OVERVIEW

Historical Background

English Literature

English literature began in the era of bards and “gleemen” who,

accompanying The Angles and the Saxons, sang the tales of the Northland.
When they arrived in England in the 5th and 6th century, the Angles and
Saxon had no written language. Their folk epic was Beowolf, which depicts
the heroic efforts of man against the evil forces of their time. Their
stories and songs were recorded in The Far Traveler. When the heathen
Anglo-Saxons then came under the influence of Christianity, they started
building monasteries. It was within the walls of these monasteries that
English literature had its beginnings. North Umbria became the seat of
learning for nearly two centuries where the historian Bede, one of the
monks, started to write in prose.

Old English Period

An important name to remember in this period is that of Alfred the

Great. Had it not been for him, English Literature would have been long
extinguished. When Alfred the Great stopped the Danes from invading England
in the 9th century, the center of learning was transferred from the North to
the South. Whitby become the cradle of English poetry in the north, and
Winchester the seat of English prose in the South. Alfred the Great is
attributed with having established schools, and having written textbooks
for the school so that every free-born youth might attend to his books till
he could read English writing perfectly. Next to King Alfred is the name
Aelfric the Grammarian. His translation of the Bible in English is the best
example of language at the beginning of century. The greatest examples of
Old English prose can be found in his writings, especially those in his
sermons and lives of saints.

Middle English Period

The literature that came out of this country was almost entirely in
Latin and French. Fro 300 years Latin exerted influence on the Anglo-Saxon
language, which made English more flexible. Stories of King Arthur arose
from Geoffrey of Monmouth’s History of the King of Britain.