History of Britain: Anglo-Saxon Literary Heritage

This is a part of an ongoing series of articles concerning ''The History of Britain''. Although the series of articles can be read separately, it is advised to read the series starting from the beginning as they are connected to each other chronologically and serve as a piece of puzzle to make up a full set. In the previous articles; Prehistoric Britain, until the Iron Age, The Brief History of Celts, the long Roman reign in Britain, and The Saxon invasions were given. This article continues with the Saxon invasions serving as part 2 since it delves deep into the literary heritage of the Anglo-Saxons and will cover the emergence of literature in the Anglo-Saxon realm, that survived from the 6th Century.

PART ONE: (PRE-ANGLO-SAXON) THE CELTIC LITERATURE - FROM ORAL TRADITION TO WRITTEN LITERATURE

The Anglo-Saxon period also referred to as the Old English Period, is a period of literature between the years 450 to 1066 until the Norman invasions. Before the emergence of written literature, there was an oral tradition of Celts, very few of which are known. Yet, one story that has survived became, undoubtedly, the most glorious one which is the Myth of King Arthur. After the Roman troops left the island, the land became vulnerable to pagan invasions which caused a major military struggle. The Britons or Celts had to fight with the Saxon invaders to defend their land by themselves. Thus, King Arthur's myth began to emerge as a result of this series of conflicts with the Saxon invasions. He was a courageous defender of Britons against Saxon invaders, although it is highly mythical and also fictional, the character might be based on a real leader at that time. Starting from the publication of Historia Brittonum by the Latin Historian Nenius, the myth started to spread.

''Nennius compiled or revised the Historia Brittonum, a miscellaneous collection of historical and topographical information including a description of the inhabitants and invaders of Britain and providing the earliest-known reference to the British king Arthur...Besides the preface, it contains an account of the six ages of the world, a description of the inhabitants and invaders of Britain, a section on St. Patrick, a list of 12 victories ascribed to Arthur, some Anglian genealogies, and accounts of 28 cities and of various “marvels” in Britain.'' (Brittanica)

King Arthur

The King Arthur myth become so popular that variations of the story have been published over time in several regions of Britain and in central Europe, especially in France. Geoffrey of Monmouth's work The History of the Kings of Britain became a turning point in the development of the mythical figure as he depicted King Arthur as the fictional King of Britain. Later, Thomas Malory carried an extensive research and composed all the Arthurian Legends in a single book named Le Morte d'Arthur which was published in 1485. Thus, the figure of the legendary king emerged as a symbol of resistance as well as bravery during the Saxon invasions in Britain reflecting the resilience of the Celts in the Saxon invasions.

PART TWO: ANGLO-SAXON ORAL TRADITION

The cultures and traditions of the Anglo-Saxons were reflected in literature which served as early forms of English Literature. Similarly to Celts / Britons, the Anglo-Saxon literature was initially an oral tradition. '' As the earliest period of documented literature, the Old English period is marked by the primitive styles and language of the Anglo-Saxon people. Though they were sea-faring warriors, the Anglo-Saxons were capable of strong emotions, best captured in poetry. However, these works were not written down. Rather, they were recited or sung. Some men even devoted their lives to this purpose. These skilled minstrels were known as scops. The scop was an Anglo-Saxon poet who was commissioned by the early Germanic kings or soldiers to entertain them by reciting the poetry to the accompaniment of a harp or a similarly stringed instrument. From the Old English word “scieppan”, scop means to create, form, or shape. The scop was also referred to as a gleeman, from the Old English word “gleoman”, who was a musician or performer. Though the scop was a performer, like the gleeman, the work of the scop was more artistic, as the name denotes. Unlike the gleeman, scops also wrote and performed their own poetry. Also, they had to be able to insert fitting verse where necessary, depending upon the occasion or celebration.'' (Mathieu).

The Scop, Anglo-Saxon Poet

PART THREE: TRANSITION FROM ORAL LITERATURE TO WRITTEN LITERATURE

Anglo-Saxon literature mainly consists of epic poems such as Beowulf which is the oldest Epic in Europe. Beowulf involves Christian themes and portrays heroic battles. The tone in the works of Anglo-Saxon literature is serious and majestic which emphasizes virtues as well as the struggle between good & evil. Literary works mostly consist of religious texts and didactic sermons that clearly show the Christian conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. Moreover, melancholic poetry, such as "The Wanderer", ''Dream of the Rood'' and ''Caedmon's Hymn'' convey a highly sorrowful tone, reflecting the themes of loss and the temporary aspect of life. There are also riddles in Anglo-Saxon literature that add an element of humor contrary to the pessimistic theme of the poems. Unlike Celtic people, Anglo-Saxons composed their poetry in manuscripts, numerous of which, luckily, survived. There are several factors in the transition from oral literature to written literature.

First of all, Anglo-Saxons used an alphabet based on Latin and German which is called the runic alphabet which was adapted from the runic scripts of Germanic people. They applied the Runic alphabet to objects like weapons, jewelry, and monuments.

An Artifact with runes

However, the Runic alphabet was not proper to compose long-narrative forms. After the evolution and development of Old English, it became much more suitable to compose literary forms as well as narratives. Thus, a great number of Anglo-Saxon poets, or scops, and scribes started to write and transcribe various forms of literature including mostly poetry and prose as well as other forms of literature in their own language.

On the other hand, the coming of Christianity played the most important role in the transition from oral literature to written literature of the Anglo-Saxons. After the conversion to Christianity, King Ethelbert of Kent became the first Anglo-Saxon king to Christianize his people. He probably thought that Christianity would strengthen his royal authority to secure his throne. Around the year 600, Ethelbert became the most powerful king of England. Christian monks brought a number of Latin texts and the Latin alphabet with them. As a result, The Anglo-Saxons used the Latin alphabet to write and preserve their texts. Monks began to transcribe religious texts and historical books as well as other important texts. This included religious poetry, and the Bible as well as the works of early Christian theologians and historical accounts. Monasteries became important centers of education. Hence, Christianity brought Anglo-Saxons central connection with the monasteries, literacy, and, most importantly, written literature by which they recorded their major religious works that reflected the traditions as well as the culture of Anglo-Saxons.

SOURCES CITED:

Mathieu, Judith. ''Anglo-Saxon Scops''. Pace. Accessed from http://csis.pace.edu/grendel/Proj2004A4/beowulf.htm/scop.htm#:~:text=The%20scop%20was%20also%20referred,and%20performed%20their%20own%20poetry. 2 October 2023.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica; Chauhan, Yamini and Gupta, Kanchan. ''Nennius: Welsh Historian and Poet''. Encyclopedia Britannica. Accessed from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nennius 2 October 2023.