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Philology 2: Introduction to Old English Language and Literature Summary on Culture and Literature
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This is a summary on all lectures and readings of the course Philology 2 given at Leiden University
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PHILOLOGY 2; Introduction to Old English Language and LiteratureCULTURE AND LITERATURE
WEEK 1
What is Old English?
- Old English is the direct ancestor of Modern English.
- Many similarities (vocab) between Dutch and Old English.
- Different forms of ‘our’ because of cases: urne, ure, urum.
- Why is Old English so much like Dutch in terms of vocab and German in terms of cases.
- Old English: Germanic language. Close to modern-day Frisian.
- Speakers of Old English: The Anglo-Saxons (450-1100).
Why study Old English?
- If you know Old English, you can understand Modern English
-> Irregular plurals
-> Weird spelling
-> Past tens irregularity
-> Sayings
- Old English literature -> like Beowulf
- Modern authors are influenced by Old English (fantasy authors; J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling, etc.)
First Inhabitants of Britain
There were four invasions of England.
- Indo-Europeans
- Celtic Tribes
- Romans
- Angles, Saxons and Jutes
Cheddar man (ca. 7,000 BC). He belongs to the first inhabitants of Britain (cavemen, cannibals).
Remains were found (cups out of skulls, etc.). DNA still lives on in indigenous population
according to recent DNA testing.
First migration/invasion: Indo-Europeans
- Started migrating around 8,000 BC
- Reached Britain around 5,000 BC
Stone-age monuments by the Indo-Europeans were found in India and also in other
places in Europe. Stonehenge was also left by Indo-Europeans.
Second invasion: Celtic tribes
- Celtic tribes reach Ireland and Britain (came from the continent) around 600-500 BC.
- Spoke Celtic languages (e.g. Welsh, which still survives today)
The Celtic tribes left a lot of place names. Britain is because a celtic tribe was known as Britos
(i.e. tattooed people). Another Celtic tribe: Albion (alb-o: means white). The Alps (meaning The
Whites). Also, the place name London and river Thames.
Third invasion: Romans
1
, - Two attempts by Julius Caeser in 55 and 54 BC – failed
- Claudius succeeds in 43 AD
- Britain is a Roman province, 43-410 AD
They made roads, stone buildings, viaducts, Hadrian’s wall to keep out the Picts (Scots). Many of the
Roman roads are converted to present-day motorways.
Fourth invasion: Angles, Saxons and Jutes
In C. 410 the Roman troops are called back from Britain to help defend Rome (end of Roman Britain).
The Britain people are now unprotected from the Picts and the Irish. The Britons sent word to the
Romans for help, but they couldn’t help because they were fighting the Huns. The Britons then asked
the Angles for help. They accept and see that the Britons are defenseless, which results in them staying
in Britain.
Anglo-Saxon invasion
According to Bede (731):
- Three ships
- Three tribes:
- Jutes: Kent
- Saxons: Essex, Sussex, Wessex
- Angles: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria
This is probably not how it happened. It was a slow progression. From 450/475 to 700 BC the Anglo-
Saxons spread out through Britain. Settlement started small at the east-coast (takes about 250
years). t’s not a unified process (not ONE kingdom, but SEVERAL little kingdoms that started
out as small settlements). The bigger kingdoms started swallowing up the little kingdoms (7th
century).
Seven kingdoms (Heptarchy)
- Northumbria
- Mercia
- Wessex
- East Anglia
- Essex
- Kent
- Sussex
Bede’s version of the story of the invasion. Bede was familiar with the seven kingdoms; thus his
historiography is a subjective view. Bede is projecting the political situation on to the past (8th
C.).
British resistance
The Britons didn’t like the Germanic people coming over -> led to fight. Britons, led by Ambrosius
Aurelianus, defeat Anglo-Saxons at Battle of Badon Hill (end of 5 th c.) (series of 5 battles). According to
Pseudo-Nenninus: battle was led by Arthur, not by Ambrosius Aurelianus.
2
,What happened to the Britons?
As seen on the maps, most were forced to live in Wales, Scotland where they still speak Celtic
languages. According to some scholars, what the Angles and Saxons did was close to genocide
(they massacred all those Britons). They found confirmation for this theory in the language. Old
English has very few Celtic
loanwords (10 or 15 still survive in PDE). Recently, scholars have found other pieces of
evidence of Britons under Anglo-Saxon rule (seen in word order and grammar [Philology 3!]).
Bede was an English monk. He was an author, teacher and scholar. He is called the father of
English History, because of his work: Ecclesiastical History of the English People (C. 731). He
lived in Northumbria.
Gildas was also an English monk (6th C.) who wrote Polemic De Exidio et Conquesto
Britanniae, which recounts the history of the Britons before and during the coming of the
Saxons. They came in C. 449.
WEEK 2
Anglo-Saxon Paganism
The Britons were Christians (converted by the Romans). Anglo-Saxons were Pagans.
- Names for days of the week:
-> Tiwesdaeg (day of Tiw or Tier)
-> Wodnesdaeg (Woden -> Odin)
-> Thunresdaeg (Thundor -> Thor)
-> Frigedaeg (Freja)
- Place names: Tuesley, Woodnesborough, Thundersley
- Festivals: Yule, Easter
- Tacitus’s Germania (worshipped wells and trees)
- Old English ‘magic’ charms (Woden)
- Old English Martyrology (9th century): the reason why November is called ‘bloodmonth’ is that
they would always sacrifice animals to their evil gods
- Archeology. Corpses went to the grave with animals, amulets (depicting Woden)
Conversion of the Anglo-Saxons
Two important things about conversion:
- A top-down movement. It started with the King, the nobility, and later the lower classes.
- It is a tale of two missions. We’ve got Irish missionaries converting the north and Roman
missionaries converting the south of England.
Irish mission
Romans brought Christianity. They converted the Britons in 4th c. AD. In Ireland a specific type of
Christianity was developed. It’s this kind of Christianity that spread. The Irish decide to first convert the
Picts and then the northern England Anglo-Saxons.
- From 565 onwards: Irish missionaries, led by St. Columba, try to convert Britons in the North
(Scotland).
- The Irish missionaries converted King Oswald of Northumbria (635-642) -> Oswald gives
Lindisfarne to monks, to build a monastery.
3
, Roman mission
Anecdote: Angelic slave boys (Angli) from Deira (De Ira = the anger). The king of Deira was called AElle
(AElle-lujah) this must be a sign; thus, I must convert these boys).
- St. Augustine arrived in England in 597. He converted king Aethelbert, King of Kent and built a
church and abbey in Canterbury (Now St. Augustine’s, Canterbury). It’s where Roman
Christianity spread. Ruins are still there.
- Establishes bishoprics in London and Rochester.
- Mission was successful, also had two other missions to Rochester and London.
- Libellus responsionum (the book of answers). St. Augustine collected Anglo-Saxon pagans’
questions. This book is known as “All these things the ignorant English people need to know”.
- All this shows how the Romans went about the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons. Why is Libellus
repsonsium important? It tells how they went to work and shows Anglo-Saxon concerns.
Why did the Anglo-Saxons convert?
- They were very lenient. Pope Gregory gave the missionaries instructions not to destroy
anything, but simply convert it. This way the people would remove the error in their
hearts (‘Heroic’ missionaries)
- Practical advantages (brought writing, reading, literacy, scholarship)
- Pagan kings married Christian wives
Coifi was the chief priest of Edwin, king of Northumbria. He advised the king to convert to Christianity.
Edwin’s counsellor compares the life of a Pagan with the flight of a sparrow -> The Pagans do not pay
attention to what went on before life and after life. Christians do pay attention to that (afterlife, heaven,
hell).
Conflict
- There were relapses into Pagan (Christian king loses/dies and the next one was Pagan)
- One of the biggest conflict is the religious conflict between Roman and Irish missionaries. (Irish
vs. Roman Christianity). One problem was: the date of Easter, both had different dates for the
celebration of Easter. Another problem was the haircuts of monks. The Roman haircut: a
tonsure. The Irish haircut combed over their hair (like the gabbers). To resolve the conflicts,
Oswig (King of Nothumbria), St. Colman (Bishop of Lindisfanre) and St. Wilfrid (Abbot of Ripon)
met at Synod of Whitby in 664 AD. The Roman methods of Christianity would prevail.
After Whitby
- Between 650-700, Christianity was established in all Anglo-Saxon kingdoms; conversion is
complete.
- Proliferation of monasteries issues in ‘golden age of Anglo-Saxon learning’
TREHARNE, ‘General Historical and Literary Background’
Legendary beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement
Romans were under attack -> called in troops -> Celts, Picts, Irish fought for political power -> Vortigern
(King of Celts) invited Anglo-Saxon mercenaries -> two brothers Hengest and Horsa (two warriors)
arrived.
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