History of English literature :

History means the study of past events, persons and memorable works. It makes us familiar with the past.

How did the history of English literature start?

History of English literature started with the Anglo-Saxons . Before them Romans were residents of England. Then how Anglo-Saxons come to England ? Whose English came into literature as a language? I will try my best to solve all of these queries in this article. Firstly, there is a historical background, then we will move towards their contribution to literature.

Historical background:

Initially, Celts (Britons) used to live in Britain before Romans, however their exact time Span in unknown.

Romans arrived in Britain from 43 to 410AD. Their language was latin .Reason behind this step taken by Romans is that they were fighting against Gauls (France) . In this fight Celts were protecting them against Romans. So Julius Caesar, leader of the Romans, decided to teach them a lesson for helping the Gauls. Romans attacked Celts and came to Britain . They bring Christianity along with them.

Later on, Picts started an attack on Romans and Celts. The Picts were Scottish tribes , they were wild people . For protection against Picts, the Romans built a wall " HADRIAN WALL ''. Romans left Britain because they realized that this war would continue for a long time. However they have enough weapons to fight with them but also want to teach Celts to help Gaul . That's why they left Britain .

Picts were now continuously attacking Celts but they were not able to face them so they sent a delegate to 3 tribes Angles , Saxons and Jutes for the sake of help .They belong to Northern Germany( basically Russia )..

How do we come to know about these three tribes?

A book " Ecclesiastical history of English literature" was written by Alfred in the 8th century. He named these three tribes.

Angles were from Germany. Due to this tribe Britain was named as England ( angles land)

Saxons were from Saxony.

Jutes were from Dan mark

Angles and Saxons were more powerful than Jutes. They rule in England for 600 years. Their characteristics were bravery , chivalry , fearlessness and adventurousness .

Their language was old English. However these tribes came to England with the intention of helping poor Celts but later on their intentions were changed and they stayed there .

Now through some light on their contribution in literature:

Initially , there was only oral literature and no printing press. That's why there were no such up to mark contributions in literature.

But later on some writers started writing. They learn from Romans.

Instead of these issues 400 manuscripts survived . 4 main manuscripts were:

Exeter Book: It was the most important of them . It was written in the 10th century. It consists of 94 riddles.

Junius manuscript: It is also known as Cadmus manuscript. It is related to Christianity. Bible narratives are included in this book.

Vercilli Book: It covers poetry and prose of this age . e.g The dream of the road.

Nowell Codex: It is also known as the Beowulf manuscript.

Pre-Christian and Christian age :

Initially there was no religion. People of that age were pagan. They only believe in power and bravery so basically they were religiously hollow . famous poems of that age are

Beowulf

Widsith

Wald here

Deor

However , later on Anglo Saxons embrace Christianity. They bring religious aspects in there poetry . Two most famous religious poets are Caedmon and Cynewulf .

Famous poet of that age :

1- Caedmon :

Firstly he was not a poet. But later on he got inspiration and started writing the beginning of creating things. So he started converting verses of the bible into poetry.

2-Cynewulf:

His most important or classic work is "Christ". It is a long 1700 line poem. His other most famous poems are Elene and Juliana.

Types of poetry:

In this age three types of poetry was mostly written

Epic

Elegy

Riddles

Ballads

1- Epic: It is heroic poetry. Epic is the earliest form of poetry and entertainment. It was mostly written in pre-Christian age. Beowulf is the most famous epic poem of that age . Writer of this poem is still unknown. It was written between 975 to 1025 . It consists of 3182 lines.

. the major themes of this poem are revenge , bravery , good against evil , death and magnificent ending.

2- Elegy :

It is a sad poem written in honour of someone deceased. It typically mourns the death of an individual. Famous elegy poems of that time are. The ruin , The wanderer , The seafarer , The wife's lament the husband's message etc.

3-Riddles:

It is a type of poetry in which a sentence is put forward in the form of a puzzle to be solved . There are 94 riddles in Exeter's book .

4-Ballads:

The combination of music and lyrics is balled . This type of poetry was also written in this age later on .

Most of the poetry in that age was written in alliteration , si mili , metaphor instead of rhyming . That's why these poems were difficult to read .

Prose writing :

Prose is a simple way of writing. It was started in the 9th century in the form of laws and historical records. There is a famous prose writer

" Alfred the great '' . He translated a lot of Latin works into old English. He was king of Wessex in 871 AD. He is also known as the father of prose writing . His famous translated works are :

Pastoral care

History of the world

Soliloquy

End of Anglo - Saxons :

In 1066 William 1st came to England. At that time the king of Anglo -Saxons was "HAROLD GODUINSON ''. Battle of hasting takes place in them . In this battle Horald was defeated and William the conqueror was the winner . In this Anglo Saxons time ended and Anglo Norman period started. Their language was French.In their period old English language was restricted in schools.

Before Normans Danes and Vikings also attacked Anglo Saxons but they faced them with bravery.

Old English influence on modern English is remarkable .for example

JRR. Torkan written lord of the kings by influencing from Beowulf

Alferd lord Tennyson translated Battle of Molton .