Anglo-Saxon Literature

(the 7th-11th centuries)

The culture of the early Britons changed greatly under the influ­ence of Christianity. Christianity penetrated into the British Isles in the 3rd century. It was made the Roman national faith in the year 306 when Constantine the Great became emperor over the whole of the Roman Empire. The religion was called the Catholic Church (the word "Church" means "religion", "catholic" means "univer­sal"). The Greek and Latin languages became the languages of the Church all over Europe.

At the end of the 4th century, after the fall of the Roman Em­pire, Britain was conquered by Germanic tribes. They were pa­gans. They persecuted the British Christians and put many of them to death or drove them away to Wales and Ireland.

At the end of the 6th century monks came from Rome to Britain again with the purpose to convert the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. You know that in the 7th century the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity.

The part of England where the monks landed was Kent and the first church they built was in the town of Canterbury. Up to this day it is the English religious centre. Now that Roman civilization

poured into the country again, a second set of Latin words was introduced into the language of the Anglo-Saxons, because the religious books that the Roman monks had brought to England were all written in Latin and Greek. The monasteries where the art of reading and writing was practised became the centres of almost all the learning and education in the country. No wonder many poets and writers imitated those Latin books about the early Christians, and they also made up many stories of their own aboiit saints. Though the poets were English, they had to write in Latin. Notwithstanding this custom, a poet appeared in the 7th century by the name of Caedmon Г kaedman] who wrote in Anglo-Saxon. He was a shepherd, who start­ed singing verses and became a poet. Later monks took him to a monastery where he made up religious poetry. He wrote a poem — the Paraphrase ['pserafreiz]. It tells part of a Bible-story.

Another writer of this time was Bede [bi: d]. He described the coun­try and the people of his time in his work The History of the English Church. His work was a fusion of historical truth and fantastic stories. It was the first history of England and Bede is regarded as "the father of English history".

Another outstanding figure in En glish history and literature was Al­fred the Great (849-901), the king of Wessex. Though he was a soldier he fought no wars except those in order to defend his country. He built a fleet of ships to beat the Danes who had again come to invade Wessex. He also made up a code of law. He tried to develop the culture of his people. He founded the first English public school for young men. He translated the Church-history of Bede from Latin into a language the people could understand, and a portion of the Bible as well. To him the English owe the famous Anglo- ^The Venerable writing the life of

„ _,,.,,.,, St Cuthbert, the monk who spread

ЬахОП LhrOIUCle Which may be Christianity in the north of Britain

Vocabulary

Catholic ['каевэИк] a католический Christian ['knstjsn] n христианин Christianity [.kristi'asniti] n христианство code [koud] n свод законов contribution [,kcntrf bju:Jbn] n вклад convert [kan'v3:t] v обращать (в дру­гую веру) emperor ['етрэгэ] п император empire ['empara] n империя faith [feiG] л вера fusion ['fjirjsn] п слияние imitate ['imiteit] v подражать, имити­ровать influence ['mfluans] n влияние introduce [,mtra'dju:s] v вводить monastery ['rrronsstsri] n монастырь

notwithstanding [,rrotwi9'staendm] prep

несмотря на owe [эи] v быть обязанным penetrate ['penitreit] v проникать persecute ['p3:sikju:t] v преследовать,

подвергать гонениям portion ['рэ:/эп] п часть pour [рэ:] v вливать regard [n'ga:d] v рассматривать saint [semt] n святой set [set] n ряд shepherd ['Jepad] n пастух universal [Ju:m'v3:sal] а всеобщий venerable ['vensrabl] о преподобный

(о святом)

THE DANISH CONQUEST AND ITS INFLUENCE ON THE LANGUAGE OF THE ANGLO-SAXONS

When King Alfred died, fighting with the Danes soon began again. They occupied the north and east of England (Scotland and Ireland) and also sailed over the Channel and fought in France.

The land they conquered in the North of France was called Normandy and the people who lived there the Northmen. In the hundred years that were to follow they began to be called Normans.

The Danes who had occupied the North and East of Eng­land spoke a language only slightly different from the Anglo-Saxon dialects. The roots of the words were the same while the endings were different. Soon these languages merged with one another as they were spoken by all classes of society. The language of the Anglo-Saxons took many new words from Danish, particularly those regarding state affairs and ship­building. Such words as law, ship, fellow, husband, sky, ill are of Scandinavian origin. The Danes were in many ways more civilized than the English. The Danes were accustomed to chairs and benches while the English still sat on the floor. The Danes brought the game of chess to England which originally had come to them from the East.

Vocabulary

accustom [a'kAStam] v приучать Northman ['по:8тэп] п норманн

affair [эТеэ] п дело origin ['ппфп] п происхождение

civilized ['smlaizd] а цивилизованный originally [э'гк%пэ11] adv первоначально

comment ['tomant] v комментировать regarding [n'ga:dm] prep относительно,
conquest ['kurjkwast] л завоевание что касается

dialect ['daislekt] л диалект root [ru:t] n корень

merge [тз:сй v сливаться, соединяться slightly ['slaitli] adv слегка
Normandy ['rmnandi] n Нормандия

"

Questions and Tasks

1. When did fighting with the Danes begin again?

2. What part of the country did they occupy?

3. What name was given to the land in the north of France?

4. What language did the Northmen speak?

5. What do you know about the language the Danes spoke?

6. Comment on the development of the English language influenced by the Danish invasion.

The Norman Period

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