of warriors. Saxons increased settlements.

Anglo-Saxon Literature

The Kingdoms of Anglo-

Saxon England

England as a Nationð Bede may have been the first writer to articulate

the idea of the English as one people in 732 in his History of the English Church and People.

ð Viking Invasionsð Destroyed kingdoms of Northumbria and East

Angles in the 860s

ð Wessex emerged as the power that defeated the Vikings under Alfred the Great

ð 878: Alfred defeated the Vikings at Edington

ð At his death in 899, Alfred was the most powerful regional king in England

House of Wessex

Wessex: West Saxons

Alfred the Great, his son Edward and wife Ealhswith at the Witan -- Assembly of the

Wise

Wessex Dynasty

ð Edward the Elder (r. 899-924) succeeded his father Alfred and conquered the Midlands and East Anglia.

ð His son, Athelstan (r. 924-40), brought the Scots, the Welsh, the Cumbrians and the Cornish under English rule by 928: he became King of all England and “Emperor of the World of Britain.”

Tomb of King Athlestan in Malmesbury Abbey

E or A = Æ

Canute of Denmark 1016-1035

Harthacanute Harold I 1040-42 1036-40

Ælgifu

Alfred1035-36

Coin from King Edgar’s reign

House of Wessex

Genres: Prose

ð Sermons: most popular of prose genresð Translations of Latin religious works and

Biblical worksð Saints’ Livesð Legal texts: wills, records, deeds, laws, etc.ð Scientific and Medical textsð Chronicles: historical writing: Anglo Saxon

Chronicle

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

ð Collection of annals (yearly history) narrating the history of the Anglo-Saxon settlement in Britain.

ð First continuous history written by Europeans in their own language.

ð Probably begun during the reign of King Alfred in the 9th c.

ð After completion of the original chronicle, copies were sent to monasteries and updated yearly.

ð Nine surviving MSS.

The initial page of the Peterborough Chronicle

Known A-S Prose Writersð King Alfred (849-99): translated a

variety of Latin works such as Gregory’s Pastoral Care, Augustine’s Soliloquies and Boethius’s Consolation of Philosophy.

ð Aelfric, abbot of Eynsham (955-1020?): known as Grammaticus: greatest writer of A-S sermons, saints’ lives and Biblical glosses and translations.

ð Wulfstan II, archbishop of York (10th c.): author of highly stylistic sermons and clerical legal texts.

Alfred the Great

Genres: Poetryð Thula: alliterative lists of names or tribesð Gnomic verse: proverbs, traditional wisdomð Spells: invoke natural and supernatural powersð Riddles: what am I?ð Religious poetry: retellings of Old Testament stories, saints’ lives,

“Dream of the Rood”ð Adaptations of classical philosophical texts: e.g. Boethius’ Consolation

of Philosophyð Wisdom poetry: lyrical, meditative, elegiac – “The Wanderer,” “The

Wife’s Lament,” etc.ð Heroic court poetry: celebration of historical events related by scops:

Beowulf, etc.

Manuscripts with Anglo-Saxon Poetryð Exeter Book: Codex Exoniensis – 10th c. ms.

ð Largest existing collection of Old English poetryð Donated to the library of the Exeter Cathedral by

Leofric, the first bishop of Exeterð Contains “The Wanderer,” “The Seafarer,” “The

Wife’s Lament,” “Widsith,” “The Ruin,” “Deor,” etc.

ð Junius MS. – begun c. 1000 ceð Anthology of religious poetry: Genesis, Exodus,

Daniel, Christ and Satanð Illustrated: only about one-third of illustrations

completedð Bodleian Library, Oxford University

Junius MS: Angel Guarding the Gates of Paradise

Manuscripts with Anglo-Saxon Poetryð Vercelli Book – 10th c. ms.

ð Cathedral Library, Vercelli, Italyð Contains 23 sermons, a life of St. Guthlac and six poems

including “The Dream of the Rood”

ð Nowell Codex: Cotton Vitellius A xv – late 10th-12th c. mss.ð British Library’s Cotton Collectionð Composite of two mss. Bound together in the 17th c. –

damaged in an 18th c. fire in the Cotton Library ð 1st Codex (12th c): Old English prose: Alfred's translation

of Augustine's Soliloquies, the Gospel of Nicodemus, “Solomon and Saturn”, and a fragment of a life of Saint Quentin.

ð 2nd Codex (10th c): Beowulf, Judith and 3 prose works

First page of Beowulf from

the Cotton Vitellius MS.

Beowulf Prologue

What are those weird-looking letters?

Omniglot

Poetry

Thulað Alliterative lists of

names and tribesð Oral mnemonic deviceð Found extensively in

Widsithð Technique also found

in Old Testament

Gnomic Verseð Proverbs, traditional

wisdomð Hit becwæÞ – It is said“As the sea is smooth

when storms are at rest, So people are quiet when peace is proclaimed.” (Exeter Book)

Riddles

I war with the wind, with the waves I wrestle; I must battle with both when the bottom I seek, My strange habitation by surges o’er-roofed. I am strong in the strife, while still I remain; As soon as I stir, they are stronger than I. They wrench and they wrest, till I run from my foes; What was put in my keeping they carry away. If my back be not broken, I baffle them still. The rocks are my helpers, when hard I am pressed; Grimly I grip them. Guess what I’m called.

The Anchor

The Exeter Book

Spells and CharmsCharm for a Swarm of Bees

Take earth with your right hand and throw it under your right foot, saying: I've got it,     I've found it:Lo, earth     masters all creatures, it masters evil,     it masters deceit, it masters humanity's     greedy tongue.

Throw light soil over them [the bees] as they swarm, saying: Sit, wise women,     settle on earth: never in fear     fly to the woods. Please be mindful     of my welfare as all men are     of food and land.

Trans. Karl Young

Known A-S Poetsð Cædmon: herdsman attached to the

Whitby monastery during the abbacy of St. Hilda (657–681). Author of “Hymn,” oldest A-S poem

ð The Venerable Bede (c. 672-735): Benedictine monk at Jarrow; author of the Historia Ecclesiastica: The History of the Church of England and “Bede’s Death Song”

ð Cynewulf (fl. ca. 750): author of four poems, Christian narratives, Elene, Christ II, Juliana and The Fates of the Apostles.

ð King Alfred (849-99)

Depiction of Cædmon carved on a stone memorial cross on the grounds of St Mary's Church in Whitby

Bede’s “Death Song”

Facing that enforced journey, no man can beMore prudent than he has good call to be,If he consider, before his going hence,What for his spirit of good hap or of evilAfter his day of death shall be determined.

Fore ðæm nedfere nænig wiorðeðonc snottora ðon him ðearf siæto ymbhycgenne ær his hiniongehwæt his gastæ godes oððe yflesæfter deað dæge doemed wiorðe.

Beda Venerabilis from an medieval manuscript

Anglo-Saxon Poetic Conventionsð Elegiac mood: the transitoriness of life

ð Ubi sunt: Where are they??? ð Heroic mode: active, loyal to kinship group, boastfulð The inevitability of Wyrd: fateð Figures of speech

ð Kennings: two words as metaphor for one: hron-rāde whale-road – sea; hord-cofan word-hoard – mind, thoughts

ð Litotes: ironic understatement -- "That [sword] was not useless / to the warrior now." (Beowulf)

ð Variation: parallel appositive phrases – see “Cædmon’s Hymn”ð Alliterative verse: alliteration is used as the principal device

to unify lines of poetry

Beowulf Prologue: Alliteration

Wisdom Poetryð Lyrical: expressions of feelings, meditations on

lifeð Emphasis on transitoriness of fame, glory, kinship,

life itself: ubi sunt themeð Boethian in exploration of fickle fortune

Boethius: author of The Consolation of Philosophyð Most found in Exeter Book: “The Ruin,” “The

Wanderer,” “The Seafarer,” “The Wife’s Lament,” “The Husband’s Message”

ð King Alfred: author of “Lays of Boethius”

Heroic Court Poetryð Narrative oral compositions handed down from

generation to generationð Interactive: warriors in the audience were given their

turns to boast: to proclaim their self-worth in a stylized solo declamation, which all recognized as a beot or gilph (boast).

ð Celebrations or commemorations of cultural heroes and historic events

ð Sung at court feasts which also included mead drinking, gift giving, harp playing and displaying of trophies

Anglo-Saxon Heroic Poems

ð Beowulf (c. 700-1000)ð Fragments: The Fight at Finnsburh and

Waldere ð The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle contains various

heroic poems inserted throughout. ð 937: The Battle of Brunanburh celebrates the victory

of King Athelstan over the Scots and Norse. ð Five shorter poems: Capture of the Five Boroughs

(942); Coronation of King Edgar (973); Death of King Edgar (975); Death of Prince Alfred (1036); and Death of King Edward the Confessor (1065).

The Scop

ð Court singerð Historianð Genealogistð Teacherð Composerð Criticð Warriorð Reporter

“The Anglo-Saxon scop was a professional or semi-professional tribal poet who celebrated cultural values by singing epics on occasions of great ceremony and festivity…. He was a man of repute, the equal of thanes.”

Anglo-Saxon Scops

Artemesia Gentileschi

, Judith Slaying

Holofernes, 1612-13ð Judith as model of psychic

liberation -- female who acts- confrontation of sexes from female point of view

Artemesia Gentilesch

i, Judith and Her

Maidservant

1613-1614

Artemesia

Gentileschi, Judith Slaying

Holofernes, 1620

Artemesia Gentilesch

i, Judith and Her

Maidservant with

the Head of

Holofernes, c. 1625