英国文学史及选读第一章Chapter1.pptVIP

Chapter One The Anglo-Saxon Period (450-1066) I. Historical Background 600 B. C. – Celts migrated to the British Isles 400 – 300 B. C. – Brythons (Britain) 55 B. C. – 407 A. D. – Roman Empire London Julius Caesar 450 A. D. – Angles and Saxons 500 A. D. – King Arthur I. Historical Background The late 8th century – King Alfred the Great The early 11th century – the Duke of Normandy II. Northumbrian School and Wessex Literature Northumbrian School Caedmon: Paraphrase the Venerable Bede (Father of English History): The Ecclesiastical History of the English People (in Latin) II. Northumbrian School and Wessex Literature Wessex Literature King Alfred the Great 1). taught the English people to read and write in their own language instead of Latin, and translated the history of Bede into West Saxon dialect; 2). launched The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; 3). created a style of Anglo-Saxon prose which was not obscure. III. Anglo-Saxon Poetry: Beowulf A long epic poem Like Homer’s poetry, Beowulf sings of the exciting adventures of a great legendary hero whose physical strength demonstrates his high spiritual qualities. The poem is a mixture of paganism and Christian elements. III. Anglo-Saxon Poetry: Beowulf Alliteration: the repetition of the same sound or sounds at the beginning of two or more words that are next to or close to each other. Every half line consists of two feet and each foot is made up of an accented syllable and a varying number of unaccented syllables. The alliteration which links the two half lines falls on these accented syllables. Generally there are three alliterations per line. e.g. He came on under the clouds, clearly saw at last a sleeping soldier, savagely tore at him III. Anglo-Saxon Poetry: Beowulf Kenning: a metaphor usually composed of two words, which becomes the formula for a special object e.g. “helmet bearer” – “warrior” “swan road” – “sea” “the world candle” – “the sun” * * *