Anglo-Saxon Literature

1. Anglo-Saxon Literature Poetry Heroic ( Beowulf) elegiac (“The Seafarer”) Lyric (“Caedmon’s Hymn”) Prose Latin (Bede’s History of the English Church and People) Old English (The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle)

2. Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon Literature • Meter: equal number of accented syllables on each side of a line • Caesura: midpoint of a line of poetry • Kennings: renamings, like “The Man of Steel” for Superman • Alliteration: repetition of initial consonant sounds • Assonance: repetition of stressed vowel sounds

3. Old English Alphabet • In Old English, Æ was called æsc ("ash"), as in “cat.” • Old English had a letter for aspirate “th”: (thorn) as in “thorn” or “thick.” • Old English had another letter for voiced “th”: (eth) as in “this” and “that.”

4. Caedmon’s Hymn nu we sculon herigean         heofonrices weard, meotodes meahte         and his modgethanc, weorc wuldorfæder,         swa he wundra gehwæs, ece drihten,         or onstealde. he ærest sceop         eorthan bearnum heofon to hrofe,         halig scyppend; tha middangeard         moncynnes weard, ece drihten,         æfter teode firum foldan,         frea ælmihtig.

5. Nu we sculon herigean         heofonrices weard, Now let us praise the Guardian of Heaven meotodes meahte         and his modgethanc, The Maker’s might and His imagination weorc wuldorfæder,         swa he wundra gehwæs, Work of the Wonder-Father As He each wonder [of creation] ece drihten,         or onstealde. Eternal Lord, built according to His plan. He ærest sceop         eorthan bearnum First He made for the Children of the Earth heofon to hrofe,         halig scyppend; Heaven for a roof, Holy Builder, tha middangeard         moncynnes weard, The Middle-Earth Mankind’s Guardian ece drihten,         æfter teode Eternal Lord, He then created firum foldan,         frea ælmihtig. The folds of the firmament, Father Almighty