Old English Poems Flashcards
Old English
c. 660 - 1066 AD
Middle English
1066 - c. 1450 AD
Modern English
c. 1450 - Now AD
When was Old English frenchified to Middle English?
1066 AD
What happened in c. 1450 AD?
invention of the printing press, language became standardized
c. 1,000 BC
beginnings of German culture; Germanic tribes in central and northern Europe, pagan religion
43 AD
Romans invade Britain
98 AD
Tacitus published his book “Germania;” an explanation of Germanic tribes
Important topics in “Germania”
- Thula - spoken poetry about the tribe’s heroes
- Comitatus - fundamental social organization of the tribes; the relationship between a lord / tribal chief and his warriors
If a warrior lost his lord in battle, he was
disgraced, lost his social identity, a wanderer
c. 400 AD
Romans withdraw from Britain, leave it undefended
c. 450 AD
Master Narrative - Angles and Saxons from Denmark were mercenaries hired by the Britons to defend the Britons, Anglo-Saxons push Britons out of main England
True Narrative - Anglo-Saxons were poor immigrants who lived among the Britons
597 AD
Augustine and 40 missionaries were sent by the Pope to England and evangelized them, latin Bible
Christianity brings what?
literacy, in 597 AD, England was literate because of the Bible
c. 660 AD
Caedmon wrote “Caedmon’s Hymn”
c. 744 AD
the Pope banned stone crosses in fields, the “Dream of the Rood” was written before c. 744 AD as it was chiseled on the edges of a stone cross in a field (Ruthwell Cross)
Oct. 14th 1066 AD
Battle of Hastings, England is conquered by the Normans / the French, english language is frenchified
Who mostly spoke French after 1066 AD?
nobles, french was the high-culture language, not the common people’s language
Monks do two things:
work and pray
what is significant about “Caedmon’s Hymn”?
- first piece of literature in English
- first dream vision in English
Who is the speaker of “Dream of the Rood”?
an Anglo-Saxon warrior who has lost his lord in battle, feels disgraced but takes comfort in Jesus, the Lord of Mankind
How was Jesus portrayed for the first 1,000 years of Christianity?
as a warrior, “runs” to the cross and his death, this warrior nature helped convert the Germanic tribes to Christianity
