Old English literature

 

 

From where should I start studying English Literature?

Do you know from where you can start studying English literature ?

I will help you to start your English literature journey.

When we say English literature, we talk about literature of some places and these places are

i-                    England

ii-                  Scotland

iii-                Wales

iv-                Crown dependencies   (some countries under Britain)

v-                  Ireland

vi-                United states

So , lets read these facts

1-      The language English we experience today  was not the same 1400 years ago .

It got developed gradually over time.

2-      Anglo Frisian dialect came to Britain with Anglo Saxon tribes ,and yes this is called Old English today.  Anglo Saxons were invaders .

3-      Read Beowulf to experience The Old English.

 

Beowulf is the national epic in England .

Beowolf is set in Scandinavia.

Know these things –

Beowulf is an Epic.

Produced between 975 and 1025

Hero of the work – Beowulf

Beowulf is from the place – Geats

There is a monster in the work – Grendel

We will discuss this work later now lets come back to development of language.

 

Now , something important happened. Which is the landmark in development of English.

Norman conquest in 1066.

What is Norman Conquest ?

Normans , Bretons and Flemish with other people from French provinces invaded modern day England .

Who was leading them ?

Duke of Normandy , now we know him as William the Conqueror.

So,

After Norman conquest Old English was no more language of Aristocracy . They used French  . Now you can see if  government helps a language to develop it develops quickly.

 

Fact - This time English is known as The Middle English.

 

Now,  tell me answers of these three questions .

What is Old English ?

What is Middle English ?

Why Norman Conquest is important to know for English literature student?

Why should we study Beowulf ?

 

You can write your answers in comment box.

 

Who are the early people who helped to develop English ?

Three names you should remember.

i-                    Geoffrey Chaucer

ii-                  Printing press by Getenberg .

iii-                Shakespeare  

First , Geoffrey Chaucer (1340- 1400) , he wrote The Canterbury Tales .

 Late Middle English , which was London based form became popular because of The Canterbury Tales.

That’s why this work is so important to study.

Let me tell you one more thing .

At the time of Chaucer, French and Latin were the dominant literary language.

Second , Press by Gutenberg helped to make the language standard.

This press printed King James Bible in 1611.

 

William Shakespeare (1564- 1616)

One of the greatest dramatist in English.

We will study him in details later.

 

Next , cause for development of English language is the development of British Empire .

Some facts we should know

By 1913 , British empire was the largest and ruled 23% of the world population.

And this the well know fact that rulers impose their own languages upon their conquered countries.

 

Hopefully now you understand how English is developed in early period.

In next blog we will talk about the literature written in The Old English.

 

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