Anglo-Saxon Literature and the Norman French Period: quick revision, 18 bites

Anglo-Saxon Literature: The Foundation of English

English literature begins here, 7th century to 1066.

Old English (Anglo-Saxon) literature spans the **7th century to the Norman Conquest of 1066** and includes epic poetry, hagiography, sermons, Bible translations, chronicles, and riddles.

Takeaway. Anglo-Saxon literature is the earliest body of writing in English, preserved in roughly 400 manuscripts.

Extant Manuscripts: What Survived

Only 400 manuscripts survived — here are the big four.

Takeaway. Four major manuscripts preserve most of what we know of Old English literature.

Why Old English Literature Was Written Down

Latin literacy collapsed — so they wrote in English.

Old English literature began in written form as a **practical necessity** after the Danish invasions, when church officials feared no one could read Latin.

Takeaway. The decline of Latin literacy after the Danish invasions pushed the English to write in their own language.

How Old English Alliterative Verse Works

Two halves, a pause, and alliteration — that's the rule.

Old English poetry follows **Sievers' alliterative verse** — based on accent, alliteration, vowel quantity, and syllabic accentuation, with **five permutations** on a base scheme.

Takeaway. Old English verse is built on a caesura, two stresses per half-line, and a strict alliteration pattern.

Kenning and Litotes: Two Poetic Figures

The sea is a 'whale's road' — that's a kenning.

Takeaway. Kenning and litotes are the two signature poetic figures of Old English verse.

Old English Poetry vs. Old English Prose

Prose outnumbers poetry — but poetry gets the glory.

Takeaway. More prose survives than poetry, but poetry is the more studied and celebrated form.

The Scop: Poet of the Oral Tradition

Poetry was performed, not just written.

Old English poetry was an **oral craft** — the poet, called the **scop**, could be accompanied by a **harp**, and other accompaniment traditions may have existed that we no longer know about.

Takeaway. The scop performed poetry orally, so our written understanding of it is incomplete.

The Norman Conquest: 1066 and Its Aftermath

One battle reshaped English language and literature.

The **Normans** — originally of the same Norse stock as the Danes — settled in northern France, adopted Christianity, the French language, and became the chief exponent of medieval chivalry. Their conquest of England in **1066** brought a complete social and linguistic transformation.

Takeaway. The Norman Conquest was both a national disaster for the Saxons and a racial rejuvenation of England.

Germanic vs. Norman Genius

Two temperaments built the English character.

Matthew Arnold, in *On the Study of Celtic Literature*, contrasted the two stocks that shaped modern English character.

Takeaway. The Germanic element gave steadiness; the Norman element gave enterprise and administrative brilliance.

England Becomes Trilingual

Three languages, one country, side by side.

The most immediate result of the Conquest was that England became a **trilingual country** — Latin, French, and Anglo-Saxon spoken separately side by side.

Takeaway. After 1066, England spoke three languages — and English writing nearly disappeared for a century.

Key Dates of the Anglo-Saxon and Norman Period

Six dates that anchor this whole era.

Takeaway. These six dates frame the transition from Anglo-Saxon to Norman-influenced English literature.

How the English Metrical System Was Born

French rime plus Anglo-Saxon stress equals English verse.

The new metrical system — appearing in the 13th century and perfected by **Chaucer** — combined the best features of Anglo-Saxon and French verse.

Takeaway. English verse adopted French rime and line-length while keeping Anglo-Saxon stress regularity.

The Three English Dialects

Three dialects competed — East Midland won.

The Norman Conquest stopped West-Saxon from becoming supreme and restored other dialects to equal authority, producing **three dialect groups**.

Takeaway. After the Conquest, three dialects competed for three centuries before East Midland won.

Why East Midland Dialect Won

London and the universities decided it.

Takeaway. East Midland won because of London's political power and the prestige of Oxford and Cambridge.

Don't Confuse Old English Poetry and Prose

More prose survives — but poetry is what's famous.

Takeaway. Old English prose outnumbers poetry in surviving manuscripts.

Exam Focus: Key Names and Terms

These names show up in every exam.

Takeaway. Memorize these names and terms — they are the most frequently tested from this unit.

Remember the Four Major Manuscripts

J-E-V-N: four books, all of Old English.

Use **J-E-V-N** to recall the four major manuscripts: **J**unius, **E**xeter Book, **V**ercelli Book, **N**owell Codex.

Takeaway. J-E-V-N = Junius, Exeter, Vercelli, Nowell — the four major Old English manuscripts.

Poetry Was the Smallest Survivor

Rich oral tradition, tiny written trace.

Poetry represents the **smallest amount** of surviving Old English text — yet Anglo-Saxon culture had a rich tradition of **oral storytelling**, of which little survived in written form.

Takeaway. Most Anglo-Saxon oral poetry is lost forever — only a fraction was ever written down.