Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • Introduction Old English Literature

    Uploaded by

    Silvia Saporta Tarazona
    12 views31 pages

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Report this Document

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    12 views31 pages

    Introduction Old English Literature

    Uploaded by

    Silvia Saporta Tarazona

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
    Flag for inappropriate content
    of 31
    Introduction Anglo-Saxon England and Its Literature: A Social History 1 Cultural Diference and Cultural Change ‘One ofthe sins otter stein pce yeas hasbeen to define the mont natural aceming aspects of our own elute, te promote aware ‘es flow our way of ee neither nar no inevtabl. The npr tance of clre sis in curent iterary scholarship thas resin pare Fron the ole hat an awareness of alterty hs comet pla, since aoe ing iluninates the contingencies of contemporary aides and ideas se rmuch athe study of clr lierence, Wit the Feld of Eaghsh, then, Old English ste fond nig opportnits, sine no ters ture in English is ae cll rene as that of dhe Anglo Saxons, and the diteences expose cles some ofthe oerwise aisle assump tions on which movlemiy a We perceive i is base. To cite just one ‘example, the very at of eadng2 book, suc ab his one, fers und ‘mentally from the early medical experienc, and ina vary of Ways ven when reading was private auiy, eaders commonly pointed to the word an spote thes alo! bur more often reading Was acm mul att in which many "readers never actully sw the page St modern clase the txt 4 physical object willy each dent hat an densi copy, and when instructed to do s, all tn ta par ticular pages ut wo copies of mv Book wore alk, al in any case books wer precious objets, the prxict of wees of pinstak ing labor, fom the pecpaaton of the animal skin of which hey were made ote copying, eter by lter, ofthe text, ane husthey were 190 “alae Rr wholesale dition to cents in thecal period. Nat rally studying a tex is diferent and lower process under such c= tunstances, Reading slo ingroup ders rom sent readings that itis nota method well sited to the stay of complex philosophical 2 neocon eli, such 38 the products of scholastic that arose only in he "vel and thiteenth centuries, when len reading became the nom in academic stings. The method of reading this fected the very 3 ‘ure of erly medieval texts (Saenger 1982: 385-6; 1997-83-99). Even So fandameatala matters word division diferent: designed for oa delivery, Okt English teat of this peiod organize sabes no nto words but into groups aeanged around a primary stress. Whe even 30 seeming staightforsad a processas reading dfers:n signa ways, fone should expect the itrarure of the Anglo-Saxons to rellct sme éomous material and conceptual dfeences ia regard to mates we take fr granted. One purpose ofthis introduction isto highlight afew ‘of those ferences, the ones most necessary fo an understanding of (Old Fgh iterate For literary purposes the defining characteristic of Anglo-Saxon cul ture its ison of vo contrasting sain, the military cleure ofthe ‘Germanic peoples who invaded Britain inthe Sith centay andthe Med ‘evaneanlearing introduced by Chrintan misonaies fom the end of ‘hes? Wath its emphasis on hero lege the native tert of che Anglo Suwon invaders ected the marl bai thc ose The it crate prosucs of Medterraneanlearing are of 3 soe more fia £0 Us prose predominates, and genre ze divers, ining acre nar ves, homies, histories, anna, works of phiksophy, and many other sors, some of purely eurgia,gal oe adminintatve we Inthe i ing terre ofthe Anglo-Satos these evo cultural stands are woven intoa singe fii, often in ways that semstartingto us Nowhereisthe temsion between the two deployed moee efi) than in Ue pce nent work of Old English Iteratue, eral, which tl of eee an ‘ent heroic ded from a contemporzed perspective, tei 2 the hero some of the qualities f a good Chistian. This fasion of clea strains characterizes avarety of tex and arts, inching sai ves recat inthe terms of heroic pocty King Alfred stanton of Boch’ Conmlason of Pity, nc which Weland the smith of Geman mj ‘sinned the OM Engl Oros, in which te Germanic congue forsof the Roman Empire are poreayed more sympathetically han i the Latin rigisl the Anglo Ssion Chronic, which contains pasa ia prosean ves that allo mind heroic legend andthe Pranks or Az, ‘9 Clermont) Casket, a box of ned whalebone on which ae depicted | scenes rom easly Germanic legend by se withthe adoration ofthe ‘magi and dhe destruction of eraslem bythe con tobe Emperor Tits ina 70 (se chapeer | and pat 4). lnrodution 3 A hindeance to a concise descicion of Anglo-Saxon culture isthe Jengs ofthe historia period, which led from the ivasons ofthe fi eatury beyond the arial ofthe Normans in 1066, a8 Old English texts continued to Be coped for another century and hal. Naturally the society underwent some profound changes over dhe course of $0 inany centuries, and yet the Iierture doesnot always reflect those changes, expecially the porry, snc it steeped in tradition and often ccm elect long outmoded way of if. The culture thatthe in ‘ders browght ith thera inthe Gh cencury certainly had meh in| ‘common with that of the (most) Germanic tribes described by Comes Tain bis Germain Winterbottom 1975, tas. Rives 1999) completedin ap 98 Artimes Tacit i fanky moralzing, chat tening his fellow Romane by portaying the admirable qualities and “isto of peoples they considered barbaric; a other times hes isp proving of Germanic practices, and so we ned not asume that he has {lstorted the genctlorine ofthe societies he describes forthe ke of porting the Germans wniformly as noble savages. Cation i avis ein generalizing about the invaders Britain fom Tas account, 2s contact with Rome was jst bepinning to predce inhi day impor” tant changes among the German, particulary in zeganlto che growth lof pivite propery and the ree of ew kinds of military organization ind technology. But the comparion s soaeteles insrucv, espe ‘ally n regard to Ben which depict 3 world that has more in com ‘non with the tb clredesrbed by Tacitus than with Anglo Saxo saciety of about 1000, when the manuscripe was copied.* Tacs Germany i collection of some 70 nations perennially a wor with ther neighbors aid arpoag themselves. Each is rled by a king, who supported by his comitazu or war-band of retainers. He provides them with horses, sms, and pln ess they in turn con flute eat or grin an serve hint in bate, Te isthe duty ofthe ‘mitnen to glory thir los by thei deeds and it iflong fn %0 sve one's che nd return fom bate fhe has fle. So eager for marta expois are the young men that i times of peace, those of ‘able fly wl fen secu other nations in pares of oppor ‘esto ight. Ache fet is aot nna fo the men om moe {aight eo consume 2 fermented drink made fom buley a wheat “Tact? Roman audience natraly was wnfamlie wth bece and ale — ainda consequence, dangers arrel Fequently ase, and blood | foot uncommonly spi, The fede ensuing fom such mansaugheer ate 4 mater of intense honor to the Family ofthe shin. However, engance in lke kind isnot their only option, as the kil: may pay compensation, if dat is acceptable 0 all. ‘To what extent Tacit? observations sil ed true for the Anglo- Saxon invaders of Britain is difficult to say, bat certainly the world he describes ters surprisingly tle from that of Beruf and the other surviving seraps of heroic verse in Old English, in which most of these same feautes ae evident Nonetheless, Out English society has already evolved a considerable estance from this model bythe time the ise manuscript zecords appear, along before the time of the Norman invasion the lst remsants of el society ae a distant recollection. In the early pesiod the English were divided into a ‘number of kingdoms, soften at wae with one another as withthe Britons. By the end af the period we fad instead an English peoto ation under a centralized government, with a complex economy supported by wall reguated trade and easation. While Tacitus de Seribes a word in which there is no urban if, just villages of ca ‘ered wooden structures, by the time ofthe Venerable Bede, writing inthe avy eighth century, York was alteadyan urban center andi the eleventh century its inhabitants numbered peobably s may as 10,000.‘ Londo was no doubs larger, and tom an ealy dat. Even the faadamentl unit of society, the comitatus, grew outmoded eal) fom the Old English word for cha group, ede, has fllen ou of seneral use bythe time ofthe earliest records, and i is preserved ‘only a8 a poeti term. Yee several aspects ofthe Germanic society that Tacitus describes «continue to berelevantin dhe Anglo Sason word abi in altered orm, The duty to vengeance remained an imperaine to the end ofthe pe riod, and though the Chueh discouraged feuds, signing identical enances for homicides and for kilns performed in vengeance, the ‘aly method of dealing with homicide in Anglo Sauon lw unt the Norman Conquest vas through the action ofkinded (Whitlock 1951 13-17), The law codes concinued to regulate the degree and dvsion ‘of compensation (called meg it, na payment the endo the peso. Payment was originally measred In livestock, the native cur reno) (OF fe becoming Mov fe and cognate wth Lain pense, flocs; money" andes acceptance was ao doube viewed not ata mer. cenary act bu both asthe ile’ admission of wrongdoing snd teal: finnation ofthe honor of the victim and his family." Ye wer sued new hnctions and forms the wriety evolved, e may at fst have been simply a device fr patting an en! 0 eds which sight ether Irroduction s wise continue indefinitely, killing lowing upon killing, 2 sometimes happens in the Zeendic sagas. In the historical period, though, werd ina measure of social satus, sine every man and woman bears wer, ‘alucd on 4 acle fom monarch to save. Social rank determines the “uount ra be pad not justin cates of homicide but in offenses of var ‘ous kind, and werd fnctions, teens, esa means vo eal feuds than ae deterrent eo pessoal iy, This was particularly important to the Chrch since itr members could not ey on fay to exact ‘eageance sehen a churchman was kiled. Ia a society in which there ‘war nothing ike a constabulary the only very elable source of per onal ecurty ws the ehtest oF vengeance posed hy one's Kinsmen oF ocd, Thief why the lone and lores exe is portzayed asthe most lof figures in Old Engl ese. Wer payable to the king thus ferved to protect thse without ee suppoct of fly, suchas clr Sin orig merchant I also, however, came wo sere the function of| Extending the power and wealth ofthe monarchy, asin the ne period the avs provide or the payment of weg othe king oral wert of infractions, “The larger point to be drawn is that ifthe socal conditions de scribed in verse seem fo reremble more closely thore of Tacitus ‘Germania than the complex saietythat England had become by he tenth century, this may be taken ae a reflection ofthe way thatthe ancient taditonsof vers archaic and rebel ona hero scale every ‘riety of matter they touch. Thist re of native trations ike those ‘of Beowulf bu also of biblical arrsve and sats’ les, in Which patriarchs al stints are ress as God's heroic champions, and Chris's posts pla the role of his coment This wansformative habit isin ‘tim a reflection ofthe continually fut tension, mentioned above 2s pending Old Englst iteruze, between native and Medien nea infenees. References in the literature show thatthe Anglo Saxons were kenly aware of both heir pase among. the Germanic rations of the Continent and their present status 2 che bulwark of Chratian ciation among the uacoaverted nations ofthe aot “That they retained seas of community with the rest ofthe Ger. sanie world, even sth form of English soiery grew ever more cit ferent fom i, shown in a variety of way, but most cea in the fac ha even as late as the dain ofthe eleventh century, ero were dealing with legends set in Scandinavia and on the Continent, ke ‘eww, with no explicit conection to England, continued %0 be copied into English manuscripts, ‘ troduction 2 Gender and Authoriy ‘The word that Tacs cescies is obvionly very much amae-cetered ‘one, and it might be expected that ina wir ao dedicated to warfare, ‘vothen would pay decide secondary roles. Certainly there was noth Ing ike exalt ofthe sexes and yet Tacitus admisingy portays Get ‘manic women as both responsible and respected member ofthe society "Though shouldbe remembered that Bsa in doing sos dave Pointe contrasts wth Roman women, whose behavior he held in pat culty low esters, Getmanie women, he sys, are close at hand in| arf, and thir presee serves to deter cowardice, making men con ‘ious oftheir honor The men ae said to eck womens advice and to {ct upon iy reiting women with pescience ~a quality atsibuted to Germanic women i some other sources, ineluding Caesar's Dr ble Gales, Toinsure peace, young women taken from noble fais make the best hostages (hostage beng treated nota prisoners but 3s mem tersof the cont playing diplomatic role), ay the mcr ate more con ccmed or hele women’s safety thn for hein, The husband beings dowry tothe wife, the opposite of the Roman custom. Taius is “phat abou the wis role as prmer inti and danger, suteing ft daring with ier husband in peace and war like; but sich remarks must be weighed agains his observation thatthe men, when they ae ‘ot fighting or hunting, simpy sleep and eat and do nothing, rlegat dng cae of the house and fel 0 the women, the old men, and the ‘weakest members ofthe fay ‘Cetin of these observations revonat in Uh poetic records of Old English, One poet tells ur that 2 wife should be generous with gifs Jind eo those under her cre, cheer, wustworthy with secrets, ad ‘courteous in the dstibation of mead, and she should advise her hus band well (Masinr 82-92). Beowulf indeed shows us Wealhtheow, the queen of Denmark, caebuting dink to the comizatus at 2 fest, rewarding Beowul?s valor wi rich gifts, and oflering er husband vce on afr of state A tem applied tice wo women inverse and ‘once to an angel) x few webe peace weaver This hasbeen ine. preted to refer fo noblewomea’s ole in diplomatic marsages arranged {osceue peace between fos ations the metaphor alluding to me tal women's chief occupation, the weaving of oth may, however, fave wider reference, in accordance with the level-headed and peace ablesons of guaiie sti above to good wife. This, in any ese, Ineoucton ? ‘shat simple by dhe Beowul/poet's remark thatthe pride and en cry ofthe princes (Mod-/Fhyts were nor qualities appropriate toa {frrobencbbe (ines 1940-3). Certainly, though, diplomatic marriages ‘vere of great strategic importance (despite BeowalPs doubt about hee ‘ee, ines 2029-81), 2, for example, Athelbert I of Ken's mar Faget Bertha, a Chitin Eankish princes, no doubt payed igri ‘Control inthe fist Roman missionaries sicces in conver his. Teta ofen bees tha women are severely marginalized ia Beal? andsinular heroic verse, Creinly males ae acter sage a8 Obe might expect in posry abou fete of ams, Yet woul be eash wo suppose that mare deeds are the sole meanire of tue worth in the word that (Old English Heroic poetry portrays and even if they were, the Feocty and devotion to the dity of vengeance shows by Grendel's mother ‘would serve to challenge the undrlving astumption about gender and heroic accomplishments. But dhe Beopulfpoet develops the hero's hu ‘mane qatar diplomatic sills in some deta (see chapter 9), and so there isno reas fo suppose thar the poreayal of some ofthe same

    You might also like