Anglo Saxon Culture

Question 1

What are the dates for the Anglo Saxon or Old English period?

Answer 1

C 450-1066 A.D.

Question 2

Who are the Britons/Celts

Answer 2

Inhabitants of Britannia (modern day England) had no written language ran their government by clan systems

Question 3

Who are the Romans?

Answer 3

Reigned over Britannia 1st-5th century. Had a lasting Roman presence from 43-430 A.D

Question 4

Who are the Angles and Saxons?

Answer 4

Germanic Group that took over Britain post Roman. Conquest in 450 A.D. Had no written language handed down stories through oral tradition

Question 5

When was England Christianized?

Answer 5

4th Century 597 A.D. Through the next 75 years (597 when St Augustine arrived in Kent)

Question 6

Name two lasting effects the Roman presence had on the Britons and their land.

Answer 6

Roadways and Forts, Aqueducts and Running Water

Question 7

Characteristics of Old English Alliteration

Answer 7

Repetition of initial consonant and vowel sounds in a sequence of nearby words

Question 8

Characteristics of English Meter

Answer 8

Stressed and unstressed lines (4 stressed and 4 unstressed) two half lines of two stresses each with a caesura (strong medial pause) in the middle

Question 9

Characteristics of Variation in Old English poetry

Answer 9

Repetition in different words of an element, clause, or phrase

Question 10

Characteristics of Kenning in Old English poetry

Answer 10

Short metaphoric compound word used in place of a common noun

Question 11

Define formula as it refers to Old English poetic composition. Give example

Answer 11

A unit of verse that consists of a set of words phrases or word patterns. The chorus of a song be an example .

Question 12

What is a scop?

Answer 12

An entertainer who reads poetry, a bard or singer of songs.

Question 13

Who was King Alfred? What political or cultural impacts did he have on England?

Answer 13

King of West Saxons 871-899 managed to untie all kingdoms of Southern England and stopped the Danes from taking over. Translated various works from Latin

Question 14

Who was Bede and what did he write?

Answer 14

Bede wrote Caedmons hymn which was part of An Ecclesiastical history of English people. A distinguished monk/ clergyman

Question 15

Who was Caedmon? What do we call the poetic technique by which he composed his poetry? Who recorded Caedmons Hymn and why?

Answer 15

A herdsman employed by the Monastery of Whitby that received the gift of song. He used oral- formulaic poetry. Bede recorded the story in order to show God’s Grace.

Question 16

In what way is Caedmons Hymn suitable for the newly Christianized audience, one that still holds on to its pre Christian ways of thinking?

Answer 16

This enforces the Christian idea of only one God, not multiple gods, which the audience would need to learn, but it also tell the creation story in a way of a mead hall, which was important culturally.

Question 17

In what specific ways is the depiction of Christ from The Dream of the Rood adapted to heroic poetry? What challenges face the poet depicting Christ for a warrior culture and how does he overcome these?

Answer 17

The poet faces challenges by having to depict Jesus as a warrior when he did not fight
back- overcomes this by telling of what Christ endured to show the true pain and act of
what he did as well as showing the cross as a thane.

Question 18

Describe in some detail the contradictory aspects of the cross in “Dream of
the Rood,” and related these contradictory images to question #13 above.

Answer 18

The cross was described with power, yet Jesus was seemingly submissive. The cross is
obeying its Lord, yet it tells of how Christ and the cross could have “Destroyed the foes”
Lines 35-43

Question 19

Explain what is meant by the following claim: “Christianity provides a
consoling context for the main character in ‘The Wanderer.’ By meditating on
Christianity, the wanderer is able to reduce the suffering he experienced to a
general rule, one that offers him some solace.”

Answer 19

He looks forward to the afterlife in heaven and the end of his pain- it drives him to
continue on. He knows that “All earth’s kingdom is wretched … all this earthly habitation
shall be emptied,” so he is consoled by knowing that his pain is not personal, but that it
happens to everyone on earth.

Question 20

Why is the “earth-walker” alone in “The Wanderer”? If we describe the first
portion of the poem as a meditation on the misfortune of individual fate, how
might we describe what follows?

Answer 20

All of his other warriors and kinsmen have fallen.

Question 21

How is “The Wife’s Lament” both like and unlike “The Wanderer”?

Answer 21

Both main characters are alone, and are lamenting the loss of a lord. The wife has been
left behind while the wanderer is the only of his kind remaining. They both reminisce
about the past. The wife is relying solely on the supposed return of her husband while
the wanderer is relying on Christianity and the afterlife. They both are struggling to
make it through life, but the wanderer has something beyond to look forward to.

Question 22

Do you find the female speaker of “The Wife’s Lament” to be a strong character, dependent one, or both?

Answer 22

Both. She is strong for having the courage to wait, yet dependent because that is all she
does-wait. Her life will not continue on or move forward until the return of her husband.
She makes it so her fate is dependent on him alone.