● 2. Religious Poetry（宗教诗）
● The religious poetry is also called Christian poetry. It is mainly on biblical stories and saints’ lives. But sometimes there is a mixture of Christian and pagan ideas in these poems. It is represented by Caedmon and Cynewulf.
● 2. There are two groups of English poetry in Anglo-Saxon period—pagan (世俗诗) and religious （宗教诗） poetry. Pagan poetry
was represented by Beowulf while religious
poetry was represented by the works of Caedmon （凯德蒙） and Cynewulf(塞内武甫）.
● 3. In the 8th century, Anglo-Saxon prose
appeared. The famous prose writers of that period were Venerable Bede （比德） and Alfred the Great （阿尔弗烈德大王）.
itons
Angles Saxons Jutes
Danes
Normans English
Three famous conquests
British Literature I
● There are three famous conquests in the British history which have enormous impact on British literature. (1)The Roman Conquest (55B.C-410A.D.)
●
1.The Pagan Poetry: The Song of Beowulf 《贝奥武甫之歌》
i. Introduction
British Literature I
ii. Significance of “Beowulf”
iii. Poetic Form and Features of “Beowulf”
Ⅲ. Anglo-Saxon Poetry
British Literature I
● 1. Pagan Poetry（世俗诗）
● The pagan poetry, also called secular poetry, does not contain any specific Christian doctrine and emphasizes on the harshness of circumstance and the helplessness of humans before the power of fate. Beowulf is the representative.
iv. What is an epic?
The Song of Beowulf
British Literature I
i. Introduction
1. Its characters:
Beowulf: nephew of Hygelac Hygelac: king of Yeats in Jutland Hrothgar: king of the Danes Grendel: a monster Grendel’s mother: she-monster
Contents
British Literature I
I.
The Historical Background
II. Characteristics of Anglo- Saxon Literature
III.
Anglo-Saxon Poetry
IV.
Anglo-Saxon Prose
V.
Assignments
British Literature I
Part II The Anglo-Saxon Period (449 A.D.-1066 A.D.)
江西科技师范大学 外国语学院
本章任务
British Literature I
让学生了解并掌握以下几个知识点： ● 1. 英国盎格鲁-撒克逊时期的文学概况； ● 2.古英语诗歌的分类及特征； ● 3.史诗《贝奥武甫》赏析； ● 4.英语修辞手法头韵、抑言陈述。
(2) The Anglo-Saxon Conquest (449-1066)
(3) The Norman Conquest (1066-1485)
Ⅱ.Characteristics of Anglo-Saxon Literature
British Literature I
● There were two literary divisions: one was pagan and the other was religious. And the main literary forms are poetry and prose, and poetry was in oral form.
Three characteristics:
British Literature I
● 1. Anglo-Saxon literature is almost a verse
literature in oral form. It was only given a written form long after its composition.
I. Historical Background
British Literature I
● The making of the nation: from the following formula, we can know that the English people
are of a mixed blood: